Omaha daily bee., 1920-01-04

MUCH has been said about the war ben
states to pass bills legalizing this sport.
Returning soldiers are demanding the
fight game" and in most cases a point
or two is strained to accommodate these men
who fought for the liberty of the world.
Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois and many other
states, with scores of returned world war
fighters. but not the legalized boxing,
often permit a show or two under the
guise of a returned soldiers behifit. We
had one of that sort here in Omaha last
summer. Boxers fought 10 rounds, at
krug park with the officers of the law
present and even the mayor as one of the
committeeman.
If boxing is legal under such thin
legal as citizens benefit or some such
name? The majority of men in this state
as well as others would like to see II
boxing contest occasionally. This being
the case. why should they be prevented
witnessing a bout once in while? Re-
quests for boxing talent are daily re-
ceived at the sports editors desk in every
metropolitan newspaper office in the state
and Smokers" are held all over the state.
strictly on the 9. T.. so to speak. With
the laws preventing it do not actually
prevent" but merely hold it in obscur-
ity. To stop this violation of the state
laws, the laws should be amended so that
NloldtioHS WOulu UUt De necessary.
TN ILLINOIS, the returned soldiers,
through their great organization. the
that will probably result in something
tangible at the next legislative session
in regard to boxing. The Legionaires ap-
pear determined to have their boxing
shows and threaten to conduct them in
violation of the laws if the lawmakers will
not pass the legalizing bills. They
threaten further. to obtain injunc.ions
against the state officers. preventing them
from interfering with their boxing shows.
DIFFERENTIATION is always factor to
be reckoned with in any kind Of game.
That lovers. of boxing have their share
Of this is shown by, the efforts to obtain
states The illinois dictionaries efforts
are no more laudable than those of the
two premier Iowa promoters. AL Fiori of
Council Bluffs and Tommy Ryan of Des
| of Iowa recently ordered the arrest and
prosecution of any man conducting box
| ing show at which an admission is charged
| at the door.
The attorney generals ruling hit the
| hard and the fans of both cities harder,
| but Fiori and Ryan were not altogether
| hoored. Though groggy. they rallied and
the next move was made by Tommy Ryan,
| who canvassed Des Moines business men
| soliciting membership in a big athletic
| club. 1t is said that he already has Sc
cured a huge membership and plans to
stage a boxing bout for the members
about January 9 or 10. Ryan plans to
! open his gymnasium and the club will be
la bona .fde organization. the members
having the privilege of using the gym
| nasium when they please, and no admis-
sion will be. charged at the door for any
| boxing match.
THE promoter of boxing events in Des
: Moines has an advantage over AL
| Fiori. the Bluffs promoter. The former
has a large gymnasium in the downtown
district Of the city. large enough to ac-
comodate good crowd of fight fans. Our
| cross river man is up against it in that
respect as he has no gymnasium and
is hard put to it to find a location for
1 one. but as soon as he can find a suitable
| hall. he will instigate plan similar to
Ryan's and will solicit members. who will
be privileged to witness the boxing con-
tests and also to use the gymnasium.
| Fiori's plans are laid on big scale. He
| intends to have first-cIass gymnasium
with all conveniences for members and
| any boxers who may so desire to use the
place for training quarters. He expects
| to get some real classy glove performers
| to exhibit their wares at his club and will
make 1t rule that the boxers must appear
| in Council Bluffs at least two days before
| the contest. In this way, he will be GER
| tain that the men are on hand and he
will have a place for them to do their
final training