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Show MEN WHO FOUGHT FOR $50,000 WAGER Undoubtedly these aro the days cf high flnanco In tho ring. Twoaty . i. i"i ii i ..' lsh the laymen who read of such Inflated In-flated prlcc6 bolng paid out by promoters. pro-moters. Of course, tho tremondous etnko for which Johnson and Joff-rlce Joff-rlce fought holds, and probably will continue to hold, tho record for all time. But few followers of tho fighting fight-ing gamo aro aware that South Africa Af-rica established a mark for a side bet on a battle that has never yet boen equaled. The contest In question ques-tion took place on the Dark Continent In 1S93, between Jack Cooper and Wolff Bondorff, heavyweights. These men fought to n finish with two-ounco gloves for $50,000 a side. And it was real money, too, not rnoroly a press agent lie, for the party who put up the stake for Bendortf was none other than Barney Barnato, tho South African Af-rican millionaire. Cooper originally hailed from Australia. Aus-tralia. He was a big fellow and a good boxor, but hardly up, to what we would consider the quality of a second sec-ond rater hero. In 1S87 he went to South Africa and thcro met Barnato Tho latter took a strong fancy to Cooper, and thoy were great friends until tho shadow of a woman crossed their path. She was Barnato's girl, and Cooper won her affections. Barnato Bar-nato longed for revenge. Ho took a steamer for London, resolved to i?k out a fighter capable of thrashing Coopor. This face soon bocamo known to tho wise ones of tho metropolis. me-tropolis. Heavyweights of all kinds and colors were dug up for Barnato's inspection. Finally his choice fell upon Wolf Bendoff, a nephew of an old-time heavyweight of tho lato ntiles, who was also named Bondoff. Thoy both j came of a famous Hebrew fighting family which had furnished many a scrapper to the London prlzo ring Bendoff ivas a long way from being the .best wan that money could have procured, but as Barney was a Hebrew He-brew himselff, it may be that pride of race had something to do witn the selection he raado. ! At all events he returned to Africa with Bondoff in tow When thry arrived ar-rived Barnato Immediately challenged Cooper for a fight to a finish on bo-half bo-half of his protoge Cooper accepted, but as almost stunned when Barnato Bar-nato insisted that each man should post a side bet of J50,0M. Cooper hosltated at first, but, urged on by his admirers and afraid of bolng .teemed .te-emed of cowardice, he consented ;o Barnato's torms. Fifty thousand dollars dol-lars didn't mean much to the wealthy , Barnato. but It meant all to the pugl-tllet pugl-tllet .hose scalp be waa after. , The battle took place at Johannesburg, Johannes-burg, In Gentry' circus. Bendoff was a huge, powerful specimen of human- Ity, and his llkolr appearance led to hire being heavily backed by a number num-ber of wealthy sports, who followed Barnato's lead. Early In tho fight it tlon was not what It ought to be. He tired rapidly and Cooper won In the twenty-seventh round. Bendoff was accused of hnving thrown tho fight, nnd though no actual proof of the assertion ever came to light. It was generally believed that ho made arrangements ar-rangements with the other side and double crossed Barnato. At all events, he had plenty of money when ho next showed up In London. Bendoff has resided In the British capital over sinco. and promotes pro-motes boxing contests there up .to the present day. But the hardest hit man waB Barnato. He had not only lost precious shekels on the result of the combat, but failed to obtain his revenge on the wily Cooper, but felt that ho had been played for an easy mark. Barnato later committed suicide sui-cide by Jumping overboard from a Castle 'liner while en routo to England. Eng-land. Oddly enough, his successful rival, Cooper,also died by his own act. Following Fol-lowing the battle with Bendoff ho speculated on all sides, and became widely known as a proraotor of various vari-ous wildcat companies organized for the skinning of unwary Englishmen scoklng fortune in South Africa. For a long while Coopor made money hand over fist, but one unlucky venture ven-ture caused him to lose half bis fortune. Like a true gambler, ho tried again, failed, and woko up ono morning morn-ing to find himself practically a pan- , per. The ex-puglllH locked blmseifi In his bedroom and, after scribbling on a sheet of paper the words -I have thrown up the sponge." blow out his brains with a revolver. |