The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1914-01-31
WHAT IS BOXING?
Prize FIGHTING?
fas"SssTa 81.
Questions Responsible For
: Many Wrangles in Court.
Throughout u. S.

Chicago, Jan. 31.-What is boxing,
and what. is, prize fighting?
For years these questions have been
the wrangles produced in courts in all
sections Of the country, and today
they are as. far from solution as they
We're when they first Started to make
a fuss over them. The fact that box
ing is legal in nearly every state in the
union, while the hand of the law has
made it illegal. to stage. prize fights.
has provided the big argument. for
it is up to the courts absolutely to de-
eide whether the swapping of punches
between two able bodied athletes in
a 24-foot ring is a sparring exhibition
or a genuine prize fight.
the spugilistic talent, just dotes on
calling the bouts, are II thing, while
the real stuff. which often carries with
it the "sleep producer" is another:
but to those who know the game at
all the two far from resemble the
proverbial twin pea in the pod, as
man would have us believe. TO diff
ferentiate between the n legal game
and the one illegal is some task, as has
been proved times without number;
and the failure to prove that many
bouts which have borne the earmarks
of a prize fight were not merely
sparring exhibitions q resulted in
failure where prosecution for break
ing the laws was attempted.
Some of the cases that have come
to trial were brought about by bouts
only recently one of such cases was
brought to light by the trial Of Jess
Willard, the Kansas heavyweight, and
several Others connected with a bout
in which John ("Bull'') Young met
his death. THAT bout was staged in
The. ring. presided oyer by Uncle
Of Los, Angeles. Willard ;. and the
were acquitted on charge. f
manslaughter1t but" a second trial.
charging them with violating the laws
against prize fighting. in. California.
brought out some interesting points
concerning prize fighting and. boing.
s, Perhaps:more interesting than any
thing else in connection with that
fatal fight was an. opinion given by
Judge Gavin Craig, of the criminal
department. of the superior court. Of
California, who presided in the trial
at,yMhichtethose. under charges were
acquitted Judge Craig's opinion.
which, shows that, he. has a, close in
as, follows.
"A sparring match is n in which
two persons attempt. through. skill and
science to strike each; other and to
avoid being struck, but in which there
is no attempt to inf1ict serious injury,
and in which the inventive to win 10
not through a knockout butfthrOugh
skill in boxing"
The viewpoint Of Judge Craig is evil
dence of the fact that he has intimate
knowledge of what boxing or. sparring
matched really are. and it would be
hard to. find al Interpretation that
would better ut the case. The fact
that. a fighter met his death in the
bout in question was evidence hard
to combat by those who through cir
cumstances We're forced to. cling to the
alibi that the contest was a boxing
exhibition nj not a prize fight.
But when everything is considered
it can be said that there are many
points in the opinion Of Judge Craig
which can and are applied in the
game they call prize lighting. The,
professional fighter. tlIeS one who de-
,pends. on his ring ability to, earn. him
"a !. LIVELIHOOD, certainly has not the
instincts Of brute, as some folk
would havessus believer There sare
spugilists lin sthe game todayssewho
.thrpegh skill and science. attemptssto
strike A.blnwsand avoid receiving one.
and are, content t05win@by ~superi0rfy
in that way;tbutsit Ii a9safe bet that
no Dugilist who enters the ring does
so with intent to infiict serious injury
on htssopponent