The Washington herald., 1916-01-30
Money-Mad Boxers Have
Ruined the FiStic Game
Noticeable Falling Of In At
tendance Shown IN Ring
Centers of Country.

Centers OF Country.
Money-mad tactics OF modern-dzy box
ers are riding the grand old game Of
hsticufnng to a state of collapse.
From practically every ring center Of
importance in this country come reports
of a noticeable falling of In the attend
ance at boxing contests, and men who
follow the trend of the times In affairs
pugilistic unhesitstinely declare that the
fighters and their graspins managers
alone are to blame for this resretaole
condition.
perienced in many years ts the prediction
from matchmskers everywhere
In searching for the cause of decress ed
patronage. promoters have found con-
elusive evidence to show that the fans
are wearying and rebeiline against the
tren1ied financial methods of so-calied
stars Of pugilism and beginning TO object
to continuing as the golden goose that
fattens the purses Of this gentry
Instances where boxers have earned
from 5000 to SIS 600 and $4,000 for sp-
proximxtely thirty minutes of actual
fighting are so numerous that they cause
little comment At the time. but when the
fighters In question begin to boast of
their earning power, rather than their
fighting prowess. then the public starts to
sit up and take notice. The money re-
hstic celebrities often represents the
amount that makes up the average msn's
yearly income. When the vorkinsmsn or
small business or professional man be-
gins 10 think seriously of this discrepancy
in earning power he resents the fact that
a roughneck like the average fighter. with
little intelligence. is capable Of drawing
down enormous pay for his services.
Investigation of present-dsy conditions
has demonstrated that this feeling on
the part Of the general public is the root
Of the indifference that Ia affecting the
boxing game
In the old days. when fighters real
ly fought, weeks were spent in prep
aration for ring engagements. Today
conditions are reversed About all the
training some of these notables do is a
work and then they announce loudly
that they are At and eager for hard
battle.
Recently the public prints carried
the story that the ambitious managers
of Ted Lewis and Charley White were
in spirited dispute over the earning
ability of their respective scrsppers.
Each manager called attention TO the
had filled. quoting figures of purses
received. and outlining a list of future
battles that would keep the boxer
busy indefinitely. In some cases IL was
stated that two matches were xched-
uled for one week.
II is incidents like this that have
sickened the paying public of the box
ing game. Naturally, IL stands to rea-
son that when q fighter has so many
engagements TO hil his main object
when engaged in battle will be to
protect himself from injury, and he
accomplishes this by adopting safety
first tactics. The result Is that the
match develops into a boxing eIhibi-
tion rather than a fight, and the fans
who have paid out good money to see
a real scrap do not get an honest re-
turn for their coin.
These matchmaking methods of Ger
tain boxers probably could be cur
tailed, by the way, IL the commissions
that have control OF the sport in the
leading hstic centers would cooperate
TO put q stop to the practice. II ought
to be a simple matter TO adopt a uni
form rule barring a scrspper from en-
gaging in matches too closely in sue
oession. and IL this rule is backed up
by another one which would suspend
a fighter for several months>If he fall
ed to put forth his best efforts in a
fight then the evil besetting the sport
would quickly be eliminated. There
would be honest decisive fighting then
and not so much jabbing and clever
footwork.
when men like KetcheL. Papke, Nc
Govern, Corbett Cans, woIgast. Nell
son, etc, were in their prime the
game hourished and prospered, but
the present-day methods Of certain
hstic celebrities, who are safety first
boxers at all times, cannot help but
make patrons sour on the sport
It has been noted that since the
start of the present season there have
been only FIVE matches that drew re-
ceipts running into Eve figures. New
Orleans one, and St Paul the other.
In practically every other boxing cen
ter the average gate for a show ranges
from $4,000 TO 5000. 1t takes a match
of exceptional promise nowadays, to
draw out the fans In the metropolis
they like the ring msstodons and any
time the headliners in this division
are matched a big house is sure to
result The Crescent city Is partial TO
the midgets and liRht-veiEhts, while
the SANITY city falls hard for any at
traction in which the peerless Gibbons
is featured.
The big matches of the 1sib-isIs
season to date drew gates ss fol-
lows:
Mcfarland d-Gibbons ......s.....S $4,000
Moran-Cofey .............. $4,000
Moran-Cofey ............. $4,000
| Gibbons-Ahearn .......... $4,000
Wtlltame-Burns ........s,.... . 1a,0oo
| New York naturally has been the big
money center, but there Is only one
match now remaining for the metrop-
oils that will extract the coin In bun
dies from fight fans This is the pro-