Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-08-31
CANDLES WITH
SANDP|T ARENA
FIoyd F~itzsimmons Sinks
100000 in the Dempsey
Miske Fight on Labor Day

BENTON HARBoR, Mich.-The
business end Of the Dempsey-Miske
championship match scheduled
here for Labor Day is fniins plenty
to do in anticipation OF handling
the largest crowd of fight fans that
have ever visited the quiet and Sc
rene village Of Benton Harbor.
It is the opinion of Promoter
Floyd Fitzsimmons, who has al
ready sunk 100000 in the card.
that his show will draw at least
ling chance which he is taking. The
gate receipts of the Leonard White
bout, which ran around $4,000,
will have to be more than doubled
on September 6 or Fitz will be out
a bunch of kale.
Rain or Shine
He hopes to have an advance sale
that will cover the cost OF the show
and pick up the rest of It on the
day of the Tight.
guarantee of $4,000 with a privi-
lege of a cut on the lnf1ux OF coin
as the champions end, while Jack
Reddy is to get $4,000 for Miske.
the contender.
Although his arena has nothing
for q covering except the Michigan
skies, he says the milling will start
promptly at 8 o'clock in the after
noon, rain or shine.
The reserved section of the OUT
doors arena will take are of $4,000
people and bleacher seats will ac-
commodate 1000 more. Prices of
reserved seats range from $3.50 to
$50.
Sandy Floor
The sandpit arena Is one Of the
best in the country. 1t is a circular
thing with the outside tor Of re-
serves being but 125 feet away from
the ring. The sand has been ex-
cayated from the center of the site
and the benches rise on the sioping
sands. giving the same effect as
circus seats. Every fan will have
his feet on the sandy floor. There
will be no accidents unless the bot
tom of the world should happen to
drop out in this particular section
OF the country on that day.
Toledo VS.. Here
In sizing up things 1T Benton
Harbor now and Toledo, scene of
the last heavyweight championship
go, a big difference can be noticed.
Things were more pretentious in
the Ohio city than they are here.
The Toledo atmosphere was very
tense and strained. Tex Richard
was a hard man to see He was
smothered with interviewers and
M had to send in a card to get a
chin with him.
At Benton Harbor anyone, who
can keep track of Fitzsimmons' red
roadster, is welcome to confab to
his hearts desire. The Willard
Dempsey fight was on "on-again-
they went on. Here everything is
jig.
Things Switched
In Toledo the Willard camp was
aloof from the crowds. There were
no hangers-on about the premises,
while Dempsey's training quarters
were clouded with camp followers.
At Benton Harbor things are re-
versed with Dempsey as the cham
pion. While his cottage is an open
house arrangement it is quiet and
secluded in a way. Only Kearns,
the sparring partners, the colored
chef and his wife and a fewtof the
champions friends are there
Over in Miske's camp there Is
more or less confusion. There's
quite a bunch of boxers, fans and
otherwise stopping at Ike Bern
STEMS summer hotel. In other
words, Dempsey's camp at Benton
Harbor is like Wizards was
at Toledo and Miske's is very much
similar to Dempsey's surroundings
at Toledo.
Quiet Life
Willard used to hold court for an
hour at the Secor Hotel in Toledo
daily when he was training. As