The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-11-19

The English boxing clubs have been tty-
Ing, and are seriously considering, adopt
irg American methods OF refereeiEg con
tests as 10 having third man in the ring
70 break the contestants when clinehed
and 20 toll of the seconds in cases OF
kuoekdowns The third man In the ring,
or the assistant referee. is rot. however.
10 judge on the merits Of the boxers. as is
customary In this country. as that part OF
the contest VIII fall 10 the lot Of second
man outside OF the ring. This second
man, or referee proper. would have no
other duties 20 perform but 10 keep close
tab on the work OF the contestants. and
therefore could render better and fairer
decision.
Heretofore the referee and the tine
keeper sat Out side of the ring. the referee
simply ordering the men 10 break. and 10
, disQualify the infringer Of the rules. while
the tinekeeper silently tolled of the sec
ouds on fallen contestants, and at the exc
plration Of the limited ten seconds de-
ciared the man down the loser. THIS tim
lrg method was detrimental to Amertcan
pugilists accustomed 20 hearing American
ring officials tell off each second. so the
adoption OF cur system Of timing surely
VIII be appreciated by English and Amer
icsn fighters.
IL requires considerable time and study
10 enable man TO count ten correctly. es-
pecially in an exciting battle, so the better
and only correct method OF timing or
counting over a fallen contestant is such
as I demanded at the Fitzsimmons-C orbett
fight a Carson City. In that important
contest I requested the official timekesper
70 toll OF the seconds loud enough to be
heard by ne, and TO accompany his coun,
vita an up and down movement Of his
arm. SO, in case the noise drowned his
voice, / could follow the pump hapdle
movement Of his arm. II was novelty in
marquis OF Qussnsberry timing. worked
Ike a charm, and convinced me Of it,
correctness ana fAirnesz.
There have been q number of so-cslied
referees who had their own idees OF the
proper system Of counting ont a man, and
they were quite successful at 1t. IS long
as they lasted, which WIS invay.s bly, the
first hsir4 tasy worked Il. One that came
TO my notice. while crooked rs a ram's
horn, vas humorous. nevertheless. This
occurred ia a battle between Bob Harper
and WHEY Evans, coIored welterweigllts.
which took place In Chicago about fifteen
years ago The referee, a well known
ward politician. had his money down on
Harper, the local man. and he was there
to sec that his man would win. Evans was
BY Gar the better tighter. and with an even
break would have won hands down, but
tie ring oflcial took proper care OF him.
In the third round Wiley. with well
directed right swing, put Bob down dead
to the world, and the crowd, thinking the
battle over, prepared to leave the hall.
but il did not figure on the referee, who,
as soon as HaTpsr's head hit the floor. be-
gan 70 coll of the seconds so surprisingly
slow the crowd was dumfounded. II
took him fifteen seconds to count the first
three. and, as Bob still was in the land Of
dreams. he walked % the edge or the
ring and said tothe speechless spectators:
Gentlemen, you will have to keep quiet.
There are a number OF policemen in the
hall, and II you continue honerlng they
will stop the fight.
AS the crowd had been quiet as the pro-
verbal church mice, the admonition was
funny, 20 say the least. The referee.
having, as he thought, given Harper suf-
ficlent time TO recover. turned toward his
still unconscious betting proposition, and
in slow, measured tones continued his
count. When he reached the count OF six,
which took him about minute, he again
stopped 20 address the crowd. saying:
Gentlemen, implore you not TO make
so much noise. don't want this fight
stopped, but the authorities tell me II
there IS any more yelling they viii inter-
fere. SO beg Of you, gentlemen, be quiet
and give Harper a chance TO hear me
count
Fully ten minutes had elapsed since
Bob's head tested the strength OF the
floor, ard When the referee said nine he
regained his feet, dazed and in a condi-
ton to be toppled over again with the
lightest tap.
Wiley, seeing he was up against a
losing proposition, tore across the ring,
determined, II possible, 20 put Harper
away for a month OF Sundays. The In
geuious referee. equal to the occasion,
caught Wiley and angrily said: I'm