The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1929-01-07
LEAVES
BIC PLACE .
To FILL
BY Davis J. Walsh

By Davis j. Walsh
NEW YORK, Jan. Box
ing literally is tottering on it
throne, a prey to the uncer
tainty that inevitably seize
upon any institution from
which the steadying hand o
its master has been removed
Richard is dead!
All the night long, as the body
! Of the worlds greatest promoter
sped northward for burial on Wed
nesday, that three-word refrain has
! been dinning in the ears of those
who know him and respected him
and, in many cases. loved him.
Richard is dead. Only by constant
repetition can the fact be made &C.
ceptable and credible to the world
OF boxing.
For Richard wasn't merely asso-
ciated with boxing; he was boxing
itself. He took it out of the back
rooms and dropped it into the laps
OF millionaires.
He established a monopoly by
eOrnering its star performers.
He made it the biggest money
business of all professional
sport, monument of marble
where once it was a howell of
weather.beaten shingle. He held
the unseen strings that made its
puppets dance and he held them
alone. This man had to die to
make one fully realize how COM
plete was his domination of the
sport.
So today, with the master gone,
the aides are in a state of flus-
tered confusion, while plans that
he made for the future are max.
ing time. awaiting action that may
never come.
Does Richards death mean that
Jack Dempsey will not come back?
What will be done about the Shar-
key-Stribling fight at Miami Beach,
the proposed opening event Of Rick.
ards program to establish heavy.
weight champion? What will hap
pen to his heavyweight elimination
tournament? Will Humbert u
gazy. Jim Mullen. Paddy Harmon
or some other promoter step in and
take over the control of the heavy.
weight situation?
These are only a few of the un.
answered questions that arose and
demanded attention early yesterday
morning when Rickard succumbed
to gangrenous appendicitis at
Miami Beach.
He had a statement prepared
FOR release late this week on
Is accompanying Mrs. Richard
Havana special today, and what
affect his friends death will
have on his plans is not known.
He always said that he would fight
only for Richard and, If he really
was to come back this year, UNI
doubtedly his decision was prompted
in part by his desire to help his
friend. But Richard is beyond all
help now.
In any case, it is far from certain
that Dempsey will wish to go for
ward with the plans already formu.
lated, unless the appeal of doing so
In honor of Richards wishes strikes
q responsive chord. 1t isn't likely,
either that he would care to line up
with a rival promoter, a fact which
places 1t squarely up to the Marison
Square Garden Corporation to come
forward with man in whom Demp-
sey has confidence and sympathy.
They say. this man may be Tom
McArdle. the present matchmaker,
whose record of achievement in box.
ing is as lengthy as the years of
his experience. Alleged nominees
for Richards post are many, how
ever. John Chapman is one of
them. Even Dempsey himself is
prominently mentioned.
McArdle was offered the posi-.
ton Of vice president and gen.
eral manager of the corporation
before the post went to Col.
John s. Hammond and. after a
conference yesterday, this pair
was said to be In perfect accord.
Yes, boxing will go on. but how
TAR and how well, no one can say.
The Sharkey.Stribling fight on
= ~ Will. DC
ried through, as Richard already
had contracted for it with the
principals before going South for
the annual holiday that resulted so
tragically. There may be an an
rouncement on the Sharkey-Strib-
ling affair today, the probability
being that Colonel Hammond will
declare his intention of holding the
tN.fIa - kIn ~ -
memory. For this fight was to
have been Richards gesture in a
new field of promotion, his answer
to those critics who claimed that
only q big city can support a big
match. 1t was his boast. just
before he was seized with his last
illness on New Year Day. that the
Sharkey-S tribling fight would draw
q gate Of 100000 and establish
southern Florida as one of the
leaders of winter-season promotion.
If the fight is declared on, other
hands will attempt to seize the