Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1917-04-01
BOXING REFORMS
ARE NOW IN ORDER
Limiting Fighters Receipts to
$4,000 is Suggested as
Good Move.
TOO MANY MONEY BOXERS

New York, March 3l.-Now that
the ring game is on its last legs, box
ing reforms are in order, although it
probably is too late to save the sport
here. Other boxing centers. however,
have taken warning and are planning
to avoid the mistakes made in New
York. Out in Wisconsin the boxing
solons are considering a plan to limit
guarantees to $500 in order to force
the boxers to accept percentage Of
the gate receipts instead of holding
up the promoters for absurdly high
amounts.
1t might be good plan to go even
further and limit the amount of the
boxers share of the receipts to $4,000
That would go long way toward
eliminating the boxers who are in
the game for revenue only and leave
those who are born fighters.
There are very few of that type
left in the ring today. Not one Of
the present set of champions cares
anything for the honor of being cham
pion. They value their titles only be-
cause they are big financial asset.
Jess Willard. the gigantic farmer
who holds the heavyweight title, un-
doubtedly is the least warlike of all
the men who have filled that position
Willard frankly admits that he dis
likes the sport and that he never
would have donned boxing gloves if
he could have made money in any
way. 1t is not likely that Willard
ever will fight again, but will con-
tinue to exploit the title as a circus
performer, although he no longer is
fighting man.
Fred Fulton, the leading contender,
looks upon the game exactly as Will
lard does. He, too, has very little
pugnacity in his system and would
rather follow any other line than the
fighting game if it were not for the
fact that he can get rich quick by
boxing instead of laboring all his
life at the plastering trade. If Fulton
does win the title there is no reason
to think he will be any more anxious
to defend it in the ring than Willard
is at present.
Mike Gibbons would be great
fighter if he were not money mad and
afraid to take chance lest knock
out punch should find a way through
his guard and so interfere with his
revenue. Gibbons makes no pretense
of having any liking for boxing as a
sport. He is not aggressive by ma
ture and would rather follow some
more peaceful pursuit.
Freddie Welsh has less fighting
blood in his makeup than any of the
lightweight champions who preceded
him. Welsh is only amused when
the spectators jeer him on account of
a particularly raw piece of stalling. A
small house is the only thing that
can hurt his feelings, because he takes
no pride in being champion and he
cares nothing about what the public
thinks of him and his fighting meth
DDS as long as it pays at the gate.
Welsh developed the jab and grab
style of boxing which has become so
popular with modern glovesters. The
great lightweights Of other days
scorned to save themselves by clinch-
ing. They depended upon their skill
at evading blows by a turn of the
head or a slight movement of the
feet; by blocking or beating their
opponent to the punch. Often a
score or more OF blows would be
exchanged before a clineh would
check the action.
Johnny Kilbane undoubtedly has
enough science and ring generalship