The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-12-02
Mike Donovan Thinks Purses Are
Getting Too Large.
He Believes 1t VIII Develop Tendency
to Unfair work in the ing-Pu2ihsm
Occupies High Position ia the
Estimation OF Americans
tooprR1GHr, 1892. BY JAMES W JoHNsoS.l

hands the fate Of one of the finest sports
the English speaking world knows.
say this because feel that crisis Is at
hand in pugilism, Z i it will take out
one false step to undo the work of years.
A dishonest fight now will turn the pub
lie against the sport, for 1t IS only III
clined to go s great distance to see me
contest, and to pay large sums OF money
for the privilege, if it is absolutely sure
of fair and square deal Take that con-
fidence OFT Of the arena aud it Will drop
again to the level of favoritism only with
the lowest classes. That is why l am
opposed at present, or at any time, TO the
large purses which are now being offered
by the great athletic clubs of the country.
When $40 600 are at stake it is great
temptation for prize fighter and for
the men back OF him to arrenge for
division Of the purse on some friendly
basis and on plan utterly unfair to the
confiding public. do not say that such
is the case now. l merely wish to state
that we have reached dangerous point,
and that the tendency viii be that way.
knowing the mana gers of both the Coney
Island Athletic Club and the Crescent
and Olympic Clubs, of New Orleans,
know that they would never tolerate an
unfair fight; that if to 3heir knowledge
such deal had been made the men would
be blacklisted and be posted all over the
country as blackguardS. l say this be-
cause l take great interest in the manly
arb of self-defense, and ! feel that it
should continue to occupy the high place
il the estimation Of the public which it
now holds. a purse of so, 900 is enough
for any two men to fight for, and we all
know that to the ordinary prize-fighter
$l0,0 is fortune.
was struck with the deep inter est
taken by the best classes of the Ameri-
can people at the fights both in New Or
leans and at Coney Island. In fact at
the Choynski- Godfrey fight l saw a num-
be- Of bankers and professional men and
my only wish was that nothing would be
done by those matched against each other
30 take this class of people away from
the athletic club house.
This comment is particularly timely
N view Of the great fights which are
soon to take place. think the Corbett-
Mitchell contest must be considered a
$50" In my opinion Corbett has all the
natural advantages. He is quicker and
be is taller Mitchell is stout and when
stripped looks, perhaps. somewhat bet
Ter than Corbett, but l believe they will
weigh in the same number of pounds.
Mitchell must do something to square
himself, and that is why believe he viii
come to the scratch, for even if he is
whipped he viii stand better in the esti-
nation of the American public.
AS far as the Ftzsimmons- Hall fight
IS concerned my Judgment is somewhat
handicapped, as l have only seen the men
spar. and much Of what know concern
ing them is by heaTsay. From Australians
! have it that Hall is more clever boxer
than Fitzsimmons, and then, too, he is
his junior by almost six years. It must
be remembered that Hall knocked him
out in Australia Then Halls magnif-
cent defeat OF Pritchard will count heav-
lily for him. FtzsimmOns, on the 9th er
hand, is man who trains splendid ly
lie works hard and faithfully, and wbe n
he goes into the ring his friends and
hackers can always feel assured that he
IS in perfect condition. He is cool headed
end fights scientifically. This was DEM
anstrated in his fight with Maher In
hat contest a lucky blow in the first
round almost knocked the middle weight
champion out Then he began TO show
his head work, and although he was I'M
able toward the close OF the fight to use
his right hand, be whipped Maher with
terrific left hand jabs.
The fight between Goddard and Maher.
which is to take place before the Coney
Island Athletic Club, will be contest
worth witnessing. Goddard is one of the
gamest men in the ring and has a SPLEEN
did record l think he is in the hands of
Trainer Madden, the man who trRi ned
Maher for mis- last tight; Sc that he Will
be able to give Goddard a good many
valuable pointers. l imagine that God
dard will weigh IN at lSj or 1870 pounds
and at that wei ght he will te able to do
some wonderful rush work. He fights
right from the start. he has no peculiar
possible way, changing tactics continu-
ally. II anything he is inclined to be a
little slow with his legs. His record is
good one. lie has WI pped Joe Chovn ski
twice and fought an 8-round draw with
jackson. Aaher, on the other hand, is
a very hard hitter. II he lands on God
dard the latter will know thar he is
--hfnral Ihapa i s. ~. -
why Msher shouldn't be a very clever
boxer if taken in hand by some good man.
but he is a hard man To train and is ex-
ceedingly willfuL
see that there is n possibility Of .
fight between Johnny Griffin and Dixon.
II this comes of the colored fighter VIII
find that his work has been cut cut for
him l saw Griffin fight Lynch and |
consider him strong. game little fel-
low. he has splend id trainer in Car
roll, and in my opinion would come very
near beating Dixon.
So, on the whole. the winter and com
ing spring ought to develop a number of
splendid contests, and cnampionsh . non
Ors may possibly change hands In view
OF all this ! must again emphasize the
necessity of square dealing all around
and, IN the interests of the prize ring,
reduction in the amounts OF tue purses
offered. Ofcourse, the larger the amount
the greater the interest. But the public
VIII quickly recall past unfair contests in
which deals" were made apparent bv re-
suits should there be the least tendency
towards cheating now When large
purse is offered. say $40, 900 or $45 coo.
an arrangement could easily be effected
between the men by which tbs winner