The Washington times., 1934-01-26
Mr.. Foster Asks For
Himself At All Times
So You Don't Haze To.


don't have to ask Mr.. Foster.
Pop Foster, manager of Jimmy
McLarnin, is quoted in the pa
pers as saying that he might ac-
cept $4,000 for his James to
fight Barney Ross in New York
next spring, but that he would
prefer a $4,000 guarantee, with
a privilege of the champions
percentage of the gate receipts.
This comes as a terrific shock
to me. I am aStounded that Pop
would prefer $4,000 to S35,000
for anything. You see, I know
Pop very we'll. He is a grand old
character who will give you a
nickel change for a telephone
call any time-if you give him
the dime first.
Pop not only has the first dol
lar he ever earned, he also has
the first one he ever saw. He
has dimes in his pocketbook so
old that they are now worth a
dollar and a half, and once he
almost got tossed out of the
Mcnamara A. C. for trying tc
buy a round of drinks with a
Confederate one-dollar bill. But
this was in the wee small hours
Of the morning when he had sort
Of lost control of himself and
everything went, so long as it
wasn't real money.
This is only kidding, understand.
I like Pop. He is one of he real
characerS of boxing and as honest
as the day is long. Or that is my
estimate Of him. I'd take a ticket
on it any tine. One of the reasons
Pop is hard for some of the boys
in the boxing dodge to do business
with, is that he doesn't do any
business, if you get what I mean.
Leveling Always
I mean that when James Arch
Gbald McLarnin sheds that harp
o'erin bathrobe Of his in a prize
ring, that you can bet the rent
money he is levelling every step
Of the way.
Jim has fought some miserable
fights in our town. I never suf-
fered through a worse one than his
return match with Ray Miller,
and there have been one or two
others that have been so cautious
as to be almost painful.
But those came in the spots
where James realized that wisdom
was the better part Of valor in
protecting James. Never have I
seen him cautious when he had
the other fellow in trouble.
In the language Of the trade, he
Is the greatest finisher OF them all.
Once he starts an opponent over
the deep. then he is without pity.
The only thing merciful about
McLarnin in such a situation is
that he puts 'em under the ether
quickly. There is no haggling. No
botching of the job.
And that brings up a question
about which I'd like to ask the
opinion and advice of you read
ers. Perhaps one of the reasons
/ didn't enjoy the Ross-Petrolle
fight as much as I should, was
that I had a feeling from the
fourth round on that Barney was
Just going along with old Bill.
That he was being kind to a
once great fighter who plainly
had gone the way Of all flesh.
Forced to Agree
A lamb in wolf clothing sitting
next to me first put the thought
in mind, and gradually and re-
luctantly I was forced to agree
with him. Reluctantly because
I rebelled at the thought that
any fighter living could afford to
be kind to Petrolle inside those
ropes. Even though the Fargo
Express was headin' for the last
round house, as sgd Hughes so
aptly put it in a note to this
desk, I hated to believe that.
Furthermore it may not have
been true.
But others appear to have had
the same hunch, for here is a
paragraph from Sid Mercer'S
day-after- -the-fight story:
'Many Of the ringsiderS ex-
pressed the opinion that Ross
did not make any serious at
tempt to win by a knockout. =.
There is hardly any doubt that
GBiH COrum. famous New York
The WashinI