Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1919-06-13
REFEREE OF BIG BATTLE
". WILL HAVE HANDS FULL
e.ask Perhaps Most Difficult One
DYER Confronting Arbitrators OF
fe- Pugilistic Bouts.
AN NOT YET SELECTED
In Case Bout Goes. Limit Without
Knockout, Mentor Must Decide
Whether Dcmpscy's AggrcssircncsS
Topped Defense OF Willard.
BY JAMES J. copnr.1T.

Who will referee the fs;ic clash he,
tween jess willard and Jack Demp'
soy:
Il haven't decided. and may no,
make my decision until shortly before
the fsht goes on" is Richards an
swe- to the storm OF inquiries on the
third man question. But YOU may
be sure that the man who is named
will be one Of unques,ioned reputa-
tion and satisfactory TO both princi-
pals
Whoever the man finally named. nc
will be confronted with. perhaps tine
most difficult TASK every thrust upon
an arbitrator OF pugtlistic hat;lirc.
Never before has there been cham
pionship battle 70 a decision among
hearyweiEhis over 30 limited a route.
Fete-eeinS twenty or twenty-fivs-
round Ash; always sized ur as 4 tcGcn
assignment but 10 rule IN a twelve
rounder is without precedent.
a twelve--ounG battle between ban
ians. feathers lishtweiEh;s would no;
Ti " as such . TREMENDOUS tsSh
much ;irne in Warming W. After they
ear. travelled zen or twelve rounds il
: fairy easy 20 determine the ruling
Reavies slow In Starting.
81: 1g.h ae4yNweish,s i; is DIFF:
up IL champion ship clash early III
ne tray. Most Of them are prone TO
spend g few rounds waiting out the
VIA; he hasn't got. Sometimes one
opens up with furious responsiveness
While the other lays back and parties
the blows as bes, he can.
Perhaps. that will be the case in the
Willard Dempsey so. Jack is a famous
rushe-; a youth who tears in with
The FRS, cons and never has been
upon that occasion when Jim Flynn
fattened him for the full count. In
nights. assressiveness counts for many
points. and Dempsey, II he is on the
offensive most OF the time. will score
heavily there.
But don't forget that defensive tao
who can brush aside the heavy leads
OF his foe and force him to miss time
and again by feintinE sidcsteppine.
blocking and with other defensive
will play a defensive game through
the early rounds. waiting patiently for
some big opening through which he
can shoot knockout punch.
Referee Munt Pick winner
The referee, in case there is no
knockout and the bout goes the limit.
must decide this very momcntous
question upon which will depend the
world and the vast fortune that goes
with 1t: Did the acErcssivcncsS OF
DEMPSEY outweight the defensive work
Not so long ago Jim JcHrics was
cIf the bout goes the limit and
Dempsey is in the lead by only. a
TO give verdict against the champion
and take the title away from him"
Some sport writer's construe Jef's
statement to mean that If Dempsey.
AT the, end of twelve rounds. has only
the slightest edge" on willard, that
the the f1iress thing to do would be to
worst. TO call il draw. Frankly l
do, not think JEFF meant it that way.
t He really had in mind merely the
the slightest shade i, wouldn't be a
pleasant task for referee to hand a
ruling against the champion
should Not Favor Champion.
Certainly II both men are on their
feet at the finish and Dempsey should
I've leading Willard in points. even
though the lead is ths. slightest posi-
BILE one. the decision. shohld go to
champion should no, he favored simply
because he is champion The de :
cision must he rendered strictly on the
merits OF the fight
No sporting clashes in the world arc
decided in any other fashion than TO
give the verdict TO the one that wins.
no matter how slight the winning
margin, In baseball many club has
lost a game by the proverbial eye
lash. by the feetinE fraction Of a
second In the tim. when man was
touched with a ball and when he slid
into a base. Foot racers have lost their
laurels by fractional inches. Race
horses win and lose by a hairs breadth
tween willard and Dempsey II the
men finish the twelve rounds and the
points are exactly tty,-fftN in the
in all fairness, call IL a draw But If
willard IS leading by even the slight :
est possible shade or Dempsey is lead
ing by just tina; much, then the dc :
cison must go 10 the man who leads
There IS no other Way.--CopyrlE ht
1912, BY King Features Syndicate, Inc