Omaha daily bee., 1917-03-11
FIGHTING GAME IS
NO BED OF ROSES
Champions Come From Bush,
Where Coin Is Scarce and
Bruises Many.
TALE OF YOUNG HoPEFULs

Will dllh Nlol al vi Va tliN VOOIVSV
coming to Les Darcy for ten rounds
or less with Al Mccoy. No doubt
said fan is right, but he seldom stops
to think of the lean months, and even
years, that usually precede fame in
puglistic circles.
Willard had quite his share of hard
knocks before he obtained anything
like real money by his fstic proves.
Jess spent many months riding side
door Pullmans when he wanted to
travel. He knows what it is to have
to "mooch" the price of bed or of
pork and" from proprietor or hanger
on around gymnasium.
Probably the memories of those
rough days account for the cham
pion's unwillingness to fight now un-
less guaranteed almost impossible
sums. He sees the easy money in his
circus business and has set himself to
gather every last thin dime he can
while he holds the title. His financier-
ing has made him unpopular, but
when his fighting days are done he
will not have to worry about beans
or the price of coal. He is saving
his.
Wizards case covers the careers of
perhaps nineteenth of the boxers, with
one exception. Only one in thousands
ever attains the fame that means
wealth for one fight. The rest plug
along as long as possible, grabbing
what cash they can and mostly work.
ing for almost nothing. A goodly
Lumber of the boys who appear in
preliminary bouts have to do manual
labor. That everlasting hope of land
ing on the top keeps them going till
Father Time stiffens their joints or
newly acquired wife decides hubby
shall no longer endapger whatever
beauty nature conceded him.
Chicago has any number of these
fellows who have cauliaower ear,
busted jaw, or the loss of waltz
able teeth for less than enough to
cover a night at the theater. These
ham and egg" boys usually furnish
the fun at the bush shows. Even the
windup bouts of these tank exhibi-
tons often net the principals hardly
enough for square meal.
Tale of Young Hopefuls.
A few weeks back town close to
Chicago put on a fight show. Three
bouts were billed and Chicago hope
fuls were secured for each of the two
prelims. One of them was bantam,
the other a lightweight. Neither
boasts reputation as yet-in fact,
neither ha5 real manager.
Their services were enlisted
through the boss of loop gymnas-
ium. He acted as their manager for
the occasion and drew a matter of
about $40 for each bout. He was to
accompany them and second them in
the ring. When the night of the fights
arrived he found himself engaged for
more pleasant party, and forthwith
turned over his proteges to an
habitue of his place. The temporary
manager knew less than nothing
about handling a fighter, but that
didn't IVORY the gym proprietor.
One of the boxing kids puts in about
ten hours day for stipend of $40
week. The other just exists. They
scraped up their fare somewhere and
with their second started for the scene
of action with no paraphernalia ex-
cept two pairs of tights and one towel.
Zero weather made the tiresome inter-
urban trip twice as long as usual, and
they barely reached their destination
in time for the first bout.
Both Chicagoans discovered they
had overestimated the size of their
purses. The bantam expected to re-
ceive $40, the lightweight $35. The
promoter informed them that the price
would be SIS in each case. The Chi
cago proprietor got his in advance.
They protested vigorously but to no
avail. The bantam was booked for
six rounds and his companion for
eight.
Sees His Sub Get Whaled.
Fortune smiled on the smaller fell
low, but he didn't see it that way.
There was some mixup over the card
and another boxer had been secured
in his place. The promoter had a
heart, however. He offered the ban
tam 81 just for showing up prepared
to fight. After much wrangling the
little chap finally got So in real money,
then sat at the ringside and watched
his prospective foe hand his opponent
lacing that would put an ordinary
mortal in bed for week.
His gym pal was far from as fortu-
nate. He went on, as per schedule. He
lasted eight rounds easily, but his an
atomy was considerably disturbed at
the finish. A rush early in the battle
sent him crashing against me poorly
wrapped loose ropes, and he suffered
an ugly cut almost foot long on his
back. He did lot of clinching and
was in danger of being mobbed by the
crowd at the finish. For which per-
Torrance he drew the stipulated fif-
teen bucks and carfare.
Too Late to Go Home.
Both boys waited to see the windup.
1t was ten rounder, and the stars"
were late in starting. As a result the
Chicagoans missed the last steam train
home. After wait of an hour in the
biting cold, they started home via
street cars, taking circuitous route.
The cars weren't any too warm, either.
A ride of nearly three and half hours
finally landed the budding gladiators
in the loop. Neither could go home
at that hour, so they invaded Turk
ish bath establishment and coughed
up six bits apiece for a bed. And the
bantam had to get up at 6 o'clock to
reach his job an hour later.
Ttie o,u iifai