Then and Now

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 417, 27 July 1928, Page 10

Then and Now

! 1 ! OLD-TIME PRIZE FIGHTERS I FOUGHT FOR BARE | PITTANCE. I

FORTUNES ARE MADE TO-DAY In the good old days, when 50 and 60 round bare knuckle encounters were the vogue, the fighters were paid only a bare pittance. Very few, if any, of the old brigade amassed anything in the vicinitfy of a fortune, while many instances may be cited where old-time champions have ended their days in a state bordering on pauperism. Some battled 40 rounds for a month’s lodging and others for as little as £lO a-side, while one old fighter, who is now a peanut vendor at Madison Square Gardens, stated recently that he made more out of selling peanuts on fight nights than he ever did during his best days in the prize ring. The growth of pugilism’s popularity and the willingness of sport fans to pay almost any price asked to witness championship bouts is shown *by the increased revenue from big fights. The old-time champions never dreamed of the way the latter-day sluggers would roll in wealth. The greatest sum ever realised by such men as Sullivan and Fitzsimmons would be only ‘ pin money” for a modern titleholder. For weeks prior to the last TunneyDempsey contest the daily sales exceeded the total stakes of the Corbett - Sullivan match. The following shows the gate receipts of some of the lead-

ing: bis battles in the ring: — Sharkey-Fitzsimmons .. 3S-96 .. 5,250 Jeffries-Fitzsimmons . . 1902 . . 7,500 JefCries-C-orbett 1903 .. 15,200 Johnson-Burns 190S .. 15.500 Johnson-Jeffries 1910 .. 70,000 Demusey-Willard 1919 .. no.ooo Dempsey-Carpentier .. .. 1921 .. 400,000 Dempsey-Firpo 1925 .. 410,000 Dempsey-Tunney 1927 . ■ 667,000