The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-06-04
REEF SQUABBLE ON PEp-BART0LO
Commission Chairman Will Take Full Charge; Martin
 Criticized By BartOl0

Boston, June 4.-CUP)-Lt.-Col. Samuel O. Smith, chairman of the Massachusetts Boxing Commission, said today that his group would as- sume full responsibility for the as signing of officials for the feather weight championship fight at Braves Field Tuesday between titliSt Willie Pep of Hartford, Conn.,, and Sal Bartolo of Boston.
 Col. Smiths statement came after Bartolo had said he wanted neither Johnny Martin nor Jimmy McCar- ron to referee the 15-round battle for the New York style title.
 In the previous non-title meeting between Pep and Bartolo, both Mar t>1 as referee and McCarron as a judge gave the fight to the cham pion by single point.
 Martin Criticized
 When Bartolo's representatives charged that Martin failed to han dle the fight fairly, Col. Smith made this statement:
 "It is the responsibility of the state boxing commissions to ssign the officials for the Willie Pep-Sal Bartolo championship bout. The commission assumes that respOnsi- bility."
 In elaborating on the statement, Col. Smith said there were no grounds for Bartolos charges.
 "The best thing for the partici- fc i,, l,i hnx c their fighting in the ring next Tues day" he said T think it would be better for both men to forget all about who is going to officiate and concentrate on giving a good ac- count of himself"
 Matchmaker Eddie Mack will ac- company Schiro to meeting of the Boxing Commission today to iron out this and other details. He does mt care who officiateS so long as the correct decision is reached and he has lived through so many ot these pre-bout squabbles before that he's taking this one without missing stride. Commissioners Sam SmltE and Des WadsWorth are cooperating whole -heartedly, in an effort tc make this the outstanding bout IT the history of the Boston ring. They have more than 20 ring officials available throughout the State, anc undoubtedly they will come to 6 satisfactory agreement with Schiro
 This is an important bout, tol both Bartolo and Pep. The winner will be in a position to earn quar- ter of a million dollars within the next few years, and 1t would bt strange if there were not some pull ing and hauling over the choice ol officials. Neither one wants the worst of it; both are looking for ar even break; and Schiro does moi think he got it the last time they met.
 Ready to Go
 Meanwhile, both the champion and the challenger are putting the final touches on their training work and both are coming up to the starting gate in superb condition They will do their last heavy work tomorrow, taper off Sunday WltE light drills, rest Monday, and Dc ready for the gong at 8:30 Tuesday
 The advance sale now is crowd ing the $3O,0O0 mark, which is wha' Pep has been guaranteed for de lending his ;rown, and co-promot' CTS OBrien and Mack, who gam bled $45 ,0O0 that this was record breaking match expect to be out ol the woods and in the clover by Sat urday night. Plenty of seats at al prices from $2.20 to $770 still arg available, and the boX-office of the Boston Boxing Association at A School Street is doing a land office business. Reservations may be made by telephoning Laf, 0511 or Laf, 6197.