The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-01-09
TALKING
IT OVER
WIFI JOE WILLIAMS

~~~s-~>-~->~~S-~-~~-~~-~~< ~ ~s-s~S>N 4
ATEW YORK, Jan. 9.-There is
IN talk UP around the Garden
and down in Broad street that Jack
Dempsey viii be named TO front for
Richard, the dead maestro OF the
ballyhoo. This is another OF the
singular tributes the singular bust
ness of professionalism fighting is
paving to the one and only. 1t Is
a bald confession that there Is no.
body in the business big enough In
the essential qualities of magma
ton. pfomotional daring and under
standing of public whims for the
chair left untenanted by the sudden
death of the man who has held
boxing in the palms Of his hands
since 1906.
WHEN THERE Is NOTHING TO BE
DONE ABOUT a CRITICAL SITUATIoE
IN BUSINESS IT is HIGHLY IMPoR-
TANT THAT SOMETHING MUST BE
DONE. THERE IS NOT ANOTHER
RICRARD IN THE FIGHT BUSINESS
AND BECAUSE THERE ISN'T IT Be
COMES INCUMBENT UPON THE GEN
TLEAfEN WHO REPRESENT THE SOUL
or THE BOX OFFICE TO PROVIDE THE
INDUSTRY WITH SOMETHING THAT
WILL, At A CASUAL GLANCE. PASS FOR
A RICHARD. FACING SUCH AN EAYR-
GENCY THE GENTLEMEN TURi. IN
EVITABLY TO DEMPSEY, THE BIGGEST
SURVIVING NAME IN THE TRADE.
On the theory that this astOnish-
ing business, where a busted beak
and a ruffIed caulifiower, properly
exploited can be made to pay at
tractive cash dividends, demands
the magnet of glamorOus person.
atty in order to insure continued
success, the suggestion is made that
Dempsey be installed as a sort of
straw-stuffed replica of the dead
Richard until the customers can be-
come accustomed to Tex's absence.
THIS Is WHAT is MEANT WHEN
THEY SAY THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD
BUSINESS TO SIGN THE FORMER
CHAMPION TO FRONT FOR THE PRO-
MoTER WHO MADE HIM HIS MILLIONS.
TO YOUR CORRESPONDENT THIS ALL
SEEMS a TRIFLE SILLY.
n
REY first reaction is that the gen.
wi tlemen who have assumed the
conduct of the Gardens affairs are
actuated by what they feel is a
CRYING necessity for that form of
deception and trickery that is loose
" interpreted as fuel for the kilns
of the ballyho. 1t is almost as II
they had assembled in solemn con-
clave and agreed that there was
no such animal as the fight husl-
ness: that the ballyhoo was the
thing that mattered most, and that
the first and important thing to do
in a crisis such as his is to kid the
public.
I can see the chairman of the
meeting stressing his point ut must
be the thing to do, gentlemen, Rick
ard always did it, and no one can
gainsay his success"
7 HOPE MY EYESIGHT BETRATS ME-
IN THIS INSTANCE. FREQUENTLY IT
DOES. BUT IF ANY CHAIRMAN OF ANY
AMUSEMENT BOARD OR ANYBODY
ELSE THINKS ALL THAT is NECESSARY
TO CARRY ON RICHARDS POLICIES 10
TO AGREE TO DO so AND PUT The
AGREEMENT IN THE FORM OF A RES
oLuTIoN. MUST WITH MY USUAL
EMOTIONAL RESTRAINT, WRITE Thai
HE rs PRETTY GooFY.
A LMOST as many columns OF
n. type have been written OF
Rickard since his death as were
written the day after Lindbergh
landed in Paris. One sentence
stands out because of its unfailing
RIGHTEOUSNESS, "There never will be
another Rickard." This is silly, too,
/ have decided, on reflection. The
same thing must have been written
by the boys of another generation
when Barnum died. At the moment
l am not sure that Richard wasn't
a greater Snowman in his way than
Barnum ever was.
One of these days another Rick
ard will colne along, and he'll prob
ably be better Snowman than the
original Richard ever was. The
world seems q be lise that,
BUTT Ia Es Z BE TO BUILD UP
BARNUAs AND RICHARDS. AND IF THE
GENTLEMEN WHO ARE MOST VITALITY
INTERESTED IN THE FUTURE OF THE
FIGHT BUSINESS BECAUSE 1T HAP
PENS TO BE a BUSINESS IN WHICH
THEY ARE HEAVILY INTERESTED
DON'T REALIZE THIS THEY SOON
WILL.
THAT'S why I hold it is silly to
j. figure Dempsey, in the role of
an executive or matchmaker, would
Offset the loss of Richard in any
noticeable way. I have no hest
fancy at all in calling Dempsey the
greatest fighter ever saw, and, in
the same thrilled breath I add that |
he is the most magnetic personality /!
I have had contact with in its ring.
But he can no more be a Richard |
than old Tex could have been a
Dempsey.
One was made for the furnishing !
drama, the other for persuading
people to look at it. OF the two it
is pretty hard to tell which was the
rarer of the species.