Evening star., 1933-02-14
HOUSE PASSES BILL
FOR BOXING IN D. c.
BaCkers Hopeful as Senate
Committee Reports on
Amateur Measure.
rejected by the House of
Representatives, the Hartley

TWICE rejected by the House of
Representatives, the Hartley
amateur boxing bill, legalizing
the Sinon-pure brand of the
ring sport In the District of Columbia,
today stands approved by the body
which in 1881 and 1882 turned thumbs
down. and although the bill faces sew
eral immediate hurdles before admission
may be charged for amateur f1sticuff-
ing. its author, Representative Fred A.
Hartley, jr., of New Jersey and friends
and hackers of the bill are optimistic
over its chances of safe and speedy
passage.
Today the bill was expected to be
reported to the Senate District Com
mittee, which will consider and report
on the measure before referring it to
the Senate. Should the legislation pass
in the Senate, it will, of course, be
presented to President Hoover, and, if
accepted by the Chief Executive, be
placed under the jurisdiction of the
District Commissioners.
EDWARD ROSENBLOOM, member
IL of the Boxing Committee of the
District Amateur Athletic Union
and one OF the leaders in the long fight
to legalize amateur boxing in the Dis
trict, today expressed confidence both
on the part of Representative Hartley,
his close friend, and himself, that the
bill would be accepted by the Senate.
"An amateur boxing BILL" stated
Rosenbloom, jubilant over yesterdays
victory in the House, "has been before
the House of Representatives since 1925.
Twice such q bill has passed the Sen
ate, although the House, until yester-
day, always has rejected it. We are
confident the Senate again will pass
the bill"
Should the bill take its remaining
hurdles and come under the jurisdic-
tion of the District Commissioners. 1t
would mean the appointment of Dis
trlct Boxing Commission, to be COM
posed of three men, one Of whom will
be member of the Metropolitan Police
force. Members of the commission will
serve without pay.
7 EGALIzATION of amateur boxing
IL in the District, long stepchild of
the game and forced to stage what
Is commonly referred to as bootleg"
shows outside of the District lines. will
allow fee to be charged for amateur
bouts, the charge, as written in the
Hartley bill, not to exceed 50, and will
permit the awarding of prizes, which
are not to exceed in value $35.
Under the present law, while anna
teur boxing Is permitted in the Dis
trict, no charge may be levied nor
prizes awarded. The result is that uni
versities, clubs and the District A. A, o..
staging boxing, are forced to bear the
burden of the expense.
With no source of revenue coming
In to help defray the expense, amateur
boxing has been curtailed no little
Georgetown University, Catholic uni
versity, once represented by boxing
teams, were forced to drop the sport
leaving the University of Maryland to
carry the local colors in intercollegiate
competition.
The last two District A. A. U. cham
p1onships have been held in nearby
Maryland and Virginia, Rockville being
the scene IN 1881 and Alexandria the
site last year.
THE Hartley bill provides for licensed
L bouts by bona fide clubs, organi-
cations and institutions; bouts of
duration not to exceed four rounds
of three minutes each and gloves
weighing. not less than eight ounces.
1t has the support of the Amateur
Athletic Union of the United States.
the American Legion, Veterans of
Foreign Wars, Jewish Community Cen
ter, Boys Club of Washington, the
universities and various other civic and
social organizations.
Rosenbloom, branding the manly art
of Self-defenSe as one of the most
scientific and more valuable of char
acter-building sports, declared he had
hopes of having amateur boxing under
the jurisdiction of the District Com
missioners by George Washingtons
birthday.
THAT the game is popular in Wash
L ington has been evidenced upon
more than one occasion. Two
charity shows held last Summer at
Griffith Stadium and featuring mostly
amateur talent from the Boys Club,
Jewish Community Center, Columbus
University, American Legion, Walter
Reed Hospital and other organizations,
to which no admission was charged,
but contributions accepted for worthy
causes, drew an aggregate crowd esti-
mated at 10000 persons. University of
Maryland, in its spacious Ritchie Coli
scum, has been host to near-capacity
crowds this year and last for its in
tercollegiate boxing matches. At
Georgetown, Catholic University and
Columbus University matches, before
these institutions abandoned the sports,
keen interest was manifest.
Two professional fight clubs, at
Laurel and Alexandria, have been run
ming successfully, due only to the
patronage by Washington ring fol-
lowers Professional prize fighting,
however, is barred in the Hartley bill.
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