The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-07-03
BILLY FRANKS IS TO DECIDE
 SMOKER BOUTS
Referee to Act Without Aid of Judges - Five Good
 Bouts Are on Card

Billy Franks, veteran referee who has officiated in great many bouts here and in Douglas, will be the third man in the ring at the Ameri- can Legion smoker tonight. He will render all decisions without assistance, the Legionnaires having decided to do away with the judge system.
 The regulations of the Alaska Boxing Commission require that all referees be licensed men, but make no such provision for judges. In fact, the Commission is silent on the subject of judges. Franks has been duly licensed to referee and will be the first licensed man to act in that capacity.
 Good Fights Expected
 The Legion card carries five matches, all of which are said to be much, above the average. There will be 28 rounds of scrapping un- less some of the bouts end via the knockout route before the sched- uled limit is reached and that is a not unexpected contingency.
 Joe Collier, who meets Soldier Olson in the main event, is in the pink of condition. His train CTS declare he is as fast as he ever was and in shape to go the full eight rounds if necessary. But they predict he will slip over the old sleep punch long before that time.
 Olson, his opponent, is unknown here. He halls from Chilkoot Bar racks where he has done all his training. He will enter the ring a dark horse. Until the soldier delegation reaches town, all argu- ments in his favor are only con- versation.
 Two Semi- Finals
 An innovation in the; way of two mi-final events is being tried out tonight by the Vets. Tn the first Joe Leyson, a clever Filipino boxer who is also hard hitter, is match ed with Sailor Ralston from the Gannet. Leyson is ring veteran with years of experience in the cauliflower game. He's fought so many times he has lost count of his battles. and included in the list are many topnotchers.
 Ralston is a youngster who has been in the squared circle but five times. He has a fighting heart, the stamina to take punishment and a money-producing wallop in both hands. It is on his ability to hit that his mates base their confidence in him winning tonight The second semi-final event brings the Army and Navy together in battle. And it won't be a mock combat when Sailor Stattinger swaps punches with Battling Sie- bert. Stattinger is from the Gan net where he has been working out His opponent halls from Chilkoot Barracks where his prowess has cleared the field of aspirants for boxing honors. and he is bringing along lot of packers who aim to take home enough sailor dough to boost the company mess funds to regimental size.
 Both of these bouts are sched- uled to go six three-minute rounds.
 Then come two rattling fast pre- liminaries. Nick Lawrence and Sam Nelson, 140-pounders, show their wares again to local fans in one of them. Both are battlers of the type that keep the fans on their toes. and each is willing to take a couple of pokes just to get in a ripe punch. Sanders and Thomas, showing for the first time here are said by Matchmaker Shearer, to be clever, willing boxers and in first class shape. They can be depended on to earn their stipend for the evenings display.
 The show is billed to start at 8:30 pm. in the Fair building. And Legion officers say that means 8:3C and not sometime before 1( o'clock. So the fans had better