1890 Mayo Cut Plug Prizefighters Set and Checklist (N310)

‘It’s In The Details’

Title Mayo Cut Plug Prizefighters
Year 1890
Size 1 1/2″ x 2 5/8″
Images Sepia
Type 19th Century Tobacco
Number in Set
35

1890 Mayo Cut Plug Prizefighters Set Overview

N310 33 Sullivan Boxing.jpgPrinted in 1890, the Mayo Prizefighters set is one of the most sought after boxing issues of the 19th Century.

The cards feature the top boxers of the era. While no title is given to them on the cards, they were dubbed the Prizefighters set by Jefferson Burdick in the American Card Catalog as he cataloged them as N310.

The cards are distinctive with excellent imagery and the Mayo’s Cut Plug logo and advertisement in the lower border. Backs of the cards were blank. These are different from the popular 1895 N300 Mayo set released five years later as those cards had all black borders and black backs. The layout and design are similar but the boxing cards have white borders/backs instead of black ones.

One notable feature of this set is that, while there are 35 cards in the set, there are actually 70 different cards with variations. That is because each card has a variation with the boxer’s name both at the top and at the bottom. All cards are unnumbered.

1890 Mayo Cut Plug Prizefighters Set Checklist

  1. Bobby Burns
  2. Jim Carney
  3. Joe Choynski (misspelled Chonskia)
  4. James Corbett
  5. Dan Creeden
  6. Jim Daley
  7. Jimmy Dime
  8. George Dixon
  9. Billy Edwards
  10. Bob Fitszimmons
  11. Austin Gibbons
  12. George Godfrey
  13. Joe Goss
  14. Johnny Griffen
  15. Young Griffo
  16. Jim Hall
  17. Peter Jackson
  18. Jake Kilrain
  19. George Lavigne
  20. Mike Leonard
  21. Peter Maher
  22. Jack McAuliffe
  23. Danny McBride
  24. Charlie Mitchell
  25. Billy Myers
  26. Steve O’Donnell
  27. Billy Plimmer
  28. Tommy Ryan
  29. Frank Slavin
  30. Billy Smith
  31. Ed Smith
  32. Solly Smith
  33. John Sullivan
  34. J. Van Heest
  35. Joe Walcott