1860 in sports

1860 in sports describes the year's events in world sport. Baseball National championship National Association of Base Ball Players champion – Brooklyn Atlantics Events The Excelsior club from Brooklyn, led by the fast pitcher Jim Creighton, tours as far as Buffalo, New York, to spread the game. Boxing Events 17 April — one of the most famous fights of the bareknuckle era takes place at Farnborough, Hampshire, when English Champion Tom Sayers meets American Champion John C. Heenan in what is effectively a World Championship bout. After 42 rounds, the crowd breaks into the ring and the fight is stopped, both boxers having taken heavy punishment, although Heenan seemingly had the advantage. The result is a draw. 20 May — Sayers is awarded a special Silver Championship Belt to commemorate the fight and he now announces his retirement from boxing. Heenan is awarded a duplicate belt. But the brutality of the fight is widely publicised and gives rise to condemnation of the sport by a public that is increasingly influenced by Victorian ethics and morality. The legacy of the Heenan–Sayers fight is that it will bring about the demise of bareknuckle fighting in England. 5 November — Tom Paddock fights Sam Hurst for the vacant Heavyweight Championship of England at a venue in Berkshire. Hurst wins in only five rounds and is awarded the championship belt by Tom Sayers. This is Paddock's final fight. Cricket Events John Jackson is again credited with over 100 first-class wickets in the season, establishing a new record with 109 England Most runs – Thomas Hayward 557 @ 26.52 (HS 132) Most wickets – John Jackson 109 @ 9.20 (BB 9–34)