The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-01-20
GAME Of BOXING
FINDS ADVOCATE
GREATEST or ALL ATHLETIC
EVENTS oLD-TIME SPORT
DECLARES.
HE GIVES HIS REASONS
IT MAY HAVE FALLEN INTO DIsRE-
rUTE, HE ARGUES, But m
HAS BEEN HoNoRED
FOR CENTURIES.
By JAY LEWIS.

Then he proceeded TO argue the
question for himself after this man
ner:
Boxing. a. a sport. is the supreme
test OF a man. Once In the ring he
has TO depend upon himself alone.
He must face mis- adversary. quick
OF eye, cool in judgment, quick to hit
quick to parry and quick to get out
of danger.
He must possess n SOUND BODY, a
clear mini. have control OF temper
and, above all, he must have cour-
age: stamina, and heart to endure.
These are qualifications all athletes
must possess In a measure, put whe-
Their ii be running. leaping. wrestling
or hurting the stone-the fundamen-
tails of all games--the need OF all these
attributes of skill Is not 80 great as
II is in boxing.
Boxing The Test.
In wrestling. which. next to box
ing. is the game that interests all men,
opponents are not allowed to use their
lists and fists were given a man as
much to defend himself as 10 work
with.
Deep down in his heart every man
admires a great boxer, and has d
secret longing to be as able physically
as the boxer is. This feeling comes
down through the generations from
the time when every mans hand was
against the other.
In ancient Greece the game was
honored. SO 1t was In Rome. and from
our English ancestors We inherit our
love of the game.
The poets have praised II, novelists
have written thrilling tales of 1t. the
dramatists have used IL for their most
telling situations.
In The Theater.
What makes the spectators, men
and women sit up and gasp looking
with eager eyes at the scene on the
stage?
Ii Is when the hero pulls off his
kid gloves, throws aside his evening
coat. tie and collar and growls at the
villain,
Now. we will fight it out man to
mani
That's the cue for the whole house
TO thunder with applause.
Brutal? perhaps The nations of
the earth have yet to agree on a gen.
eral disarmament.
And Yet II Is not nearly as brutal
as aesthetic folk who never saw q box
ing bout would have US believe.
Nothing In more beautiful than n
perfectly trained athlete, and to see
u
formed, their muscles playing under
the glistening skin as they step into
the center OF the ring In boxing cos.
tune, gladdens the eyes of the most
sensitive,
Is Against Brutality.
l am not one who advocates brutal
exhibitions where two ill-trained lads
are allowed to hammer each other
until one drops insensfble. That is
hnNinR That q
The real game is when two evenly
matched young fellows. well trained
and skiliful, with no malice toward
each other, contest for supremacy.
That IL not a mere usage OF polite
WeTds. No real boxer ever bears NAL
ice toward his opponent. have even
seen them embrace each other after
a. bout.
There is an idea that boxing is pat.
ronized by the lowest element. That
is not fact. What 10 more, you will
lind at any boxing bout that II 10 the
most respectable appearing persons
\ who elAfnor ieadest for gore.
Like 10 sec SCIENCE.
Followers of the ring like to sec
the scientific side of the game. but
your so-calied gentleman loses his ve-
neer and becomes a savage.
A demoralixing exhibition? No more
than a football game when reepecta-
BILE men yell for their team to go In
and Kill the other fellows, often TO
kill. MAIN or distigure one particular
player on the opposing side.
Why is ~ the newspapers. when q
big championship match is arranged.
give II so much space? Simply be-
cause their readers demand IL. You
will find staid business men eagerly
reading about their favorite. DISGUISE
ing his chances with other business
7 men. and neglecting their business 20
hear the returns Of the battle. One
may be ashamed OF IL in church, but
seldom anywhere else.
Champions Are Heroes.
The champions Of the ring have
been the heroes of the populace from
the time OF Castor and Poliux, IL
they ever existed. or. In more modern
times. from the day of Tom Figg.
And the fighter of the past IL no
! more like the boxer OF to-day than Ia
the squire Of Tom Figg's day like the
modern citizen. Both have improved.
Both have progressed.
There Ia al much difference between
q a fight OF the old-tims ring and a
modern boxing bout as there IL be-
tween an ola-time drinking bout ana
modern banquet.
In ancieat days men battled with
the cestus--a sort of iron or brass
knsickles---on their fists. Later they
used the bare fists. Now they use
padded mittens.
In the time Of the old prize ring
men battied until one was smitten
sQr wrestied down. though they fought
- more than half hour without
Geasing. They had only q haif-min-
NMtess rest between rounds Now fhey
~ only engage for three minutes
a M = time without resting minute.
I Ring HA& Improved.
Conditions have improved. ruieA
nave Improved. the game has improy-
-. This In . respectable age, and the
nane II conduncted In a respectable
1 aamner In cities that permit the good
5&&l4 sport TO exist.
And whisper: What father In not
n secretly proud OF the prowess OF his
son In m impromptu battle?
90 to-" The ancient game OF boxing
Alay have been brought into disrepute,
ma X stili remains the greatest sport
sl ~ when ws consider the facts
z3 Gufr4y.
S7sS - DAGsA
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