OCR Text |
Show UTAH BOXI FIS supplied Fl Weekly Shows at Salt Lake and Ogden Prove Highly High-ly Popular. The boxing game in Utah had a successful suc-cessful year, measured by the "short-round" "short-round" yard stick. The Manhattan club, under the management of Hardy K. Downing, is in its third year of prosperity, pros-perity, and appears to be growing in popularity. The Monday night programme offers each week a couple of six-round bouts and four or five four-round scraps. Naturally, gathering together six pairs of evenly-matched boxers every Monday, week in and week out, is a job of eon-j eon-j siderable magnitude, and the wonder is that Downing manages to match his men j as well as he does. J Not infrequently Manhattan club , bouts prove to be genuine ring battles, j with a displav of boxing skill of remark-i remark-i able merit. Xn fact, this class of bouts j has become the rule, rather than the exception. ex-ception. The addition of two rounds to the former four-round rule permits the . fighters to show to better advantage, and they are doing it right along. Young Gilbert continues to be the sturdy warhorse of the local lightweight scrappers. Gilbert has been uniformly successful in his work, which, taking into account the fact that he appears r almost every week, is an astonishing showing. Other local talent is up and doing, too. From time to time Downing has brought hither boxers of reputation from the Pacific coast or the east, but almost invariably the Utah1 boys have whipped them, a result which speaks well for the skill and stamina of the local boys. ' The weekly shows are notable for the absence of rowdyism, such as is usually to be found where boxing matches are held . Kowdyism is seldom if ever due to the boxers themselves, but is the work of hangers-on. Downing has succeeded in eliminating the undesirables not only from the ringside, but also from the body of the house, for which he deserves the grateful thanks of those fans who like to see boxing matches conducted on their merits and free from gutter fungus. fun-gus. The weekly boxing shows have also found favor "in Ogden, where the Elite i Athletic club offers its patrons a card, usuallv on Wednesday nights. Ogden ring devotees find an outlet for their enthusiasm at these shows, and are invariably in-variably well satisfied with the cards offered. Several bouts in addition to the weekly week-ly programmes in Salt Lake and Ogden bouts of more pretensions were neld during the year. In a proposed twenty-round twenty-round bout last January, Frankie Callahan Calla-han and Ralph Gruman'were the participants. partici-pants. In the sixth round Grnman's jaw was brokn and he was compelled to retire re-tire in the eighth, much to the disappointment disap-pointment of the spectators. Ad ol-gast, ol-gast, former world's lightweight champion, cham-pion, defeated Young Gilbert in the sixth round of a ten-round mix. Jack Dempsey, a Utah prpduct of much promise continued his victorious record. At Murrav, Dempsev put out Young Hector, a Colorado giant, in the third round. He won a clean-cut decision over Terrv Keller in a ten-round affair at Ogden, and a like decision over Dick Gilbert at Salt Lake. - ' f |