The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-14
.lBy James J. Corbett, Former Heavy weight Champion of the WorAd-)
 fssrescia | I r., vFs1, Q Fyvxuiue Q Harm CT

ing celebrities the last few weeks Be ! sides the high H1Ic l<y-m mucks of or ganized, baseball, outlay magnates. 1 and the worlds tourists chaperoned by eMessrss McGraw, Callahan and Com
 isley, we have also been entertaining | a pair of ti1e worlds most noted pugi- Hstic impressarfos in the persons of Reginald L. (Snowy) Baker of Sidney, MeIbournes and a few other Austra Han cities, and James lSunny Jtrn) Coffroth, the premier promoter of boxing contests in these here United States of America
 Snowy Baker dropped in on us about ten days ago on his way around the world in search of boxing talent for shipment to the Antipodes. While not successful in persuadingN all our stars that the trip would pay them Snow has done fairly well and if the boxers who have promised to make the trip to that far-off country under his auspices do not back down between now and sailing time the Intosh wdlI have quite g. bunch of American talent to exhibit to Aus tra1ian fight fans this coming sum mer.. Snowy paid me the compliment Of calling on me at one OF the local vaudeville houses where have been playing and we had quite a lengthy . pertainin. to'' boxing. Barring an
 other distinguished visitor, Jim Golf roth, I do not hesitate to say that Baker is the Hvest wire the game
 knows today. IS hustler with 2
 his efforts hay met sv7ith in Austra alfa is ample testimony of his progressive ness.
 That's what booing needs aro1lnd lfthese diggins progressivene IT we had a Baker or a Coffrothl in New
 York the game might be in better re- I pute. At the present writing profes- siona1 boxing is at a lower ebb than at any time since the Fsrawley law went into operation. Billy Gibson has ! always been a. credit to the sport and i undoubtedly WplId have made a greater success at Madison Square l him free rein. But am told Billy, l although matchmaker and manager l in name, had to consult the fellows
 above him before he could close an important match.
 I Unless the Garden people persuade him to change his mind Billy Gibson is through with boxing on a big scale i in this city. While he will probably I retain his interest in the Fairnnount A C. Gibson will devote the greater part of his time in the future to the direction of other interests in which l he has money invested. Billy's retire. 1 naent will be a loss to the local game. During the time he held the position
 as matchmaker at the big club he supplied New Yorkers with a high
 grade of boxing entertainment. In fact, Gibson, would not stage bout 1 that did not promise some good sport. I Of course, he had made mistakes of l judgment occasionally; that is bound to happen to every promoter But 1 with; all the rumors of fakes and l frame-ups that have been circulated I from time to time-and probably a1- I ways will be-it must be said to BiPs credit that his name has never been remotely connected with scandal. of l any sort.
 If he has really retired=and he says so-the Garden A. c. officials will
 have no easy time finding a. man who
 will fill the bill So acceptab1y in every I way as the genial William Off hand,
 I can't think of any local manager 1 with sufficient knowledge and expert
 ence necessary to successfully handle l such a proposition as the Garden. Rod
 or Jess McMahon might make good If
 given the opportunity. But I doubt it. 1 I have left out Tom O'Rourke's name best we have in the East in the match
 making 1ine-because doubt if Tom
 would be considered at all. O'Rourke's
 methods have made him unpopular
 with certain newspaper men and as
 publicity is required to successfully
 promote any sport, Toms chances fol Il landing the job look rather dubious
 At that I doubt if he would accept il s the position was rendered him. He
 now conducts the National Sporting
 Club and might not care to give thai Il up for the greater worry and cares o1 Il the larger institution.
 If only Jim CoffrotIl, who is al
 present among us, could be persuaded
 to locate. here. What grand match 1 maker he would make for a club witI
 an arena the size of the Garden ana
 the population of Greater New Yort } to draw support from. The Garder
 officials would surely make 8 ter strike if they landed Cofroth, and the future success of the club would bs ' assured. There is no other man II this country or elsewhere better quail l fed than the sorreI-topped promoter from California But his interests il the west are great and do not thinl he could be induced to give .up-eveI if offered an extremely liberal sa5lary [ and percentage of the receipts. Golf roth has many friends in this city wht would be tickled to, death if he wer' to locate here and doubly so if h. ; would come in the capacity of promo : ter and matchmaker. Jim woult . make one bowling success of the bil c1ub-if such a thing can be done. The New York Boxing Commission
 CTS have made snowy Baker al honorary referee for the state of Nev York. This was a. neat compHmen
 to pay the visitor from Australia, a. Snowy was Hugh McIntosh's officia [ referee for many years before pur
 chasing his former employers inter ests, and has been the third man il
 the ring at many of the greatest box
 ling contests held in Australia MT Baker refereed the Johnson Burn
 match. and all the bo11ts in which th,