El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-01-18
MONEY IN PRIZE
EIGHTING.
WHAT JEFFR1Es- JOHNSON FIGHT WILL NET.

, John L. Sullivan in 81 rounds at New
| Orleans, on Sept. I, 1892. he won $685.
900, of which the purse was $4,000
and the other $4,000 a side bet. They
fought on the basis of winner take
| all.
Earnings at Start.
But it was not always thus. John
son has fought for SIS or $40 and been
glad to get the money. Jeffries did
not have such an humble beginning in
| the ring as the average fighter. He
was a star performer almost from the
first. but when his ring career began
with knocking out Dan Long in San
Francisco, IN 1896, he was lucky to get
a few hundred dollars for his work
The average professional begins as
! a preliminary boxer. That is, ne
takes part in the bouts preliminary 20
the clashing OF the two stars-a sort
| of appetizer for the big pugilistic
feast to follow For this he may re-
ceive as much as IS all at once, If he
/ wins. but more likely he will have to
divide SIS. or less, with his opponent
| Often he is lucky to get 81 for four
rounds After making a reputation in
| 'pre1iminaries" he may appear in
semiwindup, which Immediately pre-
cedes the main bout. Here he may
contend for from SIS to 500, according
to the Importance of the occasion, and
| his own popularity.
J Sheriff Stops Fight.
Even star fighters have peculiar ex-
! periences in the matter of purses, and
| more than one has INDUCED in a des-
perate struggle for a small recon-
pense. A case in point was the action
| Of Tommy Feltz, the former bantam
! champion Shortly after he lost his
| title, but was still able to demand
| high price for his services, Feltz was
| scheduled to meet comparatively I'M
! known boxes named Tommy Lowe in a
barn just outside Of Washington, D. c.
| 1t was cold night. but a surpris-
| ingly large number of fistic fans had
! gathered for the encounter, and the
receipts were most gratifying. Sud
denly a rural sheriff bobbed up and
declared the meeting adjourned sine
die. as far as his county was con-
| cerned. The spectators got their mon
ey back at the box office. all except
| $3.50. which represented the donation
! of nervous citizens who had taken to
the surrounding bush when the limb
| Of the law announced himself.
Stars Battle for S1425.
| Confident that he had dispersed the
gathering the sheriff went his way
/ The promoter was in bad fix He
had arranged several other passages at
| arms that had been similarly raided,
and was getting 'in bad" with the
I sporting element. He besought Feltz
| &c take advantage of the sheriffs pre-
mature departure TO fight anyhow
| Lowe had already assented, he
| wanted the reputation Of going against
such notable opponent.
After thinking for a moment, sFeltz
calmly agreed to fight for the sum
left In the cash box He went 10
rounds to a draw with Lewis, and had
| to work himself out to the limit not
TO be defeated. Yet he accepted S14.25
with great cheerfulness, promptly
spending it for wine.
Early Day Methods.
On the other hand, boxers in the
early days of the ring received more
for their endeavors than has gen
orally been supposed, and their meth
DDS were quite modern. Jim Fig, who
died in 1874. is counted the father of
the ring, but he was really a sword
and single stick expert, who seldom
used his fists. George Taylor. who
succeeded to Figs amphitheater in
London, offered 1t as a battle ground.
on the terms of onethird to himself
and two-thirds to the fighters. Ere
quently as much as ESQ, or about
$3.50, was taken at the gate for these
I bbttlees around the year 174o, which,
with the value of money at that time,
was by no means puny purse
| Betting on the side was always a
feature OF the early days and remained
so until after the defeat of Sullivan
by COrbett, which bout also marked
the general aacceptation Of the Marquis
OF Cueensberry rules in this country.
This feature of boxers backing their
! opinion of their own proves Is still
far more prevalent in England than in
this country Innumerable challenges
with offers OF side bets. are published
in the English sporting papers every
year.
Side Bet Causes Trouble.
The first black eyeFreceived by pro-
! fess;onal pugilism was caused by a
side bet. Jack Broughton. champion OF
England, and Trainer of the first prize
ring rules. fought Jack Slack for the
championship. Broughton was so con-
fident that he trained carelessly, but
Slack was right on the job. April 1G
1850, and cleaniy whipped his antag-
onist.
The duke of Cumberland had been
Broughton's great friend and patron
and is said to have bet 10000 on him
The noble duke was not cheerful
loser. He claimed Broughton had sold
him out. and made such a disturbance
that a law against prize fighting was
rassed Broughton's amphitheater was
closed. and professional boxing started
on that furtive. precarious existence II
has led ever since
| To,,orrow-World'S Greatest Index.