New Britain herald., 1923-01-26

This agreement entered into thls asth day of January. by and between George l., Riekafd Of New York city, party Of the first part, and Jack Keafns, manager of Jack Dempsey, party Of the second part, wltnesseth'
 For and in consideration of the sum Of one thousand ti, i,00Ol dollars paid to the party of the second part by the party of the first part, the party of the second part agrees that for a period of six tsl days from date he will enter into 10 contracts for engagements Of Jack Dempsey in a boxing match with any other pro- moter or club.
 GEORGE L. RICHARD.
 JACK KEARNs.
 With the contract duly signed, Rickard counted out ten crisp si00 bills and handed them over to Kearns. He remarked that he was paying for the privilege of few more days to ponder over the heavy weight situation and to fully make up his mind as to what he wanted to do. The payment of the thousand
  promote the next heavyweight cham pionship bout, but it indicates that he will. Kearns does not agree to accent any terms that Rickard offers. or to sign Dempsey to meet any man that Rickard selects, but in the dis cussion which followed he stated that he was anxious to do just that, always provided that the terms were right Asked what he meant by right terms, he said that Dempsey was not looking for the moon, but for fight. and would meet any man or men that Rickard selected for reasonable sum.
 Kearns Expects Other Offers.
 Kearns said further, that he had received an offer from O'Rourke and expected one from Harry Frazee and possibly Colonel T. L. Huston, and that. he was simply guaranteeing Rickard that he would not close with any one of these three, or with any one else, in the next six days. To all practical purposes this means that Dempsey will not be signed for a bout before Feb. l, although there is noth- ing in the contract which would pro- hibit Kearns and Rickard coming to terms in the interim.
 Kearns was booked for another conference with Tom O'Rourke yes- terday, but after his agreement with Tex Rickard any conference with O'Rourke would have had little pres- ent significance. It has often been said that when Dempsey fights again it will be for Rickard, and the in ference to be drawn from yesterdays agreement is that the statement is founded on fact. Certainly Rickard is to be given every opportunity to offer Kearns and Dempsey suitable terms. <. Rickard would not be specific as to whom he had in mind for the cham pion's opponents, but he did name four boxers among whom he said he expected to make his ultimate choice. They were Harry Wills, Jess Willard, Luis Firpo and Tom Gibbons. The promoters said that he should like to choose two of these boxers and match them with Dempsey, one bout to be held next spring, probably in June, and the other some time in the fall, Both bouts, he said, would have tD be fought outdoors, because Dempsey had grown to be too much of an at traction for an indoor bout.
 Some one suggested that Rickard was referring to Boyle's Thirty Acres in Jersey City, but Tex denied this, adding that he was not even sure that he would try to hold either of the bouts in the metropolitan district and that the eventual site might be anywhere in the United States.
 Rickard Seems to Favor Willard.
 While he was talking Rickard picked up some pictures of Jess Will lard which were lying on his desk and called Kearns' attention to the fact that Big Jess looked to be in good condition.
 Not so fat as you fellows have been making him out to be, is he?' asked Tex, turning to the newspaper men. Kearns agreed that from the picture Jess appeared to be in bet ter condition than when he met Dempsey at Toledo. He said that in d bout between Willard and Tommy Gibbons he would be willing to bet $20,0o0 on Willard.
 All this sounded as if Willard might be the man named for the first bout if the selection is left to Rick ard. Tex, however, had a good word for Tommy Gibbons, calling him the best man in the world at his weight. Evidently Rickard and Kearns do not agree with the New York State Ath- letic Commission that Gibbons is too small to meet Dempsey, for Kearns insisted that Dempsey could make 1S2 pounds and Rickard chimed in that Gibbons fighting weight is IFS, which would make only a slight difference between the two.
 Firpo's chances undoubtedly hinge on the outcome of his bout with Bill Brennan in the Garden on March 12. If the South American boxer makes !. good showing against Brennan he would be much more interesting as a possibility for a title bout. Until he does prove his ability against the Chicago boxer, however, he cannot receive any great amount of serious as an opponent for Dempsey.
 This leaves only Harry Wills, the Brown Panther, of New Orleans. There was surprisingly little said