The New York herald., 1921-12-24
COMPETENT JUDGES
FOR BOXING BOUTS
Mcfarland and Haley Nucleus
of New Staff i'm Process
of Formation.
BY CHARLES f. MATHIsoN.

The Boxing Commission has finally
solved the problem of how to get cor
rect decisions in contests held under the
rules of the Walker law. Proof of this
was furnished by the verdicts in the
bouts at the last two boxing entertain
nients at the Garden. Kid Mcfarland
was the referee and Patsy Haley a
Judge in one of these affairs and Haley
was referee and Mcfarland a Judge In
the other. With two experienced men
acting as officials, the qualifications of
the third man are not Of much conse-
Quence,
In every one of the bouts in which
Haley and Mcfarland registered their
judgement the decisions were correct,
and the bouts were not so one sided
as they might have been.
If the Boxing Commission could get
few more experienced men like Haley
and Mcfarland, putting two veterans
at work in each set of bouts. the deci-
sions would soon be correct In nearly
all bouts.
The trouble in the past has been that
men who might be proficient in some
other business and of undoubted integ-
rity have been thrown into tudgeships
on short notice. The fact thar a man
is successful in business and takes an
interest In boxing does not qualify him
to arrive at a correct decision In ring
bout. Years of study Of ring contests
and thorough knowledge Of the rules are
required to fit man to act as judge,
Once a man becomes conversant with
the rules and experienced In ring pro-
cedure 1t would be difficult for him to
give an erroneous decision, however.
Losing Bettors Hard to Convince.
Tho greater part Of the complaints
against decisions comes from those who
bet on bouts. II the boxer they wager
on is declaped the loser, they tmmedi-
atcly shrek that the judges are wrong.
The loser can always find arguments
to support his contention. The claims
Of losing bettor are not as a general
thing entitled to consideration.
Midget Smith, who took the shine out
Of Pete Herman's punch last Thursday
night at the Garden, requires bit OF
friendly advice, and 1t is proffered In
conciliatory spirit. Mr.. Smith for some
reason best known to himself has his
hair cut a la Yorkshire terrier, and
when in the heat of combat his tresses
droop and hang over his eyes in a man.
ner to interfere with his INSTALLATION OF
his opponent. Many times during each
round of his fight with Herman the
Midget was compelled to raise one glove
or the other and brush his luxuriant
locks away from his organs of vision.
This action on his part was apparently
not observed by Herman. for he did not
take advantage of 1t.
Mr.. Henry Neary, the watchful man.
ager Of the Midget, observed the opera
tion with much perturbation of spirit
and between rounds sought to borrow a
pair Of shears from those at the ringside.
No one had pair Of shears. but one
man loaned penknife to Neary, who
attempted to cut off some of the Midget's
hair. This was a failure, and the
Midget continued to battle with Herman
and his unruly hair to the end of the
bout. Smith appears to have been lucky
so far as his hair was concerned, but he
will court disaster II he goes into the
ring with hair hanging over his eyes and
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