Salt Lake Tribune | 1913-08-31 | Page 24 | Poor Management Causes Fatalities

If POOR MMGHlT j: ClUSBFimiTIES j; Over -95 Per Cent of- Acci-L Acci-L dent in Boxing Game I J ' Traced to Carelessness. PACIFIC CLUB WARNED ft " f No Excuse for Matching t "Bull" Young for More ft Than Four Rounds. If . li " ?' The unfortunate accident to John jl! (Bull) Young at the Vernon arena Frill Fri-ll : day aight and hifi death shortly there- ' after is causing more comment than l anything that, has happened in the lij boxing game for yeaTB in this Btate. jl Accidents of all kinds happen in jj connection "with athletic sports, be it ! j- swimming, "wrestling, horse racing, basely base-ly ball, football or any other sport -where t there is more or loss danger connected ' - -with it, And no sport is a sport unless i there is some -danger or chance for it, J Bays De Witt Van Uourt m the Los An- i celes Times. h There have been people Wiled play-( play-( ' ing croquet, -when a mallet broke and JJ' the hammer flew off, and hit a player fit in the head- Still croquet cannot be til considered a very exciting sport, baseball players are killed every I"i year, and between twenty and thirty M. football players die each year from It jl accidents, but seldom do you hear pt la any managers or promoters of these S - games arrested. But lot an accident 5?, happen in the boxing game and there 48 ' is immediately a great, uproar against i it. It takes years to correct mistakes in any game,' and this iV,qnite true of U boxing. Poor Management. , j The danger does not lies so much in E the boxing, as in the management of f' it. Over 95 per cent of accidents occur- I ring in the boxing game can be traced I to the carelessness of the promoters il managers, trainers and seconds. J!" "We have altogether too many men i 1 in the, game who desiro to bo manager i of some boxer who know little or any-thing any-thing in connection with the manago-I manago-I ( inent of the game and far less about the t science of boxing and training a boxer. ' 1 These fellows will go to most any ,ex-i ,ex-i treme to match a boxer no matter how i little he knows. 'I , The promoters, as a rule, cbto little !, for anything but the money that they can make out of it, regardlcBs of the f ability and condition or the boxers, j just so long as they can make the r public believe they have a good card. ' 1 Many so-called trainers will hide a !,' boxer's condition from the fans just , to get their man into the ring, and get ' the mono)' they make for training, regardless re-gardless of the chances he might take "I in getting injured during a contest. 1 1 Many seconds "will send a boxer up j round after Tound, when they know he : has little chance to win, many times ?, 'for money and Hgain from the supersti-1. supersti-1. 1 tion of being behind a loser. Club Has Been Warned. I' The Pacific Athletic club has been ! warned many timos through tho '-j papers of the "danger of these things, It and letters by the score have come Bj to hand crying out against the clasB H of -boxers, the poor match-making, etc. . ' No attention has been paid to it all. p , 'In tho case of Bull Young, there is in. no excuse whatever to offer for , j matching him with any man for over ; I four rounds. ,"i It recalls to my mind the old Cali-,m Cali-,m fornia Athletic club in San Pranciaco I t years ago and their method ' of con-ii con-ii 'ducting ooxing contests. This club was I in existence for over twelve years, they I l held nothing but finish fights with I jj- tliree-aunce gloves. Many contests went ' ' over fift" rounds without a single fa-tality. fa-tality. o I ' ' This was largely duo to the fact that I ;J4 no matter what reputation a boxer j ! might have, he had no chance whatever I to got a match until he was tried out for at least four rounds by some well-j well-j known and compotent boxor. If he made good, he got a match, and only : 1 when he did make good. Foolish Match. Bull Young should never have been I j matched for any distance over four I , rounds. Not one boxer in fifty today I has the least idea of self-defense, still I ;i' they are allowed to box. 1 y. Never was there a better time for a I ;,! state boxing commission consisting of 1 men thoroughly schooled in the game, If who should have full power to acfc in ev-I ev-I ery way, than now. All seconds should 1 Trj be under their charge. 1 ' 1 There should also be a law compell-1 compell-1 't' ing every professional boxer to produce I ' a certificate of proficiency before he 1 V was allowed to compete, " and these 1 ' 6hould be passed upon by the commis-I commis-I , sion. The matching of inexperienced 1 S and undeveloped boxers should never be 1 Jf allowed,