New Britain herald., 1915-02-27
Vew York is Depriped of
 Bouts by Piking Prom0ters
Jim Corbett Takes Few abs at Men Who Provide Fistic Entertainment for Gotham Fans in His
 Farewell Letter.

| D1Gdlng contest for the Johnny hll- l bane-Kid Williams match Philadelphia l promoters have made New York 1 lnatchmakers resemble the well known 1 piker. Unfortunately for Gotham l fans there is only one big club in ex- ] lstence here, and those back of it are ] working on a sure-thing system. This
 they can do as they have no competi-
 tion and evidently nothing to fear in
 that line as long as the present board l of commissioners are permitted to run 1 affairs in such arbitrary way as
 they have recently. And that is the sole reason why other cities grab match that would in the natural order 1 of things come to the big town. ] The Madison Square Garden pro- ] motors will not guarantee boxers any 1 fixed sum any more. Or/at least they l will not tie themselves up in any way l where there seems to be a possibility 1 of loss to them. If they had some 1 good live competition it would be en- 1 tirely different. It would be quite unnecessary for matchmakers to bid
 SC high that money would be lost, but l the competition would mean that the 1 clubs would have to shave their pro- l fits and the fans would have more and better attractions. l There is no other city in the world where the crowds will flock in such large numbers to a boxing match as
 they do in New York. If there is
 such a place I have missed it alto- gether and during my time I have
 travelled around a bit. Put on attrac-
 tive bouts between good men and the
 prices charged, no matter how high,
 will not keep the crowds away. New
 York has hundreds of thousands of
 transients within her limits the year
 around, and among them are men who come here to be amused and are will
 ling to pay stiff price for the priv ilege. And what is there in the sport line that appeals to red-blooded man more than boxing contest between boys of recognized skill and reputa- ticn?
 Philadelphia can bid s1O,O0O for k1lbane and Williams to box six rounds. But the matchmakers of big Madison Square Garden. with seven million to draw from, can't even think in figures that high for ten round bout between the same boys. Is it any wonder that boxing is not four ishing here as it should? Why, a man can see better bouts in almost any medium sized middle western city than in Gothan-and at prices that i would make local promoters drop | in faint.
 /. I am told that Jim Coffroth and | Tom McCarey, the veteran California. l promoters, are on a lookout for a | promising field of operation. They | need look no further than New York. 1 The largest city in the country, the l greatest boxing town in the world, and | no competition worthy Of the name | to buck against Thing it over, men, think it over
 Welsh Petering Out.
 One of the few bouts arranged for l the near future in New York that 1 promises to be an interesting affair l is the Willie Ritchie7 Freddy Welsh l match scheduled for Thursday, March 1 il, at Madison Square Garden. Rit- chie's arrival in town after his long lay-off has injected considera ble i interest into the local game and as the ex-champion made himself solid with New York fans by his aggressive style of milling when he tough Leach | Cross last year the promoters are assured of one of the biggest houses of the season. Welsh with any other boy than
 Ritehie or possibly Mcfarland, would net draw much money to the Garden just now. Freddy has appeared here so often of late and his work has SO greatly deteriorated that the fans have become very tired of paying from $2 to $1O to see him waltz ten rounds when they can get the real genuine Vernon Castle stuff at the l theater for a couple of bones. But i the sports know that Freddy is not l going to have time for any fancy bus To ic l to be an exceedingly busy young man 1 for ten rounds-if the mill goes that 1 long-and he will have to be in much 1 better condition than he has shown l here in months to keep up the stiff l pace Ritchie is sure to set from the ] very first tap of the bell
 1 Willie Ritchie has not been seen 1 in the ring in public but once since
 losing the title to Freddy and there 1 fore may not be at his highest speed,
 the crowd can depend that he will give them good run for their money. 1 He is already down near the weight l he will have to make for the Welsh l match and will enter the ring a finely 1 trained athlete.
 Ritchic Has Eyes on Old Title.
 Ritchies ambition is to get back his ! title, and as there is little chance to do that from a clever boy like Welsh i1. ten round bout he is working ': with the sole idea of making such a showing against the champion in the coming bout that the public will demand that Welsh meet him in a longer one.
 And this battle should give us a ] real line on Welsh In recent bouts
 the champion has shown very poorly by comparison with previous efforts