Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-09-23
DEMPSEY IS 3 TO | FAv0R|TE TO
WIN over Gene TUNNEY TONIGHT

NSPls "a. - Hl
While the last injunction move was
being fought in court and the last
nails driven into the serried rows of
pine seats at the Sesquicentennial
Stadium. Philadelphia tonight be-
came the center of the most feverish
fight furore in boxing history.
Nothing in the last three decades
or glove fighting has even approach
ed the excitement and enthusiasm
aroused on the eve of the ten round
battle tomorrow night in which Jack
Dempsey. king of the heavyweight
division for seven years, will defend
his crown against the attack Of the
handsome former Marine, Gene
Tunney.
The fact that Dempsey is an over
whelming favorite, quoted at odds of
to l in brisk wagering, has not
dampened public interest. Philadel-
phia, entertaining the greatest
sporting event in its history, has
gone fight mad" on general prin-
ciples. The incoming thousands,
most Of them from the big eastern
and middle western centers of pop
ulation but others from such far
away points as Australia and South
America, testify to the worldwide
attention drawn to boXing's classic
event.
The first heavyweight champions
ship bout in three years will have
the most dramatic and spectacular
setting in the annals of boxing or
probably any other sport. If the
expectations of Promoter Tex Rick
ard FULFILLED thax-
likely to be, approximately 1877 600
spectators will pay something like
S1,lo0,O0O to see Dempsey and Tun-
ney match their skill in a struggle
that cannot last more than so min
utes.
The gladiators of the ancient
game who fought for hours to a
finish without compensation, probab-
ly would turn over in their graves
if they knew these two modern
fighters were to split purse of
$650,OOO for a carefully regulated
test of supremacy limited to little
more than a half hour.
No stadium in modern sports his
tory has ever seated such a throng
as will be banked in the vast reach
es of the Sesqui stadium. Nor has
any athletic spectacle ever attracted
as big a gate. Boxing will reach
new high marks here, with the
crowd exceeding by about 10000
the largest attendance heretofore
the highest previous record for gate
receipts.
Previous records were established
in 1921 at Boyles' Thirty Acres, Jer-
sey City, when 10000 saw Dempsey
hammer Georges Carpenter into
submission at cost of 81 ,626, 900.
Wherever fight throngs eddied and
flowed in increasing thousands
Dempsey stood out as the pick of
the great majority of fans and ex-
perts but Tunney Is already the
hero of the battle. In the same
breath with which excited fans de-
clare Dempsey's devastating punch
is destined to end the match before
it is half over. they will utter the
hope" that Tunney is returned the
victor.
The experts are nearly unanimous
in picking Dempsey but support for
the challenger comes from all walks
of fandom, though chiefly of the
moral variety. Tunney's war record,
his engaging personality, the way
in which he has fought himself into
a title contending position, all have
caught the popular fancy. Not
since the heroic figure of Georges
Carpenter flashed across the pugil-
istio horizon has any more popular
figure than Gene Tunney stepped
into the lime light.
Those most hopeful of Tunney's
prospects base their conviction that
he has at least a fighting chance
upon several factors. These have
to do not only with Tunney's excel
lent record, but unquestioned rug
gedness and defensive ability, and a
belief that Dempsey Will not be the
same champion who battered Will
lard, Carpenter, Firpo and others
into defeat. These critics, while
conceding Dempsey to be the heav-
Ter puncher. doubt that he has re-
gained his best condition or that
his legs will carry him through II
the fight is unexpectedly prolonged.
Then, too, observers feel that the
harassing and bothersome series OF
legal actions, unprecedented in con-
nection with title battle, have at
fected the champions morale. His
friends, however, are convinced these
moves have served only to stimulate
Dempsey's fighting temper and put
him on edge.
The rival battlers will not leave
their training camps for the scene
of battle until tomorrow. Dempsey,
anxious to avoid any eleventh hour
moves by process servers. will be
weighed in at Atlantic City between
/ and 2 P. M. by two of the mem
bers of the Pennsylvania boxing
commission, Harvey Boyle, of Pitts
burgh, and Harry Farrell, of Nanti-
coke.
Tunney will motor here from
Stroudsburg and be weighed by
Frank Weiner chairman of the COM
mission. The fighters will arrive at
the stadium only in sufficient time
to don their fighting trunks before
stepping through the ropes. some
where between $50 and 9.45 o'clock.
Eastern Daylight time.