The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-02-27
BY JAMES J. ooRBErr
Former Heavyweight Champion of
 the World.

Former Heavyweight CnampAOn OA
 the World.
 Written Specially for the Farmer. In that frenzied bidding contest for the Johnny Kilbane-Kid Williams match Philadelphia promoters have made New York Inatchmakers re- semble the well known piEer. Unfor- ] tunately for Gotham fans there Is only one big club in existence here, and 1 those back of it are working on sure-thins system. This they can do 1 as they have no competition and evil | dently nothing to fear in that line as long as the present board of commis- sioners are permitted to run affairs l in such an arbitrary way as they have l recently. And that is the sole reason why other cities grab match after match that would in the natural or l der of things come to the big town | The Madison Square Garden pro moters will not guarantee boxers any fixed sums any more. Or at least they will not tie themselves up in any way where there seems to be a pos dbihty of loss to them If they had some good live competition it would | be entirely different. It would be l quite unnecessary for matchmak CTS to bid so high that money would be lost but the competition would mean 1 that the clubs would have to shave their profits and the fans would have l more aind better attractions.
 There is no other city in the world 1 where the crowds will flock in such l large numbers to a boxing match as !, they do in New York If there is such q place I have missed it alto l ge4her and during my time I have i travelled around 8 bit Put on attrac- l tive bouts between good men and the | prices charged, no matter how high, l will not keep the crowds away. New l York has hundreds of thousands of Il around, and among them fare men | who come here to be amused and are willing to pay a stiff price for the privilege. And what is there in the | sport line that appeals to a red-blood- cd man more< than a boxing contest between two boys of recognized skill and reputation?
 Ph1ladelpfaa. can bid ten thousand
 dollars for KIbane and Williams to box six rounds But the matchmak- CTS of big Madison Square Garden, I with seven million people to draw I from. can't even think in figures that | high for a ten round bout between the same boys. Is 1t any wonder that boxing is not f1ourishing here as it should Why, a man can see better bouts in almost any medium sized
 middle western city than in Gotham. 1 and at prices that would make local promoters drop in 2 faint
 If anything should happen to pre- vent Jack Johnson from climbing in to the ring next Saturday afternoon it would not necessarily mean that the promoters had abandoned all idea. o9 holding the match Those back
 Of the project, supposed to be Harry
 Frazee and Lawrence Weber. promin-
 ent New ' ork theatrical men, have aI-
 ready dug pretty deep for preliminary
 funds. such as Johnson's travelling ex- M rf
 track and erection of seats, and a hun
 dred and one details tha run into
 money These men have entirely too
 much invested to draw out now, and
 should the fight be postponed from the date originally set look for them
 to see the thing out later on
 While the popular impression ap- pears to be that the promoters are
 bound to lose money. believe that it
 will be the other way about if the
 urday. During that week the Texas Cattle Dealers convention will be in full swing at Fl Paso and that alone | would seem to assure a. return that
 would go a long way to paying the
 purse and other expenses. Seats
 at $25 and $50 each run into big
 money very fast, and the cattle deal
 CTS body is composed of men not
 likely to argue over the price of a
 seat for worlds championship box
 ing match
 q However. if the bout is set back a
 few weeks, either to give Johnson
 more time to train or for any other
 reason, the receipts will suffer ma
 teriaIIy, but I look for the prom moters
 to go through with the deal just the same. Only in that event a Willard
 victory would be their sole hope for
 gain
 One of the few bouts arranged for the near future in New York that promises to be an interesting affair
 is the Willie Ritchie-Freddy Welsh
 match sc1ieduled> for Thursday,
 den- Ribchle's arrival in town after
 his long 1ay-of has injected consid-
 eratble interest into the local game
 and as the ex-chAmpion made himself IsoIid with New York fans by his az | gressfye style of milling when he I fought Leach Cross last year the pro- n1oters are assured of one of the big
 gest houses of the season.
 Welsh with sany other boy than
 Ritchie or possibly Mcfarland, would
 not 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 pay
 ing from $2 to $10 to see him waltz ten rounds when they can get the !. real genuine oTnOn CaSLAS SCUI al the theafer for a couple of bones. But i. the sports know that Freddy is not ,f going to have time for any fancy business with Willie Ri6chie. He is going to be an exceedingly busy young man for ten round@if the mill goes that 1ong-and he will have to Ibe in much better condition than he has shown here in months to keep up te
 stiff pace Ritclnie Is sure to set from the very first tap of the bell.