The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-07-04
TOLEDO BATTLE i GREATEST SPORT
 VENTURE EVER
Goes Down Into History as the
 Nerviest Enterprise Ever ~ Promoted - Million Dollars
 Expected.

heavyweight fistic champion against the challenger. Jack Dempsey, of Utah, here this afternoon. Both Willard and Dempsey have been earnestly training in this city for sev- sral weeks past. Neither one has left anything untried or undone in order Co get himself into the best possible Condition for the encounter, the out Come of which will mean so much for tho victor. By winning from Jack Johnson at Havana, Cuba, fosr years ago, Willard was placed in a position N begin building up an immense for tune and should Dempsey capture the title there is no telling how much wealth he may accumulate in these days of high finance, when sport pro- motors talk of the sky as the limit for big events.
 Aside from the actual purse money of s12T,5OO signed for by the two pusiiists, s1OO.O0O of which is guar anteed to Willard, win. lose or draw. the enormous amount of cash which will be handled in connection with the coming bout, dwarfs all previous ring contests into financial oblivion. The gate" from the sale of tickets and concessions. is expected to pass the one million dollar mark which would make the receipts of previous fstic carnivals look very small in comparison.
 Tex Rickard. the daring promoter. who Is bringing the two men together in this bout, generally does thinEa on a. large scale. He secured the John son-J Jeffries fight for n guarantee of s1OO.OOO and at Reno, his receipts amounted to s27O.O0O. Of course the promoter was at an enormous outlay in bringing that contest to an issue. having been forced almost at mo- ment's notice, to move from Cali fornia to another state, In order to secure a battle ground. Richards outlay for the coming battle including guaranteed purse, cost of arena con struction, advertising and other ex- penses will amount to a vast sum. The casual observer might think that the promoter will still have a wide margin of profit out of the charges for admission. At first glance this seems reasonable but Ricknrd is go- ing to pay the regular war tax of ten per cent. on all tickets purchased and has guaranteed the local charities a percentage also. The United States government hRvever. will have big claim for income tax so that when everything is deducted from the gate" Richards margin of profit probably will fail far short of the results he attained in some of his previous ventures.
 some changes have been made in the conditions governing the bout since the original articles were signed, the most important being the limiting of the contest to tweleve rounds and the reduction of the size of the ring to-twenty feet square, Originally the men were to have gone twenty or moro rounds and the intention was to have a regulation 24 foot ring. Other wise the agreement stands as signed by Rickard. Willard and Dempsey, each being entitled to a third of the moving picture privileges Willard is guaranteed s1OO,0OO and Dempsey s27,5O0.
 When the men step into the ring on Friday each will. have q big follow ing of partisans. Those who rely on Willard retaining his title. insist that he is invulnerable to punishment and that Dempsey will fail to reach his burly opponent with an effective blow. Many of them also claim that Willard has never hit a human being with the full force of which his huge frame is capable. It is said that once during his preparation for a previous contest Willard lost his temper on be- ing stung by the blow of a sparring partner. Then the big fellow landed a vicious swing which swept his op ponent and one of the ring posts to spot several yards away from the ~f- nd fha bnarfnarH raad- ed medical attention for many days afterward.
 Dempsey's friends, and they are legion, confidently state that no man. however. big. or strong. can with stand the impact of a full weight hook or swing from either of Jacks fists. They look for quick ending to the contest with Dempsey a win ner. They say that Jack can land on wiIlardis jaw just as effectively as he did on Fred Fulton's last year. They rely on Jacks fearlessness as a big asset in conjunction with his heavy hitting power. Dempsey's youth also is one of the arguments his ad- Aherents advance as being a decided factor in his favor as Dempsey is 24 years old. There are conflicting state ments as to willards exact age. but 1t is the general belief that the Kansan has passed the forty year mark.
 Dempsey has taken part in many ring contests during the last four years while Willard has fought only twice within that period. Jess won the championship from Johnson at Havana, Cuba in Apru, 1915. That battle lasted twenty-six rounds. Just eleven months later Willard met Frank Moran for ten rounds at the Madison Square Garden, New York. This was a no decision contest but Moran was so far outclassed on tl;at occasion that there was no question as to Wfliard's having won decisive ly. Since that time March 25, 1916. willard has not defended his title Thouaands of hstic patrons believe tbat this protracted absence from 6ghfing has had . dcferiorating effect on the big champions abilities while Dempsey. having been in ring action almost constantly will be in much betfar condition.
 Dempsey fought sixteen ring battles last year and scored thirteen knock