RING RECORDS

NZ Truth, Issue 1207, 17 January 1929, Page 8

RING RECORDS

BIG MONEY TO BE MADE But Pugilists Must Realize The Value of Economy

• Though some of the great pugilists of earlier times did live to see that there ' was big money ahead for the real cracks of the roped enclosure, they themselves, to use a sporting phrase, were practically broke when they crossed the Great Divide.

UTRUTH" refers to such famous 1 fistic warriors as Bob Fitzsimrnons, Jem Mace, John L. Sullivan, and Peter Jackson. There were others such aa Tommy Ryan and Gentleman Jim Corbett who did place what they got out of I'ing battles to good account, with the result that they are both now on easy street. Ryan was not like some of the giants who believed m spending all he _ llll " lll,|l|| " |||||||||| i |1111111111111 " 11111 earned. He wa s § one of the ' type | which provided for = the rainy day. | He saved hi s | money, and though | he had to take his | turn at saying, | "Boys, what ares you going to have?" | he probably only 1 did so often enough § to be classed a good = fellow. I He piled up suf- i ficient cash to m- §' vest m California; | and besides having § interests m real | estate holdings and | oil stations he is = living m comfort 1 and is stated to be ftiiiniiitiiiitiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiitii worth at least a quarter of a million dollars. j As for Jim Corbett, if he did not amass millions from his ring encount- j ers he earned fame sufficient to gather quite a tidy income m vaudeville, and at a very recent stage was believed to be commanding anything from 1000 to | 2000 dollars a week from this .source. Corbett was never "tight" with his earnings, but boasted business ability and made sure that a goodly portion

of his pugilistic earnings went m real estate. This pair can be quoted as instances when it was possible to make good financially even on the 10,000-dollar purses which figured m their days. Nevertheless, the love of spending was altogether too pronounced with the majority of old-time pugs., but times have changed and a fair percentage of boxers and fighters are now after all they can get and know 'what to do with it once it comes their way. .' They get enough from the ring to live, on, but refuse to take risks with it - because they have no business capacity. There are exceptions, such as Mike and Tommy Gibbons,- real estate investors; Packey McParland, who got a million out of a brewery; Johnny Kilbane, who is amassing a fortune from apartment houses and billiard parlors; Johnny Dundee, whose cash is interest-bearing on sound stuff; and Jack Dempsey, who is making money from the capital he amassed with the glqves, but probably not as much as he should. - Generally speaking, however, the big majority of boxers and fighters were brainy only at their particular calling. There were some great fighters who realized, the value of money all too late, and some of them did not possess enough for their burial expenses at the end.