El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-07-29
.PECORD VERDICT
IS UPHELD BY
BOARD
Referee Bill Brown De-
elares Contest Ended in
the Fourth, However.
FANS OBJECT
TO THE DECISION

: d
1Nncial announcement from the ar
my. navy and civilian board OF boxing
control that Jack Dempsey won the
heavyweight championship of the
world from Jess Willard in the third
round at Toledo, there are still some
qualified experts who do not concur
with this latest observation. Bill
Srowns PROBABLY the most able referee
IN this country and the man who
should have ben in the ring at Toledo
instead Of Ollie Pec0rd. rises 10 re-
mark that there is no possible way Of
imagining rule that would have
created Dempsey with & third round
knockout Bill knows the rules and
quotes them in his argument.
Three Minutes Of Fighting.
The recognized rules on boxing
read that a round shall consist Of
three minutes Of fighting and that
there shall be one minute of rest be-
tween each round" was Browns open
ing shot Willard Certainly wabbled
to his corner unaided after the third
round ! saw him do that myself He /
did not appear again and therein /
eseems TO be the bone of contention"
Il know that il were referee
Ing bout 1 would not consider
any action by either man during
the minute Of rest If towel were
thrown into the ring I should ig-
more that confession of defeat un-
I'll the next round started, and
then would count out the man.
That minute Of rest, to my mind.
does nat belong to either round
nor does IL belong TO the fight it.
self in any way There can be no
action by the referee during that
rest periOd.o
If a fighter left the ring during
the rest the referee would have no
power TO recognize that fact until the
bell rang for the. next round, and then
the referee would have to wait the
regulation ten seconds before award
ing the fight to the man who had re-
for further argument I can
not figure how Willard could have
been knocked out in any round but the
fourth regardless Of the official state
nents from Pecord. the Boxing Board
md J. Warren Barbour. the timekeep-
Accepts records Ruling.
Belated acceptance by the boxing
Board OF Pecord's decision that the
bout terminated in the third round
ioes not help the controversy a great
ieal although it may have some eff
ect on those who are sill disputinE
he payment Of wagers dependent up
N the distance Willard travelled It
s helpful to boxing. however. TO have
he boxing board give some official
OF their stand in
he mater.
With PecOrd certain that he had
been told only ~ seconds of the
minute rest had gone when VIII
lard's helpers made signs the fight
was over and Barbour the official
timekeeper, n frffle dubious after
mature thought, the stand of the
Boxing Board was necessary. II I
proves another thing. too, and
that Is that affairs of such char !
acfer need cooler and more expe-
rienced heads in the handling S
thereof.
Had Barbour been an experienced
imekeeper.- he would have seen 10 it
hat the bell he was to ring was in
-orking order and not fouled by I
ope. Had Pecord been on the job he
rould have started counting the in ;
tant Willard hit the floor and not
fter he (Pecord) had walked across
D the spot where Willard was sitting
n the padded floor of the ring. Demp- 4
sy won that fight, but he had to beat :
Willard about four times to take the c
tie.
Beckett Is Next.
Unless all signs fall the next heavy