Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-22
OFFER HIGH BIDS
TO GET 'HEAV|ES'
London Purse Should Match
Johnson and Kaufman,
Says Corbett.
LAUGHS AT JEFF'S
dope" STORY
Former Title Holder of Opinion
1t May Be a Little Press
Work on JeffrieS' Part.
By James J. Corbett.

By James ]. Corbett.
RALEIGH, y. c., January 21.-tSpeciaD
1t is enough to make some Of the old
timers turn over in their graves-thesa
fabulous offers made to boxers OF the
modern school 4 purse OF $l01,oOO for
Jetfries to try 10 come back" and now
an offer of prize of half that amount
for his successor to box Al Kaufman,
the latest challenger for the title.
Harry Frazee. the well known theat-
rical manager, and Jack Gleason, former
ly associated with Tex Richard. are out
again with an offer of a hfty-thousand-
dollar purse for these two gladiators 10
fight for, the battle-ground To be in
London and tho date during coronation
week in June. And our enterprising
friend Hugh Mcintosh is yet 10 be heard
FROM Possibly he will boost this offer,
for the Australian promoter is no piker
and will take as big chances as any one
In the game.
Fifty thousand dollars must sound nice
to al Kaufman, who never before has
had the good fortune To get a crack al
the real big money, and he ought TO Jump
at the chance, provided the negro can ne
induced to split with 4 reasonable win
ner's and losers end. But there's the
rub. johnson is on Easy street at this
particular moment, and the poke chops
are more frequent than a few years ago,
and he will hold out for a big guarantee,
win or lose.
Kaufman Should Have Voice.
Kaufman Will not exactly be tickled
to death at a chance to work for moth
ing, and to let the negro have all the
gravy. and he will be in the right. too.
fight anybody unless guaranteed q GER
tain amount. no matter what the re-
suit OF the affair. is an illustration OF
the unsportsmanlike character of the
graduates Of the new school OF pugi-
ism. The champion wants everything
| and can afford to wait until his terms
are acceded to. as he knows full well
how anxious the white sports are to
see him licked. and that they will be
willing to pay well for the privilege.
1t is not right that the champion and
his greed be tolerated. but It looks Like
given the alternative of fighting on q
winner take all basis, or with q WIN
ming and losing end. or OF getting out
OF the game. But the promoters also
are hungry Tor the money. and John
son, in all probability. will get what he
asks for in the long run. Besides.
competition is great these times. and
the promoters must come through with
tho COlu 10 DOOh the drawing
Says Negroes Stand Is Wrong.
do not blame a boxer for trying to
get all the money he can, but there is
a limit to all things, and JohnSon's
stand dfsgusts all lovers OF boxing. The
sport Is older than he, and better men
have respected and lived up to the
time-honored rules of the division Of
My{v he lot nafl ra1
entitled to the big end. This is a
comparatively new deal-this giving
the champion all the cream. whether
he wins or loses and places the ancient
sport on commercial basis. which Is
no great boost for it.
When I boxed John L. Sullivan for the
championship the offer of $4,000 purse
was looked upon as something eXtraordi-
nary, but these days champion wants
more than that amount guaranteed him,
even IL he gets his block knocked off. as
the high brows have 1t. We also had a
little side bet of $4,000, and in real
money. too. Not for any OF the champs
of today. They are not going TO FISK
their own good money. / guess not. We
were satisfied to let the better man have
the title and all the money, and no fault
found. The champions nowadays are
bunch OF sure-thing sports.
Plenty of Money for SsPugs."
BUSINESS ILcH Keep UH dOouV
hard times and reducing expenses. etc.
but the financial stringency has not been
felt in pugilistic circles. The last week
or two the wires and cables have fairly
burned with offers to everybody OF any
prominence in the game. Mcintosh has
offered Tommy Burns a guarantee tthere
it is AGAIN. of S12.5OO to meet Bill Lang
in London, and the offer has made Burns
III min n a.
from the arena.
On top Of this comes an offer to Bat
Nelson Of 81 600 per round to box any
man OF his own choosing SIX rounds at
the sleepy city. Or, IL this does not ap-
pear liberal enough In the eyes OF the
dethroned king of the hghtweights. he
may have 40 per cent Of the gross
instead. But the Battler Is In the Car
negie-Rockefeller class, and the offer ap-
parently has not tempted him II 1 We're
a few years younger, ana the theatricaI
business was not SO profitable, l would
take a chance myself
The dope story will not down 1t has
become one OF those continued in our
next" serial affairs. Barney Oidneld -
the latest with yarn, but II IS the
same old stuff he is using. Barney says
that Jeffries told him that he had suffer-
ed from drug poisoning, and that mental
or nervous collapse would not nave al
fected him physically for weeks after the
contest
Who Did the Doping?
Maybe not. but who doped the boiler.
maker? The big fellow absolves the MEM
bers Of his training camp from all blame
in the '.treachery," which, of course. Is
nice of him; and how could an outsider
put the deadly drug into Jeff's food and
drink? Mrs. Jeffries cooked the ex-cham-
pions meals. and no one had chance
to do any dirty work in that depart
ment of the camp. And il jeff had been
slipped the dope for month so pre-
ceding the fight, as the story of Old
fields would lead us to believe, ii seems
ID me that he ought to have been able
TO detect, or at least suspect, that all
was not right.
jeff was not himseif-that is true-and
he was in state of collapse the day
of the fight. but | do not believe he was
Continued on Third Pase.)