The Waterbury Democrat., 1944-02-01
Are Judges Necessary?
By JOHN A. CLUNEY

That Boston boxing bilge that seems to have been brewing for a matter of months was brought to a head yesterday by Hub City coun- cilor, Scannell, by name, who charg- ed that the boxing business in the beloved city of culture, home of the bean and the god, where the Lodges speak only to Cabots and CabotS speak only to God, is 8 RACKET controlled by GAMBLERS. Now it so happens that there are two very wealthy men at the head of the Massachusetts state athletic com- mission. Their very names would impress almost anybody, especially when one of them, c. Desmond WadSworth by name Gan AAU spon- sor. too, believe) referred to Scan- nell as an UPSTART. The other one, COLONEL Samuel O. Smith, means nothing to me, either, but I don't like the use of the word "upstart" by gent tagged c. Desmond Wads- worth, just because city councillor, Scannell by name, had the intes- tinal fortitude to speak out in pub lie.
 Chairman Wadsworth's lightly brushing off of Scannell's claims that Boston GAMBLERS are TAGGING referees and judges of boxing bouts was quite silly, it seemed to me when he said: If anything like that was taking place, neither Colonel Smith nor myself WOULD HAVE ANYTHING to do with it.. There you have the perfectly nat ural statement of a man who wants the world to know that HE is per fectly honest, but, by the samc token, as is the case with Genera. John Phelan, chairman of the New York Boxing Commission, MT. Wads- worth cannot possibly have full knowledge of WHAT IS GOING ON.
 For instance, 1t is perfectly EASY for a gambler to buy of a dis honest referee or boxing JUDGE, especially the latter, 98 per cent of whom are POLITICAL appoint ments, who know little or nothing about the proper SCORING of a boxing bout according to RULES of boxing and of the particular athletic commission which employs them. The New York judge who gave Sammy Angott SEVEN rounds to THREE for Beau Jack last Fiji day night in New York Is pretty good example of what mean, for THAT JUST COULD NOT HAP PEN if the man really knew his business, meaning BOXING and the SCORING of 1t, UNDER THE RULES. There is absolutely no in- tended reference to his HONESTY, merely to his ABILITY.
 Last winter Willie Pep and Sal Bartolo boxed ten rounds in Bos- ton. I saw the bout, which Pep won VERY EASILY in my unbiased opinion as a fan and REFEREE, sitting as spectator. The POINT total of three officials Gall three of which happened to be referees in- cluding Jack Watson, former Con- necticut referee) was something like 246 to 245. Over ten rounds, a point score such as that is so ridic- ulouS that 1t had best be forgotten. Pep was about g to favorite to win before the fight with Bartolo, but the official total showed he just won by an EYELASH though, actually, he had a clear cut mar gin, in the eyes of any fan or off, cial who KNOWS how to judge a boxing bout, point system to the contrary notwithstanding. Now the charge by Scannell is that Izzy Jannazzo. who won g of 10 rounds according to the Hub councillor, and for whom the REFEREE voted by margin of TWO points; was robbed" by two judges of the bout in which Ralph zanneln was de- clared the winner, and, worse still, that the robbery was committed for the benefit of GAMBLERS.
 The racket poys tried to ruin Baseball and nearly succeeded