Los Angeles herald., 1910-04-24
EXPECT s5,O0O,00O
|NAGED ON FIGHT
Jeff-JohnSon Battle to Eclipse All
Worlds Sporting Events as
Betting Proposition
BIG SUMS UP IN NEW YORK
Early Signs Show That White and
Black Warriors viii Enter
Ring at Even Money
BIG SUMS UP IN NEW YORK

NEW YORK, April 23.-As betting
proposition, the forthcoming fight be-
tween Jim Jeffries and Jack Johnson
probably will be without equal in the
history of the sporting world. Count
ing the wagers that are being made in
this country, as well as the hundreds
of thousands of dollars that will be
staked on the outcome in other quar-
ters of the globe, ii Is estimated That
between $4,000,000 and $0O0O.OOO, all
told, will change hands.
Bob" Murphy, proprietor of the Ho-
tel Albany, who was stakeholder OF
the forfeit money put up by the right
ers before big Tim" Sullivan was
agreed upon as the permanent GUS
todian of funds, believes that some
such enormous sum will be wagered
Murphy already has big bundle of
greenbacks that have been placed in
his keeping by men with varying views
as to the pugilistic skill of the retired
champion and the negro holder or the
title.
Aside from the cash that he is per
sonally holding until after the great
issue is decided on July 4, Murphy has
heard of great many other bets being
recorded. Some of them were made by
we'll known Wall street men, others by
bookmakers, and even few merchant
princes and professional gentlemen
have waded into the market with rolls
to place either this way or that way.
Practically every one of these wagers
has been at even money.
BETTING TO BE RIOTOUs
"Its almost a certainty that the bet
ting will continue at evens right up to
the moment the men enter the ring,
said Murphy. In fact, there is no way
that any odds can be fixed. 1t would
result in a whole lot of confusing COM
plications to attempt making either
fighter a favorite over the other, and
except in a few instances where some
admirer of one man gets particularly
enthusiastic there won't be any odds.
1t will be "a case of You pays your
money and you takes your choice each
boxer entering the ring with all things
equal and it depending on his own abil-
ity whether he wins or loses.
1.-THE nearest approach to the giving
of odds is in some scattering bets that
have been made on the number of
rounds the fight will go. A few of
the Jeffres admirers. who are conf
dent that he will come back into bet
ter form than ever in his life, are out
with small sums to bet at even money
that the negro won't last ten rounds.
Others are willing to back their judg-
ment that Jack will have enough of
II in fifteen or twenty rounds, but
they want some sort of an inducement
in the way of odds. A lot of people
want to bet that if the fight goes the
limit the decision will be in favor of
jeff
But there's one thing that's sure.
out of the 90,000,000 people in this coun-
try there's a pretty fair percentage
that are going to have bit on the
outcome of the big mill You can't
get away from the fact that whether
or not man is interested in the fight
ing game or whether he approves or
disapproves of 1t, the engagement be-
tween Johnson and Jeffries will in
terest him where he would pay no at
tention to other events in pugilism.
Two things are bringing this fight be-
fore the entire world as no other fight
has ever been brought. One is the
tremendous publicity it is receiving
and the other is that it will decide
whether n white man or black man
is to be champion"
PICKS JEFF TO WIN
Murphy's view OF it is that JEFF
fries will win, not necessarily in any
ridiculous manner, but so convincingly
that there will be no doubt left in
the minds of boxing fans" as to his
superiority over the black champion.
The hotel mans word may be worth
something, too. He knows Jeff
pretty well. He was with him all the
time the big fellow was in this city
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