The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-04


 Britain. Cuba. Japan and South America bv North American Newspa- per Alliance for The Age-Herald. All rights reserved.l
 By TEX RICHARD
 The open air arena is the place-the only place-to hold big championship fight. Following my experience in Gofdfield with the Gans-Nelson fight, that idea sunk into my mind I have never got oyer it. l have staged other big fights in Madison Square Garden and in baseball parks. but the real place is specially built arena.
 The arena means more than the con- venience of handling the crowds and independence of halls and parks. It throws glamour around big fight that nothing else approaches. It is very diffifult to associate boxing with any otlief sport. The mind of the public must be centered on fight, and noth- ing else. There is some of the old Ro- man gladiator idea about it. Thou sands of people will go for hundreds of miles to an arena built for definite purpose when they might consider a hall or park sort of convenience where they could go or not. Fight fans. like all humans. like to go to trouble to witness big sporting event. They like to make it an occasion-a big mark in their experiences of the year.
 No Fest
 For example. if the Yale Harvard football game was held in Madison Square Garden there would be a lack of zest in getting to it. There would be no necessity to plan parties. arrange motor trips and so on. A big sporting event must be a sort of Mecca to which people can journey from all parts of the country. l can feel this idea better than I cnn express it. l think my read CTS know what I mean.
 In all sincerity, the consideration of how much or how little I might profit in big fight never caused me much concern. Always that was secondary. In fact, I did not go into the fight game with the thought of making money. As I have related. was spurred into the JOhnson-Jeffries fight by a joking cartoon. printed in San Francisco newspaper. It was of a jackass, praying, Where Is Tex Rick ard?"
 Tex Talked Of As Plunger
 In other words, my pride was touched. l wanted to prove that could put on another big fight and get away with it. The fact of bringing one of these affairs to a successful conclusion gave me immeasurably more satisfac- ton than the actual profit. Of course, I did not want to be sucker. Mo- body does. I have known men of great wealth who didn't need any more money and never would be in need of it. to work night and day~for weeks on a deal just to show that they still had a puncll-were not suckers.
 So you can imagine the feeling of accomplishment that came over me after we had successfully staged the Jeffries- Johnson fight in spite of all the early difficulties.
 By this time I was getting reputa ton as big plunger in fistic events. The sums I had offered as purses were looked upon as out of all reason. I re- member very we'll being lectlred in a friendly way by Bat Masterson. the sport writer. ands others. Bat pointed out that all my efforts, or most of them, went toward fattening the purses of fighters and of others who got in on , the side, while I barely got out with the skin of my teeth.
 fFOIltS small
 In way Masterson was right. My profits were not enormous. but I al ways went on the theory that big busi- ness and small profits was better than little business and bigger percentage of profits. I still think that is the real way to do business. I do not like a piker. Shoot everything to make the affair big success and the final set tling up will take care of itself, is my principle.
 A lot of people seem to have the idea that l had given up everything to go into the fight promotion business. That is not true, l kept my other enterprises going all the time. Up until I took over Madison Square Garden the fight busi- ness was a sort of sporting side line with me. It was my recreation. It was a big game. one I liked to play. studied it and handled my cards ac- cordingly.
 Curiosity Is The Key
 The main thing 1 have found is to ascertain as near as possible what the fighters and the public want and try and satisfy them us nearly as possible. Notwithstanding prevailing idea that the grudse fight will attract un- usual attention. do not believe it. The public likes to look on q fight as big sporting event; likes to regard the fighters themselves as being sportsmen. l have made a point. as l have mem toned before. of seeing that my fight CTS were friendly before and after the fight. The Bubls likes that, I'm sure. The next fA9p Was to assist the news-