The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-12
RATTLE OF GIANTS IS
 DEPICTED BY RICHARD
Few People Believed Jack Dempsey Could Whip Jess Will lard Although Several Writers Openly Predicted
 Outcome Of Great July Bout

To this day l am unable to under stand just why the Willard Dempsey fight at Toledo, the Willard Dempsey not bigger financial success. fig ured 1t out carefully beforehand and I have tried to figure it out impersonally since. AS yet I see no definite reason for the comparatively small attendance. In staging the fight my mind was definitely set on a big arena and the next step was to locate the right spot in which to erect 1t. We had all sorts of offers.
 In my own mind I had concluded that the proper place to hold big championship fight was the center of population of the United States. or as near to N as we could. I got the government census report and the railroad map, I gave these much study. still had in mind the Jeff that time had insisted on getting nearer to the center of population.
 The map and the government sta tistics showed Toledo, Ohio. to be nearest the center. More people could go there with less distance to cover The actual population of Toledo was not a big factor in our calculations The big majority of people we felt sure would come from outside places It was certainly more accessible to New York fans. for instance, than San Francisco or Reno would have been 1t was also just few hours ride from any place in the middle west.
 Having arrived at that conclusion I took the plunge. The erection of the arena alone cost me S12O.O0O
 But the people did not come-not in great numbers.
 I guess I just didn't size 1t up right There were no hard times then and that can not be given as an excuse. Everybody had plenty of money and was eager to spend 1t.
 Looked For bO.O0O; Got l0,OOO
 It is possible that the big fight was ballyhooed a little too strong. Many stayed away. I believe. because Of a general belief. that it would he i'm possible to get seats. That, though, does not fully explain it. The fact is, the people of the middle west did not come.
 The railroads at that time were un- der government control and we had great difficulty in arranging excursion trains: Even so, more people could have been accommodated.
 l built the arena large enough to seat SO0o0 people In a pinch and ex- pected 5o,000. When the big day finally arrived we had but 19,000 spectators and there were great rows oI empty seats.
 That, by the way, was the hottest rourth or July ever have seen.
 Our receipts in money amounted to $452,OoO, less than half what I had expected. Come to think of il. that crowd was about proportionate to New York, at that, when we c0Lsider the population of the immediate sur roundings.
 spoke of the weather On the morning of the fight hundreds of newspaper men were in the ringSidt seats Of the arena as early as 9 o'clock. The heat was so intense that some of them almost collapsed There was a constant procession if boys carrying them water. Before the time for the fight many of them had raised um- brellas to escape the burning sun. This fight.
 AS l said in my last article I really felt sorry for Dempsey when I met him for the first time and signed him up to fight Willard. He looked 80 small that it seemed impossible for him to win. When I saw him In training, though, I revised my opinion. Though apparently small he was as strong as lion and as 1.-the as a panther. Still, l had doub, that he could win.
 Many others felt sorry for Dempsey He was immensely popular with those who knew him personally A lot of fans wanted to see him win, but doubted that he could do it. Willard was a big favorite in the betting. Freak Bet Almost Won l Quite a few of the newspaper writ. CTS, the boxing experts, had a hunch that Dempsey 6would win. Some of