South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-09-11
PACKEY SEEMS
To Be CHOICE Of
OF NEW YORK FANS
Gang of $4,000 is Expected to
Gather Tonight to See
SCrap-Seat Sale May
Bring $4,000.
By Damon RunXOn.

BY Damon RunyOn.
NEW YORK, Sept. lit is now
believed that over $4,000 persons will
gather Saturday night in the old mo-
tordrome at Brighton Beach TO see
the boxing contest between Packey
Mcfarland of Chicago and Mike Glib
bons of st. Paul, thus demonstrating
the power of the long, loud bally-
hoo.
Here is an affair between men who
are not champions or at least not
title holders and who have not even
moved in the same weight class dur
| ing their ring career and are there
fore not TO be considered in the light
of natural rivals. 1t in no way in
wolves a championship and has no
particular bearing upon any subject
of controversy in the sporting world.
1t is over a route generally regard
ed too short to settle the question of
real supremacy when men are rea-
sonably matched there is no none
| tary incentive OF a winner and a
| loser basis, because the contestants
have already received Their respective
| rewards and seven out of every 10
! followers of the fighting game are
whispering the fear that it may be
what the sporting world calls "one of
those things yet it has aroused more
excitement than many a real cham
pionship struggle.
! Great, we repeat, is the power of
! the lusty "shill!"
Seat Sale $4,000.
ii is said that the advance sale had
reached SAL, 900 at o'clock Friday
evening. The promoters predict that
it will amount TO $4,000 by noon Sat
rday. Some rash souls assert that the
receipts Saturday night will run up
to 100000. of which sum the dill
gent Observation-Disclosures connected
with the affair are morally entitled to
half
Not only does the success of the
affair from a financial standpoint
seem assured, which was naturally
the main idea, but considerable de-
bate as to the merits of the contest
ants has been aroused. A few months
ago the suggestion that Packey Nc
Farland, a light hitting near welter-
weight, fighting among hghtweights
and rather noted for a propensity for
| taking a considerable weight advan-
tage over his opponents could re-
main out of the ring two years and
! then come back and defeat the slash
ing, knock dead Gopher state
/ ghost. would have been received with
believe Packey will outpOint Mi
chael.
Favor Packey.
Happily, they say, outpoint him.
They do not intimate that Packey
will knock out Mike. The average
fistic follower a few months ago
would have figured Gibbons on the
past form of the two men. to win
from the pride of the stock yards, in
short order, but now we find them
favoring Packey in the result Satur-
day night Apparently they figure
that condition will not count in such
a short bout. They must figure that
way to figure Packey a winner after
i, having been in retirement for two
: years during which time he let his
weight run up to 10 pounds.
, When he effaced himself from the
game Packey had reached approx
p mately the point in ring career
where we must now locate Gibbons
. That is to say Mcfarland was in his
fiStic prime. Since coming back the
; Chicagoan has had to shake off 20
pounds of useless fat and that in a
; few weeks. He is perhaps fortunate
, in that Gibbons has meanwhile had
TO grind himself down to a weight
probably less favorable to him than
to Packey But maybe the fat of Nc
Farland absorbed some Of the clever
ness that once was his.
Gibbons Figures Knockout.
There are many lightweights Of or
l binary ability that Packey could MOI
knock out in 10 rounds and there
were some that he was unable TO fin
+, ish in distance bouts, SO ii is unlikely
that he will dispose of Gibbons il
e that manner. If there is knockout
it is more liable to be administered by
the Minnesota man and barring the
possibility of an understanding be
tween the two Gibbons figures TO VIII
that way if at all.
There is no denying the fact that
: many fight followers have viewed and
still view the meeting with some sus
picion. Nearly every battle between
ring men of any prominence develops
the suspicious ones, but in this case
the very nature of the match drew
the aim of the familiar finger OF the
old Suspish 10 rounds, no decision and
the money paid in advance, with moth