Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-02-17

THE majority OF men interested in
the art OF boxing think that one
OF the easiest positions In the
world Il that OF manager OF puglhsts.
Their idea is that all one need do Is 70
get hold OF some likely young fellow,
make matches for him and pocket hall
his winnings, Now that IS just where
the rub comes In. First OF all, as in the
old saying about cooking a rabbit, you
must first catch him. II takes a man
who has had q long experience In ring
matters TO pick out an unknown and
lnexpert young fellow who has probably
never fought more than few times
and tell by watching his work whether,
after careful training, he will turn out
champion.
Then, again, In the matter Of making
matches a great many managers come
TO grief. One must know the calber OF
the men your protege is going TO fight,
so as not TO get him up against too hard
q proposition at first Nor must boxer
be allowed to fight too often and thus
overdo his strength; nor, on the other
hand. must his engagements be too far
apart so that ne is IDLE and falls into
bad habits.
il Is the manager who hits the happy
medium amons'all these pitfalls who IS
successful with his charges, provided,
Of course. they are good men to begin
with. attribute a great dea. Of my
success in the management Of pugilists
10 the fact that am In a position to act
as second and can generally give good
advice to a man from the ringside i
always watch both fighters very closely
during the rounds, and II see my man
Is getting the Better OF the argument
let him 90 along as he thinks best
Whether a man Is winning or losing, II
Is always the best plan to keep on 'jol-
lying" him along and make him think
he Is bound to win and that the other
fellow Is getting the worst OF II. 1t Is
Of the highest Importance 10 keep a
boxer In a good temper when In the ring
and not let him get worried. II is half
the battle gained II he has confidence In
himself and In his manager.
This last Is the reason why many
| fighters lose when they ought 10 win.
They have no confidence in their sec
onds and In many cases know more
about the game than their would be ad-
visers. have always been interested
In boxing and consequently have learn
ed a great deal about the business In
the years that / have been connected
with ii. The way l happened 10 start
out as a manager Of pusilsts was this:
/ was living N Boston, and Ike Weir
locally known as the Belfast Spider"
boxed a lawyer IN the town and recelv-
ed a trouncing at his hands The "Spl-
der" and his hackers thought that he
could do better and challenged the law
yer TO another 60 for $500 a side. ! saw
the first encounter and was so impress
ed with the ability Of the lawyer that /
offered 10 back him.
Some Of the friends Of the young
lawyer heard Of the affair and persuad-
ed him not 10 fight any more, not be-
cause they were afraid he would lose,
but because they thought If the matter
came 10 the ears Of the public his
career would be blasted II must be re-
membered that pugllsm in those days
aid not hold the high place in public es-
timation that II has since attained. In
stead OF having fine clubhouses, with
every convenience, purses running up
in the thousands Of dollars, with law
yers, doctors and people Of the best
standing in the audience, fights In those
days were held, as rule. in secret. In
stead Of FIVE ounce gloves, bare knuc-
kles, skin tight OF two ounce gloves at
the most were used.
But to return to my story. When Ed
Holske, who was backing Ike Weir,