The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-19

JaSss % sSS S soutb America I i by msrtS ' xmsrisaI Newssaper Alliance. fer Ass-Hsrald. All risht' reserved. t
 X By TEX RICHARD.
 have a letter from the editor of a prominent western newspaper asking Sne to explain in these memoirs what. Tn nay opinion, accounted for the fla nous Shelby fight between Dempaey and Gibbons being a financial failure. while that at Goldfield, also a small place, was a big success. Often I have been asked that.
 As a matter of fact there is no sim ilaritys between the two events. The failure was no reflection on the town of Shelby. Nobody could have made that fight financial success under the circumstances.
 To begin with the promoters missed the main point in staging any big at- traction,s one that the people through out the country were eager to see. Evi- dently the officials of the American Legion as we'll as the townspeople fig ured on the drawing ability of Demp- sey without regard to his opponent. At that particular moment Gibbons was not in the limelight. To illustrate the thousands who. went to the Car pentier- Dempsey battle were just as eager to see Carpentier as Dempsey. The psychology of the Shelby affair was wrong. rsja ~
 It is not fair to the Shelby people to compare their match with the Cans Nelson fight at Goldfield. Their fight had to be ten times as good to get an even break. 4 ,.g&a4 E..
 Those who have made fun of the Shelby. scrap apparently did not con- slider the purse. The promoters of the Shelby event offered $300,000 as against $30, 900 offered at Goldfield. The $27O,- 900 makes quite a difference. NThe pro- motors showed more gameness than judgment.
 Otherwise It Was All Right.
 In brief, the Shelby people didn't have a good card, the town didn't have enough population and the promoters offered entirely too much money. It did not figure to bs success from the start. s+
 Another thing, We staged the Cans tention to the town of Goldfield. thought we had even overstepped the bounds in offering s3OO00. Now these people figured on making some money as we'll as getting publicity. They of fered $500 ,OoG. The answer should be obvious, 'ts,
 Always I have thought the criticism of Jack Kearns in insisting on the terms of the contract being carried out little unfair. Kearns did not seek this fight. He acted for Dempsey in signing the contract. gNatueally, he felt it shis duty to act for Dempsey in see ing thatsall obligations were met. That fight, however, was none of my affair Perhaps fl does not4become me to dis cuss it further. ff
 Another reader of these memoirs has asked me to give my candid opinion as to the toughest fight Jack Dempsey ever had.
 "There has been considerable discus sion," he says, "as to whether F'irpo for Carpenter gave him the most diff iculty." .-t.
 z.Only one man can answer this ques. ton authoritatively-Jack Dempsey. The champion answers it for me ir lhis own words: i.
 Strange as it may seem, Jess Will lard hit me the hardest punch I eVeI rsaceiVed, in the second round of oui fight at Toledo, in 1919. 1t must bt rem embered that l had knocked hin down seven times and he was practic ally out in the first round. Every body. including myself, thought the bis fellow was gone and that 1t was merely a aueAtion of flattening him with 6 punch tr two in the second round.
 AecOnds Didn't Notice It -.
 Tn my eagerness to put over a Lpen in the second round. Willard was desperate. He put everything ht had on right uppercut that caught me flush oit fhe' chm. I thought some. body had AIalloped me with a police mans club. I saw a million light and then everything went dark. It was only for an instant. I felt pretty shaky for a minute, but my head soon cleared and I was all right before the round ended. If Willard could. have followed up histadvantage with another puncl like that while l was shaky he might have won that fight. 4
 A funny thInss, apoul that punch is that Jack KearnsA my manager, and the other seconds \tn' my corner didn't