The Washington times., 1937-02-17
Ring Hard Hit
By Sequence
Of Scandal
By KIRK MILLER
Times Sports Editor

Ii 11AuSG have OCCuI =
red to a great many
fight fans here of late
that things are hap
pening inside and out
side of the ring which
are focusing very little
credit upon their fa-
.vorite sport.
And while I try to be the
last to view with alarm, I also
try to look truths in the teeth
and find it difficult to ap-
prove some of the didoes
which have been marred fis-
tiana here of late.
The fact that at least three
quite untoward incidents have
besmirched the sport recently,
does not necessarily indicate the
whole business is bad; but it does
prove that more evil influences
than normally are operating at
the moment.
Piling 1t On
Sport fans who look to boxing
for relaxation and exhilaration
have a right to expect a far
greater degree of decency in it
than has been revealed in the
Jack Torrance case, the Red
Barry case and the case of Cham
pion Jim Braddock trying to ig-
more his June contract with Max
Schmeling in the face of a
$1,000 appearance guarantee.
In case your memory needs
jogging on some of these ugly
chapters Of boxing, perhaps a
short sketch of the salient facts
will be in order.
Braddock is trying to duck
Schmeling because of a threat
ened boycott of the fight by anti
Nazi agitators.
Red Barry failed to put in ap-
pearance Monday night for a
scheduled fight in Holyoke,
Mass, with Unknown Winston,
the promoter having to return
upwards of $4,000 to purchasers
Of tickets.
Case of Torrance
Jack Torrance, the erstwhile
Louisiana State athlete who
turned professional after the last
Olympic games, has been re-
vealed as being the innocent VIC
tim of an alleged clique which
had planned" knockouts in his
behalf in four appearances in
about as many months.
Briefly, he is supposed to have
been "fed" opponents who would
take a dive for him-all quite
without the brilliant young col
1ege athletes knowledge.
These form quite sequence OF
events of which nobody can pos
Sibly be proud and are doing the
pastime no good in day when the
public is demanding more and
more gentility in its sports indul-
gences and relationships.
NefariouS enough even in its
Sunday clothes, boxing can i'll af-
ford such brazen defiance of re-
Spectability as it is currently ex-
periencing.
It is q far cry from such sport
idols as JeffrieS, Corbett and
Dempsey, for instance, to a Brad
dock who has so little regard for
his spoken or written word as to
wish to evade his fight with
Schmeling and expose his title to
Louis for the additional increment
which might accrue.
It is difficult too, to conceive
how Red" Barry, the Washington
heavyweight could have failed to
appear for his Holyoke match
without explanation or notice to
the promoter who is said to have
forwarded Red" his travelling ex-
penSeS.
An Ugly Revelation
And to a lot of people who know
naught of the Seamy side of boxing
it Is shocking to know that young
fighter can be launched on pro-
feSSional career and for the pur.
poses of a phony build-up, have his
fights fixed without his knowledge
so that he would floor his first
four opponents.
His fifth foe ran out on him
in Baton Rouge last week, exposing
Louisiana Boxing Commission as
well as the fact that he had been
billed under a different name than
that by which he had previously
been registered and licensed to
fight in New York.
Such dishonesty is bad enough
on the face Of it but 1t leaves a
Sordid trail and casts a doubling
shadow on future young fighters
who come along with an honest
string Of victories.
1t keeps tongues in cheeks. 1t
causes wise mods of heads when
future finds come along. 1t leaves
the public in the position of not
knowing what to believe any more
about the ring.