Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-17
BIG MONEY IN PRIZE FIGHTS
Australia Now Holds the Record in
Gate Receipts.
SULLIVAN THE BIG COIN GARNER
California, Olympic, Coney Island,
Seaside, broadway, Lenox and
Empire A. G. I'm the Old Days
All Made Fortunes.
SULLIVAN THE BIG COIN GARNER

prize fighters are better paid for the
actual time they are at work than any
other people on EARTH said a veteran
sporting man at a hotel the other night.
why, look at this fellow Tommy Burns
cleaning up some 10000 in a couple of
years! Show me some grand opera singer
or college professor who can do this.
II you care to figure it down you'll find
that Burns got a little over $500 for every
minute he spent in the ring. That's pretty
good pay for a pug at least, Did you ever
hear OF a grand opera star getting 800
for a good or o bum performance, as Burns
did the other day for putting up a very
poor fight with that big coon Johnson?
lard then look at the gate m~oney-S15O,-
600! How that for Australia! That beats
the record! We've never taken in any
such money at a fight in this country. The
record breaker here was the Corbett-Mc-
Coy fake fight in the Garden, which drew
just half that amount! John L. Sullivan
was the first fighter in the history of
pugllism who drew big easy money. why,
John got at least $1,000 for every minute
he fought with Tug Wilson at the old Gar
den moro than twenty-five years ago, and
ne ought to rave got more il the gate
money had been in good hands. The rounds
were cut almost in half in order to save
Wilson, so take it altogether John did
about ten minutes of real fighting and
received over $4,000 for his bit.
Sullivan the Money Getter,
There's no use talking, but Sullivan
was the greatest money getter the ring
ever produced. He must have made a
million cold and he blew 1t like a drunken
sailor. | remember when he came back
from winning the KiIrain fight he had
about $4,000 left. He had been held up
by sheriffs and other officials on the way
up north from Richburg. Miss, and had
given up Several thousands OF dollars 10
square himself. These coppers thought he
had a million or so In his vest pocket and
the way they put it to the big fellow was
on outrage.
III there's one place John l.. doesn't
care for it's a jail, end he would have
siven up his entire winnings rather than
90 ten days in the cooler. What do you
think he did with the $4,000 when he
reached New York? Why he Just handed
it over TO a burlesque actress for safe
keeping. Charley Johnston, one of his
closest friends and hacker, was amazed
and asked Sullivan IL he was crazy.
Not on your life, Charley replied
John. She's as safe as any bank
THE burlesque queen, however, skipped
off to Boston in a few days with sullivan's
Doodle. John followed her, but she dodged
back and forth between New York and the
Hub for a month until the big fellow gave
up the chase IN disgust. John never saw
the queen or the coin again. so between
the coppers and the address Sullivan was
flat broke a month after winning a big
championship fight. Then, to make mat
ters worse. he started in to drink up the
town. A responsible theatrical manager
about this time thought he saw a chance
to get some money with the champion and
so tried to induce John to spar three or
four two-minute rounds at Madison Square
Garden with anybody, even sullivan's
sparring partner, Joe Lsnnon. but Johr
positively refused. although the theatrical
manager finally ran his offer up TO SiO.O
Sullivan's friends could not understand
how he could refuse such a generous Offer
when he was stone broke without a dollal
to his name. / asked him one night som,
time after why he turned the $4,000 down
At first he declined to talk about Il. bu
after a while he said that he was undo
certain obligations 20 his hackers and 9th
ers and that II he accepted the offer the
would declare themselves in on the deal
so that his share would be cut 10 abou
5000. sullivan was a bit sore on some q
his supposed friends and did not want I
| give them q chance 20 make any more
money out OF him.
There's been a lot Of coin in fighting in