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Events on this Day – 8 July

1862

The boxing bout was fought in an improvised ring on the banks of the Waimakariri River near Kaiapoi after police were ejected from the scene. London prizefighter Harry Jones defeated labourer George Barton over 30 bloody bare-knuckle rounds for a purse of £100.

1893

The New Zealand Racing Conference was formed to control the thoroughbred horse-racing industry in the colony.