The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-01-05
AMATEUR BOXING EVILSATTACKED
 BY STATE BOSS
fspecial to The Democrat)

Hartford, Jan 5.-Asking the CO., operation of the press, public, pro- moter, fan, and the boxer himself, State Athletic Commissioner Jo- seph IT. Lawlor took his first step toward purging the amateur box ing racket" as it has been rightly termed, with the following notice to matchmakers and promoters which is self explanatory:
 Hartford, Jan 4.-"The state athletic commission, confident that 1t will have the wholehearted sup port of the recent element in the boxing game, is calling on the matchmakers and promoters of the state to get behind 1t in a drive to clean up the amateur branch of the sport. To accomplish this the commission intends to take what ever steps may be found necessary. Either amateur boxing is brought back to 6 decent level, free from the taint of professi onalism, with its cheap form of racketeering and chiseling, or the sport banned until 
 spectability can be brought about.
 Shocks Ahead
 "Pending completion of plans. which the commission believes will go long way toward achieving this end, a more rigid supervision of amateur competition will be un- dertaken to eliminate and prevent the petty conniving that has done so much to bring the sport into disrepute. The chiselers, leeches, and exploiters of youthful talent will have no place in the new or- der of things. Matchmakers and promoters who value their privi- lege will confine themselves to that particular field of activity for which they have been licensed.
 "It should be clear to anyone that only by proper development of amateur talent can the healthy growth of the boxing sport be as- sured. This is of real concern to the commission and should be to anyone who professes to have the interest of the game at heart. No greater menace to the future and health of the amateur boxer pre- sents itself than in the heartless and interruptions practice of over matching the contestants, not only in weight but in experience as so often is the case. The banning of this sort of matchmaker or pro- moter will be step in the right direction.
 "The commission has no misgiv- ings us to the size of the task which with which 1t is confronted. It must look for the cooperation of the press, the promoter, the fan, and the boxer himself. With concerted action, Connecticut can go a long way toward setting an example to the rest of the country.
 While the cleaning up of the amateur mess is of vital import ance to the commission at this time, 1t must not be construed that there is not room for improve. ment in the professional ranks. The evils that infest the amateur game were only borrowed from the major sport, with which 1t was af- filiated. Overweight and poorly made matches, promoters whoI maintain q stable of fighters, fixed bouts. together with bad decisions are the bane Of every commission.
 Tt must be remembered that the ills. from which the boxing game is suffering did not arise overnight and neither will the remedy mani- fest itself in a day. But, with the cooperation of the above mention- ed forces, the promised New Deal for the Connecticut fan, can be- come something more than q myth, and in fact. decided reality.
 Per
 STATE ATIII, ,ETTC CoMA1ra-
 BION."