The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1911-10-30
CANNOT STOP BETTING.
Sy W. w. Naurhton.

BY w. w. NauShton.
SAN FRANCISCO. Sept 2O-The
recently appointed boxing commits
sioners of New York have decided
not to allow decisions rendered in
connection with the glove contests
held under the Frawley law. AS far
as can be learned. this determination
on the part of the gentlemen in au-
thority meets with the approval of
the majority of the sporting men.
Some of the sporting writer's APP
pear to think that no decisions
means no betting but it is hard to
see how they figure it out That
betting cannot be INDUCED in to the
same extent as would be the case
if decisions We're allowed. is plain
ly to be seen. but that wagering
will be squelched entirely. does not
appear t that passion for gambling
which is deeply rooted in the hui
man race. and it will be easy enough
to find some method of backing
one boxer against another. even If
no verdict is rendered from the
ringside. For instance. men to whom
boxing without speculation is as va
pid and uninteresting as horse
racing without bookmakers or pool
boxes. will surely contrive to back
their ingenuity to do so.
One way of getting around the
difficulty will be to induce some
sporting man of good standing and
sound judgment to act as an unof-
fetal referee. He can sit unconcern-
ed. apparently, among the throng of
spec ators He will not have to wear
tuxedo or split the combatants out
of the ClnCh. but when it is all over
he can give a decision that will cause
thousands OF dollars to change hands.
And that is only one way. There
is never law or rule yet that some
smart individual could not devise
some way of circumventing. Nay.
brothers of the sporting press. bet
ting on glove contests has not been
stopped by any means
Wonder how existing champions
will view this system of no decis-
ions? AT first glance it looks as
though it should suit them, for
where no verdicts are handed down
it is hard to see how titles can
change hands. But while the new
order may hamper affairs seeing
that all bouts held under the Fraw-
ley law at least will be 10 decisions
it does not follow that any cham
pion would be able to retain his
prestige and his money making abil-
tiles if public opinion decides that
some other fellow has outboXed him.
1t will be interesting 10 watch
how the no decisions system works
out. In the face of it, it looks
as though clever boxers will be able
to do a lot of slap-stick work and
get away with it. A great deal. of
course, will depend upon the astute-
ness of the referees Even if there
are no decisions and consequently
no winners ends to strive for. the
men Of the ring should not be allow
ed to play fast and loose with the
public
Billy Papke is no doubt chewing
the cud of reflection. 1t has dawned
on him by this time that he is in
the bad club of every critic in the
land. The chances are that when he
fights he will try as he never tried
before.
Papke has been called the cham
piOn in-and-outer and there is no get
ting away from the fact that his
record is mixture of good and bad
performances. The strange part of
it is that Papke has furnished wretch
ed fights and sensational fights when
opposed to the same men
When he knocked out Ketchel at
Los Angeles, the sporting world was
astounded. He nailed the Michigan
assassin in the first round and then
took his time about detecting him.
What Ketchel did in later fights is
matter of ring history.
With Hugo Kelly, Papke fought
several contests which made it APP
pear as though there wasn't a thing
to choose between them. In San
Francisco one time Papke laid Kelly
low with two punches, and those
who saw the bout wondered how
Kelly ever managed to wade through
20 rounds with the Thunderbolt.
MIKE QUITS STAGE.