Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-11
w WITH Richard having pass
\ a ed on, there now is con-
NM siderable spec u t o n
' Y whether that Stribling-


Y Y whether that Stribling-
Sharkey clash scheduled
for Miami Beach on February q
will materialize.
Richard it was who conceived the
match, made all the preliminary ar
rangements and was to have direct
ed the publicity to put it over
big"
Dempsey is understood to have
agreed to carry on for his departed
friend with the promotional end,
asserting, following the impressive
obsequies at Madison Square Garden,
that he would hurry back to Flor
ida for that purpose after a short
visit to his home on the coast.
But it is doubtful if Dempsey, no
matter how earnest his efforts,
could make a financial success Of
the clash between the Boisterous
Bostonian and the Pride of Dixie.
X X X
As a matter of fact, it is likely that
aUould haze needed all his promo
torial genius plus plenty OF the
breaks to stage the affair WITHOUT
going in the red.
Tex is said to have figured on a
gate of 100000. With such take
in he could have cleaned up sub
stantially on the fight. despite the
100000 Sharkey is holding out for
and the $4,000, plus 20 per cent
that goes to Stribling.
How he proposed to attract such
n b,,oa c,,y,o In, raonir,tc ic something
else again, however.
Having seen a few sports events
of various natures staged in Florida
for many Winters past, including
those at the height of the late Ia
mented boom, your correspondent
believes 10000 would be the greatest
number of individuals who could be
induced to plank down real money
at the box Office. With that num-
Der, $25 a copy would have to be
charged for each seat to gross a
half million, and not even Richard
could designate 10000 seats as
'ringside" and get away with it.
X x X X
Furthermore, the hackers of the
battle are likely to find that the pur-
chaSers OF $25 seats DilI hare to be
counted in the hund1 eds instead OF
thousands. The East Coast IS a
mecca for pedlthy tourists in the
Winter and the fight might, as er-
pected, dr1aU UiSitorS from Stribhng'S
natiUe Georgia and other States OF
the South, Which is proud OF him,
but train fare and items of room, and
board 1UiH make heavy inroGds on
their purses and they'll be looking
for bargains il, the tUGy OF admission
prices.
As for the fight itself, there is
good reason for doubling whether it
would prove attractive. 1t would not
be a title affair, or even a near
championship, and that in itself
would prove a heavy handicap.
Then, although the principals
nominated are the outstanding con-
tenders, aside from Dempsey, judged
by the way the other heavies are
side-stepping them, both have ring
characteristics calculated to mar the
entertainment of spectators.
StribHng, of good physique, always
tUeU trained and possessing punch
plus plenty OF confidence, usually
Spoils his exhibitions Nth iUTesthng
tactics, and Sharkey, Uhile not Sc.
given to StalIing and roughi1g, is
rated as .tront-runner tuho is err
ceedingly unimpreSsiue When things
aren't going his 1oGy.
With such a dish as that It may
be that receipts upward Of half
million can be attained, but we have
our doubts.
X X X y
A Sour Wrestling Note.
T took several days for rumors
to get around that the Boston
mat match In which Gus Sonn-
enberg lifted the wrestling crown
from Stranger Lewis furrowed
brow was lone Of those things" but
they have arrived, as might have
been expected.
Before they met word filtered in