The San Francisco call., 1898-02-26
WILL PROTECT
 SQUARE SPORT Reliance Managers Are Still Denouncinq
 McArthur. May Insist in Future on Two Judges Besides a
 Referee.
President Fitzgerald Expresses Him. self Freely Over the
 Job.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call,

Oakland Off1Ce San F"ranc1SCO Call, sos Broadway, Feb. 25. | The unfair decision given at the Re- | liance Club Wednesday by Bob McAr- | thur may lead to a definite rule being | formulated by the club for the future
 management of boxing events. The di-
 rectors are now discussing the advisa-
 bility of having two judges for each
 contest, as well as referee. There are,
 however, some objections to such a
 practice, and the club realizing the inn
 portant bearing, it may have on the
 future of the sport will get the views
 of other clubs before reaching de- cision.
 Just at this time, when San Fran
 cisco is frowning on boxing events, the l Oakland clubs are being importuned
 more than ever to permit contests on
 this side of the bay. Very binding and
 reasonable agreements have been made between each of the two clubs and the
 Chief of Police. which guarantee fair
 and safe sport, but so long as the pres
 ent method of appointing a referee is followed there is danger of just such | trouble as occurred last night.
 This is a matter which I feel I ought
 to discuss and yet about which I am
 rather delicate,'' said President Fitz-
 gerald of the Reliance Club to-day Tt is fact that the difficulty of get ting a good referee is growing, and just
 such affairs as occurred last night add
 to that difficulty. Where the merits of
 two men are almost alike decision is | hard to give, and referee in such tn- | Icto hQcanSe
 one camp of partisans is sure to hiss while the other is cheering, and no man likes to be hissed.
 | T cannot, however, find any excuse | for the raw work of McArthur last
 night. For man that knows how to | box and understands the art such as l know McArthur does. there can be no defense or apology. It was a complete | steal from McCue, who had honestly earned the winners share of the purse.
 LawIer, so far as I could judge, only l hit McCue three times during the en- tire contest, while I would not pretend l to say how much effective work was done by McCue. Had the seventh round | lasted a few seconds longer l believe Lawlor would have been put out con- | pletely. . We are now being asked to permit | many contests at our gymnasium, and 1 we feel that the sport should be en- couraged and kept clean. Our matches | so far have always been very reasona- 1 ble and good sport. No one has ever
 beeL hurt, and I do not see how they | can be hurt with the big gloves on l which we insist and the limiting of the contest to eight rounds. It is Just enough to try two men out and as a
 rule reach decision. We shall not act hastily in deciding how to overcome the
 possibility of such unjust work as was done last night. McCue came to me after the decision and told me that the
 club should not suffer from such work, | because it was in no way responsible. Both men gave me positive assurance | that the contest should not be delayed because of the referee, and neither was | it. Consequently we did all that was expected of us, but will do more in the future if we can see our way clear. Such raw work must have been in- spired by something, and while do not | intend to say what influenced McAr- thur, it is certainly a suspicious fact that the betting in San Francisco was all in Lawler's favor, and that his friends had backed him heavily to get the decision.