The Strange T220 Prizefighters Card of Patsey Driscoll

The 50-card T220 Prizefighters set was a tobacco release that featured mostly individual shots of fighters. But seven cards in the popular set are a bit different than the others and one, in particular, raises some questions.

The T220 set has become a popular one for collectors of early boxing cards simply because it is one of the easier sets from its era to assemble. The cards are not rare and the most expensive card in the set is one of Hall of Famer John Sullivan, which can be picked up starting around $50 in low-grade condition.

In all, there are seven cards that picture two fighters in actual bouts:

  • Patsey Driscoll vs. Glover
  • John Heenan and Tom Sayers
  • James Jeffries and Tom Sharkey
  • Jem Mace and Tom King
  • Jack Randall and Aby Belasco
  • Jack Randall and Ed Turner
  • John Sullivan and Jake Kilrain

The Sullivan/Kilrain card is the most value of this group. But the card of Driscoll vs. Glover is the oddball.

According to the excellent BoxRec website, which tracks the history of fighters, Patrick (Patsey) Boyo Driscoll hailed from Cardiff, Wales in the UK and fought in a total of 48 known bouts. We do know that this is the same Driscoll in the T220 set because, not only were both listed as being from Cardiff, but the ‘Boyo’ name for Driscoll is listed in both places as well.

The T220 card featuring Driscoll and Glover was completely different from the others in the set.

For starters, the other dual-fighter cards included a short description of the bout in question. However, no such writeup for the Driscoll-Glover fight is provided. Instead, we simply get a short biography on only Glover with a mention of a handful of his fights, which is in line with what was provided for other cards in the set featuring only individual fighters. There’s no mention of Glover at all and it looks as if the card was intended to be only a singular card for Driscoll.

In addition, there’s a bit more notable here. While the card provides a first name for Driscoll, none is provided for Glover. That, too, is completely against the standard for the other cards picturing two boxers. The others either listed both first names and last names, or it listed only last names. This one providing a first name for Driscoll but none for Glover doesn’t match those, either.

Finally, the list of fights on the back for Driscoll is notable. First, there’s no mention of the purported Glover fight. Also, many of the fights listed have discrepancies in or, in some cases, do not even appear in BoxRec’s database for Driscoll’s page. That isn’t too unusual as many boxing records from the earliest years of the sport are not always easy to find. But if the Driscoll/Glover fight was one featured in the set, you would think the result would be one that was listed.

Regarding Glover, which fighter was this? That is difficult to say without an actual record of the fight. More than 200 fighters are listed with the Glover name on BoxRec, including more than a dozen fighting in or around the same weight class as Driscoll that were also from the UK and active in 1910 and earlier.

The Driscoll/Glover card seems like an error given the mismatched back. Then again, perhaps even the creator of this set could not identify Glover or find the specific fight and a compromise was to simply print a biography for Driscoll.

In either event, it’s a card that seems out of place in the set.

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