The Washington times., 1921-06-16

Outside the ring, Dempsey goes his
| way and Kearns goes the kearns
way. which is rarely the Dempsey
| way.
The usual course of a fighter after
winning a championship is to dispute
with his manager as soon as possible
however grateful he should be to the
manager. but in Dempsey the sense
of gratitude seems to be highly de-
veloped, indeed. II is said that at
one time Dempsey and kearns cut
their earnings fifty-fifty, an almost
unheard of arrangement between
fighter and manager.
, HE ADOREs HIM.
Whether this arrangement still
prevails Is not known. but certain 1t
is that no fighter ever thought any
more of his business man than Demp-
sey thinks of Kearns.
The latter is a product of San
! Francisco, and is contemporaneous
with Jim Coffroth, Spider Kelly, Alex
| Greggains. the Britts. Eddie Graney,
and all the other fstic celebrities OF
the Golden Gate. He is a slim, dspper
chap, with a shrewd countenance and
touch of gray in his hair.
His age is indefinite. He admits to
! thirty-six years. but one of Dempsey's
! favorte jokes is, How old is Doc7"
Kearns was once a fighter. He can
! be found in the records of Honey
Melody, Jimmy Potts, Kid Parker,
Tommy Tracy and numerous other
| battlers of sixteen or seventeen years
ago. He once fought Mysterious Bill
| ly Smith when Smith weighed IT'S
pounds.
| "I was the greatest Judge of dis
| tance that ever stepped into the ring
says Kearns. 81 always knew before
hand just how far I was going"
Kearns once handled Joe Bonds,
Billy Murray, Red Watson. and a num-
Der of other battlers, leading an. ex-
pedition to Australia. Les Darcy, the
great fighter from that country who
met a strangely tragic end in Amer
lea, was to have come here under
Kesrns' charge. but they talked him
away from Jack after Les landed.
1t was while he had Red" Watson
a tough lightweight, in training ir
Oakland that Kearns first saw Demp
sey The big fellow was working ir
the same gymnasium with Watson
and kearns took enough interest lr
him to offer a few suggestions.
"Step around a little" was one o
| them, and on these four words Demp
sey based his change in style Orig
finally a sbnmbling, swinging, walk.
| d-take-it fighter, he began to try
stepping about, ard he discovered &c
his astonishment that he could avoid
taking the punches that had battered
in his nose in the past
! Dempsey was pretty much discour
aged at the time. He had made a
poor fight in Oakland, and had beer
severely panncd. 1t was his intention
TO chuck the fighting game entirely
and go TO Portland. Ore, and get a
job.
SENT FOR HIM.
Kearns talked to him awhile, and
then advised him to follow up hi,
plan, and work until his spirits pick &C
up
"Tll send for you when find some.
thing for you to do" said Kearns.
Before long Kearns did send fol
Dempsey, and started him out on tn,
career that soon made him a name or
the West Coast, and which presently
carried him into the Middle West aoc
East. the final squirt to fame and for,
tune.
kearns makes all the arrange
ments for Dempsey's fstic engage
ments. He arranges every detail Of
the champions moving picture oper
ations, and has complete charge o.
an OF Dempscy's other business af
fairs. when Dempsey Is In trainin &
Kearns superintends his preparation
leaving orders each day to the train.
ers that must be carried out
But away from the ring, thousi
they sometimes live in the same guar,
ters, you rarely see them togethe-
Each has his own circle of oon,pan.
ions Perhaps Kearns explained It tn,
other day when he said:
II duck the champ around town be.
cause he runs my legs of taking m.
places He is everlsstingly on tn,
go, and he just naturally wears me
plumb up. l want less active peopl.
for my companions"
Cro he CopttuueA.
u tcopyrixhL la2l. hy the Star Comnsnyl