South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-11-18
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TRUST FOR CAME
Fighters Demand Guarantee
and Percentage and Man
Who Stages Fight Generally
Loses His All.

NEW YORK. Nov. 1N.-The fght
promoters ought to get together and
form a little trust for the purpose OF
thwarting the fighters I'm their efforts
90 get about 99.44 per cent OF an the
money that is taken I'm at tAe box of
fee
Promoting prize fighters i'm this
fhriving metropolis and in other cities
is just as profitable as raising chick
Gus in ones back yard. since the fight
ers started demanding guarantees and
hugh percentages.
ln the olden days the promoters
pulled down a fairly sizeable wad for
their trouble in staging n bout. But
times have changed. The greedy
fighters want about all the money that
s. taken in at the box office. After
the fighters get their guarantee it
leaves the promoters just about
enough TO go out and buy themselves
couple of packages of chewing gum.
In some instances the promoters suf-
Ser a financial loss.
This condition will continue just So
long as the promoters permit the
lighters 10 dictate their own eN-
0rbitant terms. The longer this con-
dition exists the worse il viii he for
the fight game. for with the fighters
continually increasing their demands
il means that the promoters must
boost the admission prices 10 meet
she increasing guarantees for fighters.
That will hurt the attendance.
Must Fix a Scale.
There Is just one way for the pro-
meters TO beat the money mad fight
ers and that is for the promoters TO
get together and agree To fix a Ger
tain scale for fighters-and stick 10
that scale.
The promoters to enable themselves
to get out from under in all boxing
bouts without suffering "a loss should
force the fighters TO fight for a Ger
tain percentage of the gross receipts.
The business Of guaranteeing the
lighters a fixed sum isn't fair 20 the
promoter. It's a gamble with him.
lie may clear something on the bout.
but if the weather is bad or some
thing else turns up to decrease the at
tendance. he not only doesn't get q
dollar for his time and labor, but he
loses money on the venture.
However, the fighter will continue
To get the bulk of the gate receipts
as long as the different fight pro-
,noters continue 70 compete with each
other and try to outbid each other
10 get star bouts Fighters will play
both ends against the middle in try
ing u shake down the promoters
for the largest sum possible, and the
best the promoters will get is the
W prst Of il.
Quits Disguised.
Billy Gibson connected with the
fight game in New York for many
years, quit 1t a short time ago. Glib
son was regarded as the most sue
cessful fight promoter in the east
and also the shrewdest. Yet Gibson
quit the game in disgust and gave out
dgures 20 show that the fighters get
nearly all the money taken in at the
gate and that the promoters get lit
tie and sometimes nothing for their
efforts.
Conditions are bad now but they
will get worse" said Gibson. Those
lighters each day are yelling for big
ger guarantees or bigger PERCENTAGES.
Gibson staged the Willie Richie
Leach Cross fight in New York last
winter. The house was packed. The
sight drew nearly S22 600 Everybody
figured that this would mean a har-
vest for the promoters. When the