New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-12-15
SPLIT ON BOXING SCALE
No Agreement on Weights Like
", Says British Critic.
MEANS TOO MANY CHANGES
welsh Hot on Trail of Richie,
Seeking Match with
Title Holder.
from The Tribune corespondent.I


r,rdon. Dec. There are clear and
.,,istakable indications that II the
.,,,dard Of weights outlined by the New
work. state Boxing Commission is to be
-. standard set by the proposed inter
,,topal board Of control, England will
..ro none OF It. In fact, ! see no imme-
,,.,s prospect nor. for the matter of that,
ory dim and distant prospect OF the con-
calling bodies in the world of boxing
aiming 10 any satisfactory agreement so
- o. first one side suggests some
.s,no and the other instantly throws 1t
down
Tho matter has received considerable
attention here during the last week and
one prominent writer, who is usually in
sp,red BY the only authority that counts
-. National Sporting Club-in pointing
ort that the weights differ considerably
,,o,o the standard here and also III some
,nstsroes from those that govern III
France. says
This difficulty may be bridged or not
nm, personally / do not see why We
sho,,d tinker with our scales Just 70 be
IN accord with the powers that be IN
N. states. It is not so long since the
committee Of the National Sporting CIuD
vent very carefully into the matter OF
wsisbts. which were altered and In
creased 70 eight by the inclusion OF fly
,,c,eht welterweight and light-heavy-
weight
"0f course. boxers have increased and
multiplied almost beyond number recently
and one cannot, on looking back but oe
reminded that in the days Of the Queens
berry championship we only had light
middle and heavy; that at the start the
Amateur Boxing Association had bur
feather light, middle and heavy. ana
even now. in its twenty-second year, but
the additional ban;amweight, while the
efforts 10 introduce a 7-stone 12-pound
have failed on two occasions"
The same authority, in denouncing the
suggestion that all weighing-in should be
done az the ringslde, gives number OF
reasons that will carry effective weight
here against any such proposal. Il take
It a board Of control" he says. will in
clude a set Of laws and rules concerning
everything pertaining TO the sport or box
ing. the said laws and rules to be ac-
cepted and 10 govern al contests. This
being so. America will ask for ringside
weighing, Australia for the elimination Of
inhghting and the free use Of the kidney
punch (barred here, and France, be
lleye, among several other things, two
judges and a referee. Ringsde weighing
S. to my thinking, out Of the question:
and will not, l believe-and l certainly
sincerely hope-ever obtain in England.
To begin with. II is not a fair thing 10
ask a competitor. while II smacks too
much Of the old prize ring days.
"Ringside weighing means long spell
OF suspense and uncertainty for COM
petitor-torture some men have called It;
In fact. II is the inclusion OF clause that
means near thing at the scale and
delay right up to the time Of taking the
ring that keeps q boxer uneasy and un-
settled up 10 the moment he puts up his
hands. From a spectators point OF view
too. Il is not by any means an advisable
process, for how can patron make sure
OF fair return for his five-guinea ticket
when everything may be upset at the last
moment by one OF the competitors having
10 forfeit his side stalker The contest
may be fought out by some arrangement,
but the fact OF one man being on 30 much
TO nothing takes away certain amount
Of interest which, with all plain sailing
would be centred on the bout.
Then there is the promoter, or the
club, giving the purse, who must also be
anything but comfortable until the scale
has been safely passed. Two o'clock
Weighing is the rule and should not be
abolished. II is fair TO all concerned.
which cannot be said Of the ringside seal
ing" - 49,
fully represents the opinions OF the Eng
llsh boxing authorities, and It is sbso-
1utely useless to 90 on talking about
The matter with 1900 miles Of ocean be-
tween. Nothing but a round table con-
ference can lead to any satisfactory un-
Outstanding, and l hear from good
source that this means of settling the
bnotty question is not at all remote.
The victory of Willie Richie over VOL
gast has diverted the attention of our
champions into a new chan
mel and with characteristic alacrity they
have decided that Wolgast is back
number and that Richie is the only man