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Show HOT SHOT FOR I JAMES EDWARD 'Frisco Writer dives I Some Plain Talk. 'i i Public Want Nelson and H . Not Jabez WhiteCof- fl i froth Is Scored. -i J Native Son Gets First Trimming' j! nt Hands of One From j His Own Town. I This from tho sporting pages of the I :-. San Francisco Chronlclo will moot tho Kjl views of nearly every fight fan In Salt Hjt'u Lake. IL sounds moro like straight, , honest criticism than anything ancnt 'I James Edward Brltt from California In ' many a day: i "Tho sporting public la about ready to i eerva notice upon James Coffroth, prlzo-light prlzo-light promoter, that It docs not propose to permit a secret arrangement with Brltt to stand In tho way of a fight between H!' Brltt and Nelson, and that If ho con- j ' tlnucs In Ills present course of juggling matches to suit his llnanclal arrangc- mcnts wkh favored fighters, tho sooner 1 ' ho gets out of tho business tho bettor It will be for tho game. 1 "A promoter has no business to play fa- i vorltes among tho fighters and to sign 1 secret contracts with ono party to a match to tho disadvantage of tho other. Mi Each man In a match is entitled to an i open understanding of tho actual condl- 1 tlons and to an even break. Tho secret w ngrecment l a suro way to kill tho gamo ij and the public Is entitled to hold Coffroth , responsible. Brltt Is Afraid. ' "Furthermore, tho public Is beginning to rcalizo tho meaning of Brltt's attitude, 1 Thcro Is a fast growing opinion that ho i is afraid to fight Nelson again. If not, , let him forco Coffroth to mal:o tho match I with Nelson and give tho public tho show H.l ,' It wants. If ho fails to do this tho public , will very properly set It down as a cane 1 j of cold feet. It Is obvious what Coff roth's '; motive Is. Ho is paying Brltt to keep 1 ( other promotors from giving tho public p, j the match It wants, and ho Is trying to hold Kelson's perccntago down in order " to keep ns much as ho can for himself. I If Brltt dares to fight Nelson again tho j solution of tho situation Is easy. Tho i ; talk of a fight with While is simply a bit j of 'four-flushing,' for which tho public I will not stand. ! "Both from surfaco lndicatlonn and T j! from tho Information that has filtered out from 'tho lnsldo' it now appears that II tho Nelson-Brltt fight, tho ono match , tho public la anxious to seo consum- j matod, Is as far away from tho actual 1 making as it was a week ago. Pro- Hr) motor Jimmy Coffroth has in his pockot- Kt book contracts binding Jimmy Brltt to i a. maiCh with Jabcz Whlto in tho last H)r week In April, and, to all appearances, H I notwithstanding tho fact that the people Hi l) whoso money makes boxing shows pos- H ih slblo want Nelson, Britt and White will 1 1 bo tho April card. I This Is Not Wise. , "There Is no disguising tho fact that j to thrust an unpalatable match down the (i throats of tho peoplo Is not tho part of I1 wisdom. Under any other conditions tho J Brltt-Whito match would not bo so bad, 'j although It never could bo regarded with l! especial kindness. But Just at present, j ' with Nelson on tho sceno and tho match (. with him tho most logical of any within r tho wholo domain of llghtland, It seems j, almost an Insult to the fight fans to give j. them anything else. J, "Tho whole affair Is full of tangles and 1 snarls, and tho man who can bco clearly Is tho right or tho wrong of, it Is entitled to nj a decoration. At tho beginning, beforo things became mixed, Coffroth secured ,j, contracts with Brltt and Nelson for a j.J fight to follow the Nelson-Corbctt fight. Tho terms stipulated In tho articles were I that 55 per cent of tho gross receipts i, should go to the fighters. Each was to lj post a forfeit of $1500 on "Washington's (Vi birthday. This being a holiday, both Willie Brltt and Billy Nolan, tho two (j managers, decided to allow tho posting to , j go over a. 'day. Nolan was present at I Tarry Corbctt's, the appointed place, on II tho following day and plnccd his money In ,1 Stakeholder Corbctt's hands. j Britt's Back-Down. Jj "But tho Brltts, contrary to the agree-I agree-I ment, failed to place any money in Cor-Md Cor-Md belts hands. Nolan let tho matter go " until after tho Nelson-Corbett fight ' should bo decided, and then he came out I : with a proclamation. This was addressed i 1 to Coffroth, and was to tho effect that ij since Brltt had failed to post his for-, for-, felt tho previous agreement was off. ' KJ 'And now.' said Nolan, 'wo -will not sign j' to fight Brltt unless we are getting as . much money as Brltt. "In the articles which tho two had J- signed.- thcro was nothing to show ij. that Nelson was not getting as much money as Brltt, but Nolan had heard i that Britt was being paid a bonus for fil signing, and hb failed to seo the justlco ,fl of It. .j " 'Nelson is as big a card as Brltt now, n and wo want only what's right,' said Noil No-il lan. ij "But thcro was nothing Btirring with , 53 Coffroth or Britt.' Coffroth said with I .'1 finality that he could not glvo any more a than he was giving, and Nolan said with jA, just as much decision that ho would not ' 5 6'en unless Nelson was given as much "J money as Brltt. Coffroth was alreadv in (J communication with Tom O'Rourke. who I represents Whlto on this side of . the ' ocean, and ho accordingly made nrrangc-' nrrangc-' fl meats for a fight between Brltt and tho l(J Englishman, which ho announced at Jj Saturday midnight a week. ago. 1,' Public Want Nelson. j "But thcro is another snag In the way 't of tho match. Britt evidently has his heart set on meeting White. Ho pro- ,f, fers Whlto to Nelson as his next op-ponent. op-ponent. Ask him about it and he will 1 1I5 tell you that 'an International battle Is ,1 inevitable.' or somo other 3uch blast from 111 tho furnace-room. That's all vcrv wall '0 but Britt has repeatedly said from tho ring that ho was ready to fight anybody V whom tho public wanted him to fight. Uiv- 1 ,j less ho Is both blind and deaf, Brltt must ( know that the public wants him to light T J Nelson, not some tlmo in tho dim and 1 distant future, but in his next fight and 1 1 as early as possible. Tho public doesn't (I want Brltt and White. Tho public wants ifl Brltt and Nelson. Tho first-named match IjHi would bo lucky to draw $10,000; the last named would not go short of EMOtt) 9 ill and would most likely .comu nearer , to $10,000. That is an indication of the ii public pulse. "Brltt's plans-ns it appears to a man H.lTii vp aJ'M redwood-Is to fight Whlto next U month, getting a little easy money In that HHiKt "ay. and then, if ho chances to feel in HijH tho humor, to fight Nelson-at Brltt's terms. If IselBon does not como to Brltt's hi terms, tlio Native Son will doubtless tnko H&3 n Krlp Ea?t' nnd Perhaps to Europe, HvB further postponing a match with Nelson. J Sq it seems that unless Iho 'two get to- 1 gethcr next month, prospects aro slim j' a for any later contest. HjJ PeopleITot Considered. l i "According to a matchmaker's viow of It, thcro aro three parties to every fight ; contract, himself and tho two fighters. As H" ! a matter of fact, there aro four parties and tho fourth is tho public But for public sufferance thcro would be no fights Certainly, then, the demands of the public should be considered by anv man who la promoting any entertainment enterprise. enter-prise. What tho public wants In this caso is an adjustment which will bring Nelson and Brltt, not Whlto and Brltt, into tho ring. Tho public Isn't particularly par-ticularly caring how it comes, but let it come!" |