On June 1, 1880, a bare-knuckle prize fight for the world championship took place in Colliers (Brooke County). Because boxing was illegal everywhere else, the fight was held in a small railroad town that was close to Pittsburgh but across the state border.

The fight was between the older champion, Joe Goss (44 years old), and the challenger, Paddy Ryan (28 years old). Goss was smaller but more experienced. Ryan was six-foot-one and 185 pounds. They fought using bare knuckles in a crude ring made of rope and stakes in a grass meadow.

The fight lasted 86 rounds and took one hour and 27 minutes. The first 35 rounds were even. By the 45th, the older champion, Goss, was tiring. In the 80th, Ryan knocked Goss to the ground. After being knocked down repeatedly over the next few rounds, Goss could not get up for the 87th, and Paddy Ryan was declared the new World Champion.