Prizefighting

Prizefighting. Public prizefighting is an affray and an indictable misdemeanour on the part of both combatants and backers (see Rg. v. Coney, (1882) 8 QBD 534, in which it was held that the mere presence of persons at a prizefight was not enough to sustain a conviction for assault), and railway companies providing trains for any prizefights are liable to heavy penalties under the (English) Regulation of Railways Act, 1868, s. 21. If death ensue, the surviving combatant is guilty of manslaughter.