The Daily Missoulian., 1912-07-28
NEW YORK ATHLETIC COMMA.
SION WILL FIX pUos' CLASS.
e ~ WEIGHTS.
titles AND POUNDAGE
What Championship . ropnotehsr
Holds viii 0s Regulated by What
He Does on the Scales and Ne Will
Not es Allowed 70 Be Arbitrary.


ing season begins next winter and
the state athletic commission gets
down to work to revise Its rules and
regulations II Is more than probable
that a standard scale Of weights will
be arranged that win be recognized
all over the world.
It Is a well known fact that the
present scale OF weights In the diff
ferent classes, which are supposed to
govern the championship divisions, il
too elastic and that matches are
made with provisions that are fre-
quently out OF reason and unneces-
sary. It has been suggested to the
commission that change be made 80
as to limit the championships to
weights that will bring men together
at a nearer poundage and the pound
age mean a title.
The scale of championship weights
that has been suggested to the COM
mission Is believed would be ad-
vantageous to both boxer and the
featherweights. lightweights and the
like has been In vogue for years. Long
ago there were fewer boxers.
The increase in the popularity OF
the sport has brought forth hundreds
of participants and It is thought that
change should be made so as to
create uniformity of weights and
classes which will give a boxer an
opportunity to win additional honors
as he grows older and heavier.
The proposition is to grade the
classes by poundage instead OF titles.
by drawing a finer limit to the
weights and by creating more classes.
For instance. the lightest weights to
be recognized by the commission
would be l05 pounds. From this low
weight the rules will read SO as to
make the next class 120 pounds and
from that point to range by an in
crease of 10 pounds In every class up
to $50 pounds, which would make
divisions of 100. 14o and 15o-pound
classes and eliminate the existing
conditions OF featherweights, light
weights and 30 on. The titles would
then read: The 120-pound champion.
the 130-pound champion, and SO on
up the line.s
BY this means there would be
honors to earn that today are mis-
nomers In many cases. For instance.
Mike" Gibbons Is trailing along In
the supposed welterweIght division,
when. according to rules. he IL well
into the middleweight class. and has
been for some time.
Under the new rules he would be
champion Of the 150-pound class and
when he could not scale that weight
entering the ring he would have to
look to the middleweight division, or
say for example. the 1e6-pounds d.
vision for opponents, for that is the
weight that has been proposed for the
middleweight division.
In dealing with the weights above
1856 pounds, II IL suggested to. make
class from 166 pounds up to 1876
pounds, or a semi i-heavyweight divls-
ion. From that point there would be
| no limit, as man Weighing more
than 1876 pounds would be entitled to
step into the ring at catch weight.
The idea Is to grade the boxers Int 0
classes similar to the system now en-
| ployed In the rules governing trotting
races and arrange more champion
ships. The present scale OF weights
under old rules Is too wide. Names
could be given the different weights,
such as midget" ''bantam." Feather" !"
lightweight" "welter." middle" and
SO on II believed necessary. That Is
OF little Importance. but the better
classification of the boxers IL impor-
tant.
by this means closer matches could
be made and greater distinctions and
more honors earned by boxers without
their being trained to almost impos-
sible weights which has many times
been detrimental to the health Of
athletes.
It would also do away with the
subterfuge managers employ OF match
Ing men to weigh In several hours
before bout. All contestants should
be compelled to weigh In at the ring
side and In public. The habit OF
weighing men hours before the con-
test has never been necessary except
when hacker OF q boxer Is resort
i"1 ~ sHo1p pIdctlcc. ln0Te ID no fea-
son why boxers should not weigh In
at the ringside and be sent into the
ring at natural weight instead OF
being trained to certain weight at
o'clock In the afternoon. with the
knowledge that they will be several
pounds heavier at 10 o'clock at night.
For the last 30 years the boxers
and their managers have been ar
ranging weights to suit themselves.
They have claimed all Kinds OF titles
to which they were not entitled.
Wolgast insists upon the lightweight
limit being l33 pounds, because It
suits Wolgast. and Battling" Nelson