Yorkshire Evening Post – Friday 28 January 1921

Some Memories of The Old Prize-Ring.

The death at. Swinton, near of Alfred Liversidge famous old athlete, at the age 85, severs an interesting link with the old prize-ring.

Liversidge was a noted runner and in his youth and for live years was Jem Mace’s trainer. He first met Mace in Norwich, 65 ears ago, when Mace kept public-house there in Swan Lane. The young pugilist was attracted to the fleet young Yorkshireman, and ultimately agreed to undertake his training, managed Mace’s fights for five years and then left him, in spite of the prize-fighter’s appeals, and came back to Yorkshire, married, and settled down.

Liversidge trained Mate for his fight  with Brittle, who beat him in the first meeting though Mace won the return match. He also prepared Mace for the fight with Mike Madden, about which there was a good deal of controversy at the time. The pair never met, but Liversidge would indignantly scout the idea that Mace was afraid.

” Jem was afraid of none of em,” he would declare, “and would have gone hard with Madden if they had met. Madden had killed Jack Jones just before, and folk said that Jones’ ghost had appeared to Mace and me and tightened us off. I know better. Jem was no coward, but he made mistakes.

“There are no Maces now. They haven’t the science now that he had. Bless your life, fighting nowadays is like going a pleasuring. Now, after fight, you go into the dressing room, after the men have had rub down you find everybody smoking cigarettes and you don’t know which man had been, fighting. In my day the men who had been with bare knuckles had nowhere to put a cigarette.”

Liversidge also trained another hero of the old prize ring—Tom Kelly, of Bradford, who fought draw in America with Juke Kilrain.

Sixty-two years ago, Liversidge was a champion half-mile runner, and could get response when he challenged all England and offered to give seven yards in the half-mile. He increased the allowance and several men took him on but their hearts failed them and they forfeited.

Jim Mace once matched him to do a 50 yard’s sprint against an Army horse through a street of Norwich. A condition of the wager was that the runner should be a Norfolk man. _ Mace persuaded Liversidge to risk that, Liversidge went in and won and got the money, keeping a still tongue for fear that his dialect should betray him.