New-York tribune., 1919-02-15
Boxing Bill
May Confront
Many Obstacles
Some Legislators Skeptical
as to the Manner in Which
Sport Will Be Promoted
By w. o. Mcclellan


Reports from Albany are none too
sangulne at the present writing as
to the passage of boxing bill De
spite the boost of the game itself
that has been given by the army and
navy people, great many Of the leg
lsiators, especially on the Aepublican
side, are skeptical as to the manner in
which boxing will be promoted if il
should be revived in New York. When
the Gibbs boxing bill comes out OF
committee and into final vote there
may be SO many differences that the
bill will be lost.
!, There are three points on which
there will be considerable difference
OF opinion: the matter of decisions.
ehe matter OF limiting the price and the
matter of continuing boxing to build
lngs or enclosures that are used FOR
boxing entirely.
The matter of admitting decisions
IS open to debate. With the miscel-
laneous collection of referees that
were granted licenses under the Whit
man Commission, which killed the
game, decisions would have been ruin
Gus. There were plenty of referees
who could be reached by the gambling
rings. There would have been un
limited betting on minor fights and
there would have been all sorts of
| scandals.
Should be Decisions.
There should be decisions if the
Doxing game Is to be progressive 1t
cannot be progressive unless it makes
champion take chance with his
tltle every time he steps into the ring.
otherwise we will have perpetual
champions like Jess Willard. the for
mer "Champion" Al McCov and Benny
Leonard. At the present writing Glib
SON, who formerly favored decisions
wires from the Coast that he is not in
IaVor OF decisions. 1t appears that
Slpson mas come to the conclusion
that his champion is on the down
grade.
The matter of limiting fights to
buildings or Enclosures, which are
used only for Iboxing clubs. will prac-
tlcaily bar boxing on a large scale
from New York City. There arc few
lignt clubs that came in this category
under the old law, and they certainly
were not among the best. If boxing or
prlze-flgh whatever you want to
call its legalized, there is no reason
why 1T should not be held in the open
and where the largest crowd Of spec
tators possible could be present.
Either prlzefighting is legal and .]e-
slrable or it is not The plea that is
made for its restoration is that it Is
mighty desirable and that it will be a
factor in the building up Of the Ama,--
ican armies of the future.
The matter of limiting the prices will
bar such matches as the Willard Demp-
sey fight from New York. Whether or
not that IS desirable is open to debate
Certainly if this clause is passed the
$l21,600 match will not be staged here
Status Bit Crowded
The status of the new boxing bill has
become bit clouded. The old boxing
law was killed because the reformers
thought that the game was too brutal
and because spOrtsmen thought that Il
was not brutal enough. If the desir.
tor the revival of boxing is as mi
versal as is reported, the factions tllat
helped to kin the game should come to
some understanding a. to the basis
upon which 1t should be restored.
Jake Carey writes from France 20
the knights of Columbus of New York
that boxing has taken a boom in the
camps OF France during the wait for
the mastering out. He says that sol
uiSi pOAefS are IufhlSNlbg most OF the
entertainment. That is as it should
be. The professional pugilsts did not
overcrowd amy Of the transports before
the armistice 1t would be highly hu-
morous if they went over there now
One can hardly wonder what he
French think of the professional fight
ers now. There were plenty Of Amer
lean pugilists in Paris when the French
were being instructed in le boxe sport
for the first time. But that was before
the war. The armies were rather desti-
dering why Jess Willard. Benny Leon
ard, Jack Dempsey and few dozen
other celebrities were not in the FORE
front Of the battle when The Americans
went into the biz show.