TOO MANY "DEAD HEADS” LET IN

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 5, 6 January 1940, Page 5

TOO MANY "DEAD HEADS” LET IN

NOTED BOXER'S COMPLAINT ' CHEQUE FROM BOUT NEARLY KNOCKED HIM OUT Being a South African boxing cham- I pion and getting one’s name into news- j paper headlines may mean a lot of ; glory to the individual concerned, but | it seldom brings much financial grist to the mill. Charlie Catterall. the new feather -; weight champion, has discovered this ' to his cost. He received recently his cheque from the Transvaal National Sporting i Club xTO and came nearer to be- ] ing knocked out than at any stage of j his fight with Alex Hannan at Ellis j Park last November. Many "Dead Heads" Although there appeared to be a big ] crowd at the tournament night only some paid and the club is reputed to have lo&t about £4O on the venture. Catterall and Hannan shared 25 per • cent, of the gale, the winner taking 60 and the loser 40 per cent. So the takings must have been under 1600. At a very rough estimate the crowd looked good lor £lOOO, which shows how deceptive crowds can be. It can only be assumed that the number of complimentary tickets issued was out of all proportion 1o the number of paving customers. Complimentary Ticket Racket The complimentary ticket business in Johannesburg sport has become a proper “racket' ; all sorts of people who could anti should pay, wneedle •\omplimcnvaries ’ for tne big events, and it is a problem which is worrying most of the sporting executives in the Transvaal and one which thev might tackle jointly, writes T. D. Nelson, in the Rand Dailv Mail. It is particularly unfair in the ca>e oi buAtis, who light on a percentage | oasis and have to meet managerial, ; ’ raining, seconds and their expenses, lin addition many times to loss ol I w ages. | Catt er all’s balance-sheet for the re- | rent fight would read, roughly, like I this: Income Proceeds from light 170 Total £7Ol Expenditure Loss of one mon:h’s w ages £55 I One months board in Johan- ] nesburg £lO Inddental expenses £lO Total £75 ] (.’atterail, therefore, is out of pocket for all his effort and would have been considerably more so had the Sporting i I Club not paid his train fare. The cheque shock was not the only ■ one. Catterall will remember, in con- I nection with his title fight; before, entering the ring at. Ellis Park, he was nearly asphyxiated while lying i asleep in ills dressing room. It hap-] penea this way: ■ 1 Catterall shared the same dressing ( room as Teddy Grace and while wait-1* ing for his call dozed on a bench. ( vVhen Grace came back from his f fight with Bob Bradley, pretty extensively damaged, first aid workers } made rather free use of ether, while 1 Catterall slept on breathing it in. It ' was only the timely arrival of one of < Catterali’s helpers that prevented a ' .serious accident. Catterall was rushed ? out. into the fresh air- and spent thp rest of the time there before his call to action, breathing out ether.