Three years before Edison would patent his Kinetoscope [or Kinetograph] he had set up the first televised sport bout in history.
Boxing was unsurprisingly the biggest sport in America during the late 19th century (as it didn't require much to put on an event), and Edison wanted to make the most of his new 'motion picture' creator by putting on a show.
James J. Corbett and Peter Courtney were the two athletes involved in the main event, and although both men could fight at an elite level, Corbett was the true heavyweight champion of the time and Courtney only had a few fights but never on a 'main event' level.
Edison realized the mismatch at hand but he had already chosen his two set pieces; he simply decided to stage the fight and have them recreate a bout in which one of them eventually falls.
Corbett was a champion and national hero at the time, so of course he would take the victory by 6th round knockout!
There is only a single round of footage left from the film, and it happens to be the very first. We see off the bat this is more a coordinated dance than a fight as both men swing quite wildly and intentionally throw punches away from the opponent so as not to actually hurt each other.
There is some physicality between the two and they definitely tried to sell it, but it was more an exhbition for the fans, and it helped start the production of 'would be' film cameras in that era.
Edison took many risks in terms of his inventions and developments, but it's what added to his overall brilliance.
It was said that both boxers actually arrived to the fight in suits while puffing cigars. The fighters were also quite jovial to be apart of something so revolutionary, and the fans were excited to see Corbett in action (whether the fight was set up or not).
Here is the first round in all its glory:
In retrospect, we still have fights like this today. Mayweather vs. McGregor was a prime example of more an exhibition match than anything else (although they really did throw punches at each other's heads).
Do you like this kind of fight? Are exhibitions archaic, or should we still embrace them as entertainment?
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