El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-02-27

Q and growing fast, being only 20 years
of age, and q match with Wells WOIfd
have been more even than the 1lgnI
fans might imagine at first thought
Why Wells should have passed 1t I'D
is hard to tell. for he viii surely meet
just as hard game in Ghis country II
he tackles Lutte McCarty. Jess Willard
and GunbOat Smith COT course barring
LangfOrd) unless he figures that the
10-rOUnd game is more to his liking
than the Marathon route over in Paris
and London
There seems TO be a demand all over
the country just now 70 have sane
boxing law passed so that sparring
contests may be held without having
lot of people complaining about viola
lions Of law, etc, and calling for re-
forms They break other laws every
day. but that does not matter. The
old antagOnism against boxing, or prize
fighting as the refOrmers have been
wont 10 call it, has been gradually dis
appearing, as these people become
more enlightened as TO what boxing Is,
and the time is fast approaching when
regular tournaments will be held in all
the Y. N. Q. A and even church gym
naSiums- There are some young min
listers who even now believe IN having
boxing bouts for their young men,
knowing that it keeps them around
their own neighbOrhOOd instead Of haT-
ing them seek the same amusement
away from home There are many
states in the west and middle west
where bills are pending in the legisla-
lures to legalize boxing, practically all
the bills being patterned after the
FraWley law Of New ] Ork state WiscOn-
sin Illinois. Minnesota, Michigan. Ohio,
Nebraska and several eastern states have
all Joined the list with bills to legalize
the sport Some Of the most prominent
men in the various states, not men
seeking offices or anything Of that
kind, but sound business men, have
come out openly IN favor Of such 8
measure. claiming that it is far better
to have boxing conducted properly and
under the jurisdiction Of the authori-
ties than TO have boys INDUCING in
old time prize fights in barns and
cellars. where they are liable to be hurt
and where the police cannot see them.
Charles Harvey, secretary of the
New York state boxing commission,
who has had an opportunity the past
two years to judge the merits of the
law, in a letter TO the writer recently
said I'VE have been receiving appli-
cations from all over the country for
copies of the F'rawley law on boxing
and II strikes me that the people are
just beginning to find out that there
is such q law and that it works to the
benefit Of the sport as well as the
people. This sentiment. which We hear
50 much about, has passed away and
people now realize that boxing IS a
business the same as baseball is q
business. The boxers sell their skill
the same as the baseball players do
for mOney-and the promoters invest
their money with the object Of profit
on their investment which is also true
of the men who put their money into
baseball plants and teams. All this
talk about boxers fighting for glory,
the same as they did in the Olden times,
is ridiculous Would the baseball play
ers work for the ball clubs for ElorT2
Not on your 1ifei Well, it is just the
same with boxers. They are just as
clever in their line as baseball players
are in theirs, and from ny past expe-
rience boxing is just as clean a. sport
as any of them. and I viii say il is a
much better exercise than most CT
them.
'-The fact that IN New York city
alone last year over $780, taxes was
paid into the state treasury from the
; per cent taken from the receipts at
boxing shows, gives a pretty fair idea
of how popular the sport is. To my
way OF thinking boxing will become
more popular than most Of the sports
all over the country in time and it viii I
be legalized, too"
Mr. Harvey is also interested in a
board of control for boxing, the same |
as athletics are controlled by the A. I
A. q. in this country and the A. A 4. !
in England. This movement was n
augurated by the writer and by the
Sporting Life Of London about six |
years ago. 1t Is badly needed and /
would do a lot toward helping the box /
ing game throughout the world.