The San Francisco call., 1907-03-10

FIGHT.

The earning capacity Of boxers is
always an interesting subject for dis
cussion among the men who keep in
touch with the prize ring. but usually
1t Is the men who are retired from
active participation who are the Ia
vorite subjects of discussion John l.
Sullivan and Jack Dempsey are in this
category. In other instances the men
have engaged in so many small nights
that there Is no record that will even
approximate their earning capacity with
the gloves.
Jimmy Britt has been more in the
public eye in California than any other
Pacific Coast boxer barring Jim Cor
bett or Jeffries. While he IL still prom
inent and the figures are available II
Is interesting to tabulate the receipts
OF the fights In which he has taken part
during the past five years. 1t is doubt
full II Britt could supply the figures, but
the wonderful memory of Manager jim
Coffroth has been drawn upon and the
accurate figures have thus been OBJ
tanned
Coffroth has made it q practice to
obtain statement Of the receipts Of
every big fight, even going so far as to
learn the number of tickets sold at
each price in order to learn what sec
tions of the house were the favorite
ones of the patrons.
In the five years ending last month
Britt was paid $S3,577 for his work In
the ring. The total receipts at the gate
for his fights were $211.191. The largest
amount he received for one fight was
s1754s, which represented the losers
end of his match with Battling Nelson
at Colma, September 8, 1905. The gate
receipts on that occasion reached the
plump figure of s43,311. The next
largest amount he received was s15.sOO.
when he was given the decision over
young Corbett in Woodward's Pavilion,
March 25. 1904. That fight drew
s32100 at the gate. The only other
purse received by Britt which ran into
Ave figures was the $13,440 which he
drew down when he was given the de-
cision over Nelson in Mechanics Pa
vilion on December 20. 1904
Only one of Britt's sixteen fights
fell below the $500 mark. and that was
his engagement with Jack O'Keefe at
Portland, when he lost on foul The
average returns from his fights were
large, being more than $4,000 for each
engagement. This is higher than that
of any other man in the ring or
Britt's sixteen fights he won three by
the Knockout route in his first year in
the professional ring. Thereafter he
was satisfied TO merely outpoint his
men, winning eight times on the de-
c1SlOn OF the lreIeTec- ne mas AOuSAe
2O4 rounds without knocking out an
opponent.
The only time he was knocked out
was by Battling Nelson at Colma- he
lost two fights on a foul, one to Jack
O'Keefe at Portland and the other the
Circus Maximus with Joe Cans In this
city on October 81, 1904. He has only
one draw 10 his credit, that with Jack
OKeefe at Butte and one mo decision,
that with Terry McGovern at New
York in May of last year.
To Brftt's receipts for his fights must
be added the money he received from
theatrical engagements, which will run
up his earnings for the past Ave years
to considerably more than 100000.
Britt's betting operations have been on
a modest scale. In nearly every fight
In which he has been principal he has
been favorite IN the wagering. In
many cases he has been at odds OF