The Saint Paul globe., 1900-01-28
FORTUNES FOR BOXERS.
PUGILTsTs of TODAY EARN MORE
MONEY THAN DO SENATORS,
DOCTORS OR LAWYERS
SOME OF THE BIG EARNINGS

JefYries VIII Take a Quarter OF "A
| Million Out of the Ring-His
| Wages at His Trade Were $3.50
| Per Day-Terry McGovern Earns
Three Thousand In Eight Minutes
| Brain Workers Not In 1t.
| NEW YORK, Jan. 2i-It looks now as
| If James ]. Jeffries would clear about
$2500Oo out of his successful fight with
Tom Sharkey, that sum including his
share Of the revenue from the picture
| exhibition and the income from his
show" If he had never aspIred to the
| ring and remained steadily at his trade
he would be making $3.50 a day as
boilermaker. Terry McGovern had no
money to throw to the birds along in
| 1887, when he began knocking out every
one who stood up before him. In two
| years and a half he has made $25,0O0 In
the ring and is rapidly rounding into
| championship form, which will enable him
| to quadruple that sum. There are not
many college professors who can point
| with pride to such a bank account as
! that of McGovern or KID Mccoy, rep
resenting money earned in the practice
| Of their profession. There are not many
| college presidents who are getting from
$500 to $1,000 week, the income Of sew
eral of the ''top-notchers'' from the the
atrical companies they have on the road.
Terry McGovern made S3,212 in eight
| minutes one night at TattersalPs when
he knocked out Patsy Haly and Turkey
/ Point" Bill Smith in rapid succession. 1t
takes wise railroad president to earn
that much money in that time. Robert
Fitzsirnmons has been fighting since about
1892 in this country, and in that time has
| cleared up close to 100000, most of
| which he still has. being thrifty and
canny man. That is pretty fair income
nearly s14,O30 year.
| SENATOR NOT IN 1T.
| A United States senator draws only a
! bit over half of 1t, whatever he may be
| able to make on the side by judicious in
vestments All Of which would tend to
| indicate that the merry pugilist, while his
| game does not last quite so long as that
of the instructor in Greek of mathematics,
makes q whole lot more money In his
few brief years Of glory than the college
professor does in life Of slavery to books
and classes.
It is, Of course, difficult to state ac-
curately what amount Of money every
prize fighter makes in year. There are
many expenses to be deducted from the
big purses, which cut down the income
appreciably, and again the amount or
money received from theatrical ent>r-
prises and the amount OF gate money
divided between fighters at the various
contests fluctuates very much. For In
stance, Jeffries received $4,000 for gaining
Ia "
that purse he gave Billy Delaney ST.
600, Tom Ryan S1,5eb. Jack Jeflies $500 and
Dick Tona $780, These were all presents
to his trainers and handlers aside from
their regular salaries. His training quar-
ters at Ashbury Park cost him about SoO0
a week for three weeks and there. was al
most another $1,000 gone. The referee,
George Siler, received $3.50 from the win
ner, and in addition there were hum
dred and one hangers-on around the train
ing quarters who each received bit
of the big purse. %'t4
In addition to the purse. however, both
Jeffries and Sharkey will make a fortune
out Of the moving pictures. Each has
one-third interest in the exhibitions, and
from the receipts already secured 1t is
estimated that the pictures will net ST.
OO0 600 to the promoters and fighters who
will share the receipts. Thus it Is ap-l
parent that with the purse itself, the
share of the picture receipts and the IN
come from his theatrical company, ad-
vertised by his victory, 1t will be very
strange If Jeffries does not clear $3.50 900
within a year from the time of the big
fight If he fights in the meantime and
| is successful this sum will be largely in
creased; If he is defeated, no one can
| foreten where he will finish financially.
NEW oUTsHINE OLD.
| His loss Of championship honors would
probably result in an immediate slump
| in his theatrical company, and doubtless
| also in the picture eXhibition-which Is
| one of the reasons why the champion Is
| never anxious to "get on" big fight soon
| after acquiring the top of the ladder-at
| least until he has had time to taste or
| the financial sweets Of success.
The money made by prize fighters In
| these days Is far In excess of that made
| by the .'old school, of pugilists, Of whom
| John l.. Sullivan was the king. He said
in a. recent interview that he ought to
| be millionaire If he had taken care Of
his earnings in the ring and on the stage.
When 1t Is remembered that his career as
champion of the world lasted just ten
years-from 1882, when he whipped Paddy
Ryan, until 1892, when Corbett defeated
HINT will be apparent that at the rate
at which modern fighters are piling up
the shekels he ought to be immensely
! wealthy If he garnered all he got in those
ten years, or even fair proportion of 1t.
Joe Cans has made $20,000 in the last year,
and he has scarcely started. He has no
worldwide fame, and show on the
| road He simply earned the money in
purses, defeating fourteen contestants and
only suffering one defeat himself l1alf
| dozen other fighters unheard Of five
years ago have large bank rolls, and do
not begin to aspire to the position or the
fame of the great John L.
| SULLIVANS WINNINGS.
For winning the championship from
| Paddy Ryan Sullivan received $4,500 The
promoters of a championship fight in
these days would have to multiply those
figures by ten to get their men into the
ring, On his way home from the battle
the champion netted S24900 at exhibitions
in various cities, and then he fought ana
| defeated Elliott, the winner end OF the
purse being only $1,000. More than that
| amount is paid In a purse every week or
so in the fights at Tattersalrs, in Chi
cago, to fighters without a tithe of the
| reputation Sullivan had as the champion