The daily sentinel., 1908-12-24
SPORTS
AT THE RING SIDE.
BY Knox Bloekoff.

New York. Dec Christmas
comes but once year. but fights for
the worlds heavyweight champion
ship are even less frequent, and that's
the sort of Christmas package the
fight fans will have handed them
this year. True, the scene of the
momentous mill is laid in Sydney,
Australia, eleven thousand and some
odd miles away, which makes it a
little inconvenient for a weekend
holiday trip. The sports of Uncle
Sans land will find it hard to for
give Tommy Burns for waiting until
he reached Australia before picking
up the glove thrown down by Jack
Johnson, but they will read the news
from Australia with a great deal of
interest, despite the distance.
II is expected that the returns
from the heavyweight championship
election will begin to trickle over the
cables late tomorrow night. despite
the fact that the bout is scheduled
for Saturday. The difference of tine
between America and Australia is
accountable for this phenomena.
Whatever the result, the two fight
ers will get nice wad of the need
full handed to them as a Christmas
gIt. over $4,000 was posted by
lilt .AuStl dlltu lOI ne llEhls
to be distributed between the fight
ers. who will in addition get allow
anocs for training aud transportation
expenses. This is abbut the biggest
purse ever put up in real money be-
fore a championship battle. Burns
will get S33 900. win, lose or draw,
and Johnson will get $3.50. This
seems like an unfair division. since
Johnson appears to have the best
chance OF victory, bur Burns had the
advantage and used il to the utmost
Just for that, "A lot of sports who
like square deal are hoping that the
big moke will smash in Tommy's
frontpiece until il looks like a map of
the Balkans.
over in Lunnon. the sports don't
think much of the Burns-J ohnson
fracas, and some of the sporting writ
ers are saying so in unmistakable
terms. The match is denounced as
IA purely commercial transaction,
and there are many intimations that
Burns would never dare enter the
ring with the big negro If the latter
had not been seen" Some of the
English sporting writer's, however,
hope that Johnson will give Burns
a dose of his own medicine. and, af-
ter getting the Canadian in the ring.
all the trimmings. Some Of these
criticisms may be due to the fact that
Tommy hurt the pride of Britishers
by proceeding to knock out all their
best heavies as if they were childre|.
A writer in the London Sportsman
says that Burns and Johnson were
hired by the Australian promoter
"iust as a music hall syndicate mire
stage performers. He proceeds:
- Burns tops the bill. He is the
higher priced artist. and is to be
paid $4,000 under any circumstances,
while Johnson is to have el 900 and
his passage money. The thing is al
together contrary TO the true spirit
of sport, and. this being so, one may
surely offer an opinion. II is the
common property that Squires was
given a stipulated sum in each of his
last two fights with Burns--so much,
win, lose or draw. Jeewey Smith, it
is alleged. met was going to say
fought-Burns under the same con-
ditions. | again say-and | defy
contradiction-that with the eXcep-
tion of Gunner Moir, Burns picked
out his customers. What earthly
chance had Palmer. Roche. or Smith
of beating the champion? Therefore.
it was nothing more or less than
| what will you be knocked out for?'
In the old days we had "A dimunitive
boxer of the bantamweight order who
| would fight anyone. but his first
| question was How much does the
| loser get?' This proposition has
! played prominent part in some of
! the championship fights decided re-
Gently here in England. AS | have
remarked, the conditions imposed by
I Burns are altogether without pre-
cedent, and would never be tolerated
at the National Sporting Club"
Maybe that is true-although Am
! erican fight fans remember that the
National Sporting Club has tolerated
= = Int of thir~s in the past that looked