BOXING PAYS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, 24 November 1927, Page 8

BOXING PAYS

PROFITS IN AMERICA THE AMATEUR STATUS. TUNNEY’S AMBITION. Boxing proved itself the most profit able of sports last year in the Metropolitan Amateur Athletic Union, states the “New York Times.” It was one of the only three sports to show a profit. Gymnastics showed a credit ablance of 266.75 dollars and walking one of 21 dollars, while that for amateur boxing was 23,437.9 dollars. About 1500 boys are registered with the A.A.U., and in one 1926 tournament 1000 young hoxers competed. While the Tunney-Dempsey bout at Soldier Field, in Chicago, with its record gate and record purses, may be the high spot in pugilistic history, many athletes regard the amateurs as the backbone of the game. In not a few instances the amateurs graduate to the professional ranks and make creditable records. As youngsters they battle with a will and enthusiasm for no purse whatever, and any one who has watched them knows that often their performances provide more action than do those of better advertised professionals. In one recent show at Madison Square Garden, there were twelve knockouts in twenty bouts. Th«v spectators numbered about 4500 persons, a crowd as large as many of the regular club shows attract. Besides participating in amateur shows the amateur boxers are numerous among the spectators in the galleries at professional bouts. Boxing’s appeal to youth is general. There is hardly a boy who does not like to square off, to counter and duck; even to stand in front of the mirror and imagine himself a Dempsey or a Tunney—just as he likes to wind up a pitching arm in the manner of Herb Pennock or swing a club in the manner of Babe Ruth. In the A.A.U. the inclination of youngsters toward the art of selfdefence is co-ordinated with the development of good habits. The boy who gets into its amateur tourneys must neither smoke nor drink. He is taught to live cleanly and to keep himself in condition; otherwise he is not permitted to fight. The incentive to win glory in the ring, to excel perhaps among the boys of tile neighbourhood, or even to settle a grudge may often be the primady motive that starts the boys on their way toward the amateur boxing ranks. But many of them remain through later years for exercise. Tunney, the champion, has said that his ultimate ambition is to spread the gospel of clean living among boys. Amateur boxing is doing that. Tiinney began his study of the manly art in the same way as the present 1500 registered amateurs in the metropolitan area.