Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-11-18
BOXERS HOLDING UP
FIGHT PROMOTERS
Get Nearly Everything in Sight, and
Then Ask for More--Is Proving
Detrimental to Game.
ONE WAY TO BEAT PUGs
Get Together md Fix ScaIe-Biny
Gibson Withdraws-Johnso Out
of Pocket on Welsh and Wolgast
Scrap.

o! NEW Hro, York. Ncyember 1.-THE
and an form little trust for the purpose
to Tef ah the e. in their cent eff
MI the money that Is taken In at the
thriving metropolis. and in other cities
~ Just ms profitable as raising chickens
in ones backward, since tho lighters
huge percentages.
In the olden days the promoters
pulled pulled down a fairly ,sizeable wad for
times have Changed. Fhe g Greedy oS' ,sn a.
ers want about all the money that Is
lighters get their Guarantees Ie: It ieav es
tho promoters just about enough to go
o ON and buy themselves couple OF
instances tho promoters suffer finane
] cial loss. ~
Bad for the Fight Game.
This condition will continue just so
ers to dictate their own exorbitant
terms; Tho longer this condition en-
game. for with the lighters continuity
increasing their demands 1t means that
the promoters must. boost the admis-
guarantees for fighters. That viii
hurt the attendance.
There Is Just one way for the promo
and that ts for the promoters to get to-
gether and agree to fax certain scale
The promoters, to enable "t Themselves sGaaS'
to get out from under" in nil boxing
bouts bouts W. without suffering loss. should
percentage. OF the gross receipts. The
business snle sol, Of guarantecing tho lighters
It's gamble With him. He He Ra% eienr
something on the bout. but If the
weather Is bad or something else turns
up to decrease the attendance, ho not
only doesn't get n dollar for his tlmo
and labor. but he loses money on the
venture.
VIII Get Bulk of Receipts.
However,. tho fighter will continue
to get tho bulk OF tho gate receipts
as long as the different fight promoters
continue to compete with each other
star bouts. Fighters will play both
ands against the middle in trying to
shake down" the promoters for the
promoters VIII get Is the worst of it.
Billy Gibson, connected with the tight
g gt It IN s Nsw f1r e for many years
| regarded as the most successful fight
promoter In the East--and also the
in disgust. and gave out hgures to
show that the lighters get nearly all
tho money taken In at the gate, and
times nothing for their efforts
viii get worse" said Gibson. Those
| guarantees or bigger percentages"
Staged Ritchie-Cro bout.
Gibson stnged the Willie Richie
Leach Cross fight In New York last
winter; Tho house was packed The
figured that this would mean n harvest
for the promoters. When the fighters
Dnd T When be h sta oth9s bills
mission got It's share there was just
about s1,5oo left to split among tho
this $1,000 was their gross .divvy. The
club that Gibson was managing had
spent hundreds Of dollars to land that
fight.
by, James j.. Johnson. is conducting
fights In Madison Square Garden now
nred that they could make '" money Ms
They had ,. the idsa that bulky profits
had failed TO grab large profits be- be-
cause they, didn't manage things as
Johnson staged the FREDDY Welsh
pssSetaeadI that the house would be nbou,
SSo The States W shsrs 1as ne Syfy
s7oo The cost of printing, hall hire.
Sertising. electric lights and OTHER in
cidentals was nearly $4,000, according
TO the e. best figures oobtainable. John
Of tho receipts and about $500 in ad-
dition for railroad fare and training
expenses" Wolgast got 1926 for his
twenty-three or twenty-four minutes
Of work, and also he got about 5000 to
5000 for extra expenses.
Figure all these items up and you
will find that Johnson and his asso-
ciatea. who worked night and day to
get the bout, and who worked about
twenty hours n day after they got the
bout 80 as to make it's staging as per-
feet as possible. got just about enough
net profit for their efforts to enable
them to go out and buy themselves two
or three soda waters and a nice, new
50-cent .lecktic.
Harry Wills. the giant negro boxer.
has made q hit with the California
fight fans. He is as big as Peter jack
To- :