Los Angeles herald., 1910-05-17
PICK R|CKARD To
JUDGE BIC FIGHT
One of Promoters to Be Third
Man in Ring with JeffrieS
and Johnson
TEX WILLING TO STEP DOWN
Man Selected Declares He Does
Not Want to Referee
the Battle
TEX WILLING TO STEP DOWN
ASSOCIATED Pressl


SAN FRANCISCO, May 16.-Tex
Rickard. who is associated with Jack
Gleason in the promotion of the Jeff
ries-Johnson contest. who came into
prominence four years ago when he
/, engineered the Gans-Nelson fight at
Goldheld, was today selected to referee
the battle between the two heavy
weights. 1t came as thunder out of a
| clear sky, the agreeing on Rickard, and
at a stage in the wrangle when 1t
looked as If the principals were once
more hopelessly deadlocked
Rickard had been mentioned in the
gossip several days ago, but 1t was not
until this afternoon that his name came
before Johnson and Sam Berger for
consideration. Johnson it was who sug-
gested Rickard, but Berger refused at
first to accept the Nevada man on ac-
count of his ineXperience as a referee.
The colored champion declared that he
would stand pat on the three men he
had mentioned. Jack Welch. Eddie
Graney and Rickard. and Berger had
| replied Indignantly that he would leave
the meeting.
BLACK AND BERGER CLASH
Then there came further clashes be-
tween Berger and Johnson, in which
ugly words were used by Berger and
threats made by Johnson. Berger
| stood up as if to leave the meeting
place.
80 you want Rickard, do you?" he
queried at Johnson.
YES came the answer.
We'll, all right" replied Jeffries'
business representative, and the crowd
broke into cheer as it finally realized
that one of the difficult points had
been settled.
Following the agreement, Rickard
made the following statement:
WHAT TEX SAYS
I'm order to straighten out this az
fair am willing to act, providing that
my name is agreeable to all concerned.
l don't want to act and | hope that be-
fore the fight takes place Jeffries and
Johnson will agree upon another man.
If they can come to terms 1 am per-
fectly willing to step down and out.
But If they can reach not other agree
ment l will not back down."
In spite of the agreement there is a
feeling of diStruSt among those who at
tended the session that the last word
has not been said and that sooner or
later the referee question must again
| be taken up for consideration. 1t has
been whispered around that in order
to give the impression that everything
is in working order, Rickard has been
| named until the contestants have fur
ther time to look the field over This
feeling, as a matter of fact, has been
strengthened by the statement made
by Rickard.
1t was Berger, during the negotia-
tions. who lost his head completely
and missed many a chance to score
telling point. From the start he
showed his temper and toward the
close 1t looked for a time as If there
would be a free-for-all affair. Just
before the compromise was reached
% IN,
go over and hit that big black fell
low" at the same time applying an
epithet This was carried to Johnson,
who suppressed his anger as best he
could but warned Berger never to call
him names again.
Berger denied that he had said any
thing of the kind, but Johnsons fol-
lowers insisted that it was true and
muttered among themselves that If
Rerger repeated what he had said he
would never leave the room.
you're just an educated dog" said
johnson to Berger. Now come out
and fight If you want to. I'll give
thousand dollars if you will come out
with me and box just three rounds"
They were finally quieted down and
the session resumed,
The meeting started as the previous
conference opened. Berger again named
the five men he wanted-Eddie Smith,
Billy Roche, Charlie Eyton, Phil Wand
and Johnny Herget.
Johnson renamed Welch and Graney
and said he would stick to them. He
intimated further that he would allow
no one, not even the promoters, to do
the selecting for him. All sorts of
compromises were suggested. Berger
said he would be willing to have the
snorting editors of the five San Fran
cisco papers name the referee or to al
low Los Angeles sporting editors to act
in conjunction with the two promoters.
There was a world of horseplay all
the way through the session., with
Johnson, as usual, playing to the gal
lerieS.