The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1911-01-22
By BAT NELSON.

Asooo6SAc
years career in the ring. and the fellow
wnom I regard as the best is the man
who got me the most publicity.
Tho manager Of . fighter is a queer
institution. / Must call him an 'institn-
tion." for ne il There i nobody on earth
that has 4 similar position. He must Be
on the job tventy-four hours a day. b
q natural born hustler. and, nowadays
must be a man capable Of holding his
own IN any kind Of company. He must
work In perfect accord with his fighter,
must have good judgment, must have
friends in the newspaper ranks m every
city in the country, and. best OF all, must
be a trained newspaper man himself. II
] was starting my career all over again.
I'd pick out the best Newspaper man
available and hand him the Job. provided
he would take it.
The old-style fight manager is obsolete.
IN the days of the London prize rules
the manager of a fighter could often not
write his name He would invariably
stay around the training quarters, smok-
ing big cigars and bringing more whisky
than any other man in the city. He
would send for the newspaper men to
come and see him. and he would think it
to 90 to a newspaper Office.
Giving Away Secrets.
Perhaps I'm giving away some Of the
inner secrets of the business. but some
ambitious young fighter may read this
and profit thereby. Ny first manager,
Teddy Murphy, was former fighter.
He was a hustler, but knew nothing q
the newspaper game. We split through
a misunderstanding. and I tied UP with
Billy Nolan, a smart fellow, a former
gambler. but a college graduate who had
decided that the world owed him a living.
and he was going to collect Poor little
Bat Nelson was the medium of collec-
ton.
Nolan imposed hard terms more than
once for my services. but then. I always
figured he was justified. ! was the best
drawing card in the country, and a man
is always worth what he draws. They
roasted Nolan because he took $3.50 Of
the $4,000 purse against Cans at Gold
field. But he was right. Cans could not
draw a corporars guard against anybody
else. He was fighting for small amounts.
and I was getting $1,000 a week on the
theatrical circuit Cans himself was a
card, but not against anybody else but me.
1 made the fight, and ought to have received
my share The stipulations Nolan i'm
posed regarding weight were all accord
ing to rules. and the only reason they
had never been imposed before was be-
cause managers had not been smart
enough to grasp the idea of the rules.
Fighters last only a short time in the
game. They must make a life fortune
in a few years AS long as they live up
to the rules of the game. they are at
liberty to demand what they are worth
Tex Richard paid heavily for that fight
but he cleaned a profit of $4,000, the big
gest profit that had ever been made on
a fight up to that time
Richard was the pioneer in giving big
purses I was the pioneer in demanding
that I be paid what my services were
worth. Promoters have often offered me,
Of their own free will. 50 per cent Of the
gate receipts, At Goldfield I was paid
but 80 per cent
Nolan Too Penurfous.
Nolan became too grasping. working
both the public and myself, and I refused
to stand for his actions, and terminated
bur contract Willis Britt-sood. old
Wilis-handled me then in three fights.
I paid him $1,000 a fight on a guarantee
He was a great boomer. a royal handler
Of fighters. and had friends all over the
country. He fought me hardest when he
was handling his own brother. Jimmy
and the ways in which he annoyed me
made me Ike him, and take him over 10
my camp.
When came East Britt stayed on the
Coast. and 1 signed a theatrical con-
tract and annexed John R Robinson
in Chicago to handle the details. I had
known Robinson for years, and we were
the best of friends. I wanted to fight
but Robinson declared was not IN shape
to fight, and started to talk me out of
the battle We started the argument at
breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning,
and ate dinner at the same table at 1
to in the afternoon. The waiter
changed the table cloth four times-we
used It for writing pad for our fig,res
Robinson won the argument because he
bad greater oral endurance than I, and
finally threw up the sponge to make
him stop talking.
Our partnership carried US across the
continent, through nearly every city in
tho country, and II has been called one
OF the best partnerships ever made II
tho fighting game. Even such q smart
fellow rs Jack O'Brien has taken on
his hat to Robinson and appointed him
now American Athletic Club, in Phila-
delpsiia, the biggest fighting club in the
world, 90 I was forced to engage an
other manager, and I selected A. w,
Searles, also newspaper man, known
from coast to coast Robinson remains
my manager as far as match making
IL concerned. Searles is my personal rep
reaentHtive, and he lonlcs after my imam
cfA Affairs and sees that, get an that
u coming to me in the box once and
newspaperA
Here = the point I want to Impress.
A Newspaper man as . manager Knows
Just what the paper win take. II either
Robinson, 6earies. OF myself have q
scheane for story, Robinson and Sear1es
promptly put themselves In the sporting
editors place. and ask: would I. e
sporting editor Of that paper. rum this
story II they say no. the story goes
out tho window. And It's history that
none Of our schemes have gone wronG.
know the neWspaper game now o
thoroughly that Am aba 10 write storjes
myse&. and alDo know z thsy wla b
ua66.
The same thing b bssinnias % sppIy
to til theatrical business. '-CliAo. cor.
don. owner Of the show with which / an
appearing, says he would rather hsyo
Z mn With his show who kneWD noehang
&C show business and I'll oe TIA nouo.
papar bngines than . thosuugh Ghow.
nson ono knows uothlmg of jouenAllnn.
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