The sun., 1890-12-21
THEEvOLUTlON OFTHEPUR
THE PRIZES or OLD-7IME EYGRTERS
AND THOSE or 1O-D.iY.
Little Men Now Receive Double ana Treble
the Winnings of Champion Years
ASo-A Fortune IN One Sontest-Big
Purses That Have II en Fought For.


velopment us the prizes that rugiiists com
mahd Tor their labors OF training ana per.
| iormance within the ropes. IL was not long
ngo that purse OF $500 for two high rate men
| in any class below heavy weight. was con-
! sidered very large In fact. the offer Of n
purse OF that amount was a guarante es
that the men who were to contest
for 1t were well worth tho trouble OF
an all night and probably veyatious
journey to see the combat. Moreover. the
procurement OF such II purse was rare no
matter how sincere the offer may haze been in
! guaranteeing to raise it, aud the fighters
generally had to 60 ahead with their battle for
perhaps only half that amount rather than
lose tho time. energy, and money thew had
| spent in training for several weeks. 1t is
vastly different in these days. Tho purse has
developed to II size that would astound the
very champions OF nations u generation ago.
and the cry is continually for moro.
The growth OF the prize received a striking
illustration when the match between Jack
Dempsey aud Bob Fitzsimmons. which takes
place on Jan IA. was first talked OF. On tho
instant that it became known that these
celebrities were ready 10 meet in an encounter
there came in bids from clubs all over the
country who wanted the match TO be decided
in their rooms. No less than $1,000 was Of
fered rish, away. and this amount was
steadily increased by thousands and five
hundreds until all tho bidder. dropped
out except the Olympic Club OF New Or
leans and the Puritan Athletic Club Of
Iong Island City. The former sent an agent
to New York to secure the contest. and reGu-
lar auction -ale wns begun by the two organ
izations. The Southerners ilnally captured
the prize by guaranteeing the fortune of sl2,-
900 and OF this amount neither contestant
risks II cent. On the contrary, the lCs,r will
receive 1000, which is as much as n stake in Il
championship battle only Il few years ago.
A review of the amounts fought for in the big
events OF pri2o ring history will no doubt prov,
ofinterest. ThH, first contest. nf whose stakes
We have record that seems relia bic. was thu
between Jack BrouEh!on aud Jack Slack. in
formulating tho first set OF boxing rules, and
he Is frequently called the father Of pugil-
800 a side. Incidentally It ght be mentioned
that 'roughton as the favorite. after the fight
ime ind boEun q! odds as heaEy as 10 i2 !. and
said to have lost $4,000. Even in those
says Sala there was ,,rs1l, saGn game as
who claimed to have been blinded in the light.
gave up boxing thereafter. but lived in COM
Slack. who was now hailed as champion, met
Norfolk, in l75i, for $500 side, and, was nearly
strangleu by Johnnv Crapeau. who tried to
choke him before he could get IN sufficient
work with his inaweys to make the French
Ior lG0 guineas in the following year: Moreton
;or s23o @ i'll l759. and Bill Stevens. the Mailer,
Of Bristol for s,0o6 a side in ii6i. but
h to WAS oGfeG .od I'd, again ta o, rs he
foHeht twice with With H George f S; Wilson. sih ill.,
!Fis noo tine Am for 500 aad the the sssSnd ~ 10, for
1894 to 1862 had several mntches. including
those with Tom, Juchan. Tom Dageett the
Oliver ons M 9 5es
pupils; Ieter Corcoran. and Tom Lyons. but
the stake was never more than $500: eA-
@ man, when en- sv was W." $1,000 y0S SIDE e Darts
BY lho way. sold out to Coreoran Tor $500. Com.
1890, there arc to he found statements that
Tint champion was backed for $1,000 against
sn an or Mon n anf yan aEansl sT
There is little to corroborate the assertion re-
Gardng the size OF the stakes in those events.
+ is known ma; when Johnson and Ben ryan
amour, was con sdered to le marSeiiousiy iigI.
oh 1 PAP
John sHly., WHO we're Engiands successive
champions during the perod between 1898 anil
1903 there can DO found mention of stakes as
ception Of that in the match betwoen Pearce
md n EsifheS Erih which was 50? & &gmins"s side
along. aud this carries MS 10 Jom Ward IS time
Ws1a ;5S ;o SsuSSS Thsn ns psSS ss55' s'%sss ss
Ia, was pSstH This contest ereaed mn
also because OF the large stakes" The great
i,endic" had many battles for from $50 to ST.
One was with ben Caunt for $1,000 side and
he other WIS i"r me same stakes asains, Ton @
nna snEs Ms ID nsaa to s Se
more frequent thing. but Paddock and Ben
Cnmnt, Harry Br2omee. Bl Perry, the :, Tipton
Paddock. each fought for $500 n side and les.
Now We come to Tom Sayerss, time. The
ihan have been chronicI but i,e never fought
for more than 300 s ide excepting four times.
Spd ha f2e wa MS whGH nrx more thHn onSs
tests with ihe "Tipton Slasher" BI Bepja-
min twice. and John {. llcenan: when the the
ss Yf slS"S TSn Ss0f Il is u" reuted SY 70 savsrs AYERS
inr in coming to tho other sides estimate
OF what the stake should be: sayers was a
natural. IA born tighter and he was always rsHdy
obtain blGkng Tor the regulation s 900 want
ed 20 with the CHAMPION, and hnd something
ist Tom took Him on several Tines. rather
!han a, let SO much good material go TO waste
mincbam; who couldn't raise more than tZ5p
George Sims, who could only collect sl25 10
Hs Sose ak1n al WAS .sS and cb @ i'
ln these days champion tells n challenger
IN fight you for 50 much OF purse ana 50
% much side. II you cant touch the figures
After Sayers's time the Championship lakes
became $1,000 Idle. as the rule f"r / me-
and then began 10 grow. though slowly Jrm
Nlaro fought Tom Allen al KonncrliIle. near
New Orleans. for $4,000. IN 1870, though
Mnce and loo C3burn fought for only $1,000 n
matched inr S2.OUn The latter match was
prevented BY the authorities.
Tom llyerund Yankee Sullivan were tho first
Iair 10 light Tor as much rs $4,000 II side ana
that prize WAS duplicated but once before piI-
n,li,ts who are famous to-day became known
That was in the match between Tom King and
John G. lleenau.
During the last few years the boyers have
hern in clover. Some lights between first
class n,eu have been i"r us itlIo rs s5,uo0, but
there has been nothing less. Thn sullivan
and Ryan and sullivan and Mitchell contests
matches having been made Tor .j,oo'.
although Sullivan and Iyan had an outside
Tor, tlo9oo and nn outside bet .oi s2,0Oo
IN them, lhen there WAS ina, "i,eak
Africa; n July oi last year. when lack Conner
bent Wolf lendon in - rounds and won
fl2.0uU n.ninS, which tolIl0r'S backpr had