Evening journal., 1914-10-29
FIGHT IS BUSINESS
AND NOT HATRED
Every Boxer Sorry for Bod
lily Punishment Inflicted
on Rival
COFFROTH TELLS
OF GAME RULES

SAN FRANCISCO. Cal, Oct %
Most people think" said the worlds
most famous sporting promoter. that
boxing is the most brutal of pastimes
and that the contestants take great
delight in the gore that they spill
For moment James Coffroth, for he
was the speaker. paused and looked
meditatively out of the window Of his
sumptuous Office.
Let me tell you thing that may
surprise yOu." he continued. when
two fighters step into the ring it is
purely business for one to win from
the other! Each is very Sorry for
the bodily punishment he infiicts and
when the battle is over the first
thought Of the victor is OF the wounds
OF the vauquished. If you have ever
attended a contest you will know that
this is true by the fact that the win
ner is always the man to give the
first kind word to the loser. He
shakes him by the hand or pats him
on the back and says, You made
game fight, old boy; are you hurtY
"Of course, there have been eXcep-
tions TO this rule. Some ring bouts
have been grudge battles, but for
every malicious glove fight there
have been 20 or even more that were
wholly impersonal- matters of busi-
ness.
There is glory in supremacy in
the ring, though, just as there Is
glory in supremacy in every other
walk of life. But there are many
games more brutal than the good old
Anglo Saxon sport of boxing. The
American game Of college football
probably holds the palm for brutality.
I can remember we'll when I played
II. that we frequently walked onto
the field with the deliberate intention
of breaking some clever mans arm.
leg. nose or head just for the purpose
of getting him out Of the game. And
there is the brutality Of the race
track. where the jockeys will try to
shoulder the leader off his horse just
to prevent him winning a race. And
there is only one chance in 10 that
( the luckless rider won't be trampled
TO death by the feet OF the on-rushing
horses. Compared to this Is boxing
I brutal?
"Of the few fights that have been
for blood perhaps the battle in 1908 be-
tween Abe Attell and Owen Moran was
one of the bitterest In a battle in New
York Moran had beaten Abie's brother,
Monte. thereby winning from him all
his money, iewelry. reputation as a
I scrapper and all. There were many
hard things said about the bout and
Abe took IT, up saying that if he ever
/ got Moran into the ring with him he
would chop him to pieces. The ami
mostly was so rancorous that friends
kept the two men apart on the streets
for fear that if they met there would
be bloodshed.
And the strange part of it was that
the very bitterness of the struggle
when the men were finally brought to-
gether made the fight almost a farce
for when they stepped into the rine
each had such a wholesome respect
for the others ability that instead oil
: tearing at each other wildly they
: fought in a very wary manner for feai
that one or the other would land Z
. knockout punch. The result of ths
bout was a tame contest that resulted
in a draw.
But in my thirteen years exper
ienoe in the fight game during which
] have staged 200 battles I have founC
that grudge fight is very unusual Box
= ing is a business with fighters just a.
II rs with the prOmoter-the busines.
Of furnishing clean sport to the pub
lic."