Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-01-10
RING BATTLES
APPEAR AGAIN
IN LIMELIGHT
Coming Fight of Dempsey and
Carpenter Now Lead
ing Topic
NEW SPORT IN FRANCE

N Il w Oh UNI lin Il RA1NNG
NEW YORK-The prize fight seems to
be taking on new life all over the world,
and in this country especially. The re-
| cent Dempsey Brennan bout in New
York was enormously attended and seats
sold for about sos each. Fashionable
folk turned out to see it, and leading
newspapers gave a detailed account Of
It the place Of honor next day. The fact
can not be lodged that the ring battle
is coming to occupy very much the place
in American life that the bull fight does
in Spain.
The game seemed to be getting a black
eye n few years ago after the famous
Jefries-J ohnson battle. The race rioting
which followed that event provoked Il
general disgust, and Roosevelt who was
then the national arbiter of almost ev-
erything, pronounced against the prize
fight, although defending boxing as n
sport Of a high order, and one which
he followed himself.
But the revulsion of public opinion
was only temporary and the ring fight
has been growing in favor ever since.
| The coming fight between Dempsey and
Carpenter is the leading topic Of con-
versation in sporting circles, and the rise
Of the prize fight in France. and the de-
velopment of frst-class lighters in that
country, has given the thing a new in.
ternational aspect For prize Aghting Is
a new sport in France. England has al
ways had her boxers, but few Of them
have been able to stand up against the best
Of the Americans. The English game has
oil
French boxers, on the other hand, are
to all accounts the gamest, the most
ferocious the world has yet produced.
They ask no quarter and they give none.
The cries Of stop It," which are gener-
ally heard In this country when a bout
becomes one sided and too much blood
begins to flow, are never heard In France.
The fair ladies OF fashion are found at
he riEgslde there as here. and they are
said to be the most unmerclful Of all.
1t is probable that our champions Will
from now on never lack French chal-
lengers, and that these international
bouts will give the game n new dignity
and interest. They will at least be bet
ter than the interracial struggle which
prize lighting threatened to become in this
country few years ago.
PRIZE FIGHTING
/ SIGN OF DECADENCE.
Even so, according to the best scientific
| opinion we can get the rise OF the prize
Wight is not a thing for Americans to be
proud Of 1t shows that we are In some
sense a decadent people-that we are los
Ing virllity.
1 Whenever you hear n defense OF prize
/ fighting you usually hear a defense OF
Z .t-4f. = I'll
/ fight usually fail 20 see thnt there is al,
the difference in the world between a
taste for putting on the gloves and fight
ing, aud taste for sitting In perfect
safety and watching the other fellow
fight The one is an evidence OF healthy
manhood, and the other All evidence Of
manhood slightly gone to seed
The lust for battle Is an ineradicable
and a necessary part of the human
animal. We are all effective in what
ever we do just In so far as we are bold
and determined fighters. But MS cities
grow large and life grows soft. the need
and the opportunity for physical battle
grows less and less. Fifty years ago
a man In this country was always In
danger Of being called upon TO fight with
deadly weapons or with his fists But
now the duel has gone out of fashion
ana HStcuus are popular only among
small boys We do our lighting In the
law courts. on the stock exchange, in all
the relations Of business ia labor unions.
in Legislatures, and In Congress. You
fight the boss for raise, and your wife
fights for a certain social position. Life
remains battle. but it ceases to be a
physical battle.
But we are physical beings as we'll as
mental ones. These civilized struggles
may sharpen our brains, but they do not
harden our nerves. 4 man who can face
n left swing at his jaw can also face n
threatened catastrophe In his business.
And the man who would vince from a
blow IS also apt TO vince from the caff
In business or politics.
We try to avoid this decay Of the
nerve by all sorts OF artificial physical
battles, such as golf and tennis But
fewer and fewer of us can afford these
things as they rise in price. Therefore
we are becoming a race which is strange
to physical combat Of any sort We are
becoming a race with weak nerves. May
not that 0e one reason why we are so
easily imposed upon by profteers and
srafters and all the rest Of the predatory
fraternity?
TASTE FOR BLOOD
INHERENT IN HUMANITY.