The Rise of Tex Rickard as a Fight Promoter

The Rise of Tex Rickard as a Fight Promoter

EDITED BY VIRGINIA RISHEL

W. D. "BILL" RISHEL FIRST CAME TO UTAH IN 1896, a footloose young man out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. Later he lived for several years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was impressed with the way eastern newspapers handled sporting news. He established the first sporting page in the Intermountain West in the old Salt Lake Herald in 1900.

Rishel was an amateur athlete. As sporting editor—not sports editor as the position is called today—he participated in various sports in Utah and was especially proficient in bicycling, swimming, and boxing. Although he was opposed to boxing as a profession and never entered the ring in a public contest of any kind, he frequently boxed with many of the fighters training in Salt Lake City. He often boxed with a fighter in training one day and the next day boxed with his coming opponent. He felt it gave him a good line on the outcome of their fight and kept him in good physical condition as well. He boxed with such notables as Jim Jeffries, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jim Corbett, and Jack Johnson. He frequently donned the gloves with Jeffries when the fighter spent six weeks in Salt Lake and boxed daily to keep himself in shape.

In this article, written just two years before his death in 1945, Rishel relates some long forgotten tales about how prize fighting was promoted in the West, who the promoters and fighters were, and what happened at some of the historic bouts that took place during the early years of this century.

RISE OF TEX RICKARD AS A FIGHT PROMOTER RISE OF BATTLING NELSON JEFFRIES-JOHNSON FIGHT

(Written November 22, 1943)

BY W. D. (BILL) RISHEL

The management of the Gans-Nelson fight at Goldfield, Nevada, and the promotion of the Jeffries-Johnson fight at Reno catapulted Tex Rickard into the arena as the greatest fight promoter of all times. Later in his career Rickard brought Jack Dempsey out as one of the all-time champions.

The rise of Tex Rickard began back in the early 1900-1909 period when I was sporting editor of The Salt Lake Herald.

In those days holding prize fights was against the law in every state in the Union except Nevada. In many states, fights got by under the guise of boxing contests, but frequently these were stopped when the matter was taken into the courts. Here in Utah, shortly after 1900, the sport was revived as boxing and during the next few years the game thrived with only a temporary shutdown now and then when a reform element got busy. However, in a short time some ambitious promoter would start again and before long the game would be going full tilt.

A local fight promoter named Kelly, anxious to break into the game, matched "Battling" Nelson with "Spider" Welsh. Nelson, a Dane, born in Copenhagen, had been fighting in Chicago, but was practically unknown. Welsh was an up-and-coming lightweight from San Francisco, strongly touted as sure to win the lightweight championship sooner or later. The fight was pulled off in the old Salt Palace building. While the fighters were in training here, Welsh became the favorite with the public and it was thought Nelson did not have a chance. Welsh was favored about 4 to 1 when they entered the ring.

When the fight started it was Welsh all the way. He hammered Nelson all over the ring. For several rounds things went along in Welsh's favor but Nelson kept coming back for more. Then Welsh not Nelson began to tire, gradually growing weaker until in about the sixteenth round (as I remember) Welsh stood helpless in the center of the ring, with Nelson hammering away all the time. The referee stopped the fight and gave it to Nelson with Welsh still on his feet, utterly bewildered. Welsh was led away by his second, Sammy McClintock, to his room where he collapsed and was out for about three hours. The report was circulated that he had died but fortunately it was not true. Welsh never recovered as a fighter.

That fight raised Nelson's stock. He went to the coast and got a match with Eddie Hanlon, the next fighter above Welsh and right behind Jimmie Britt, who was then the white lightweight champion. The San Francisco fans could not see Nelson, and he entered the ring with Hanlon about a 4 to 1 favorite. McClintock was accused of laying down with Welsh in Salt Lake. Wise Sammy said nothing but bet all his money on Nelson. It was a carbon copy of the Salt Lake fight. In about ten rounds Hanlon was down and out and Nelson the winner. Then young Corbett followed Welsh and Hanlon.

In spite of these victories, I, like practically all other sporting writers, could not see Nelson as a great fighter. He was awkward in the ring, and he apparently lacked punch. It was just not natural to look on him as a fighter. Wally Young, a San Francisco sporting writer, however, hit the nail on the head when he called Nelson "The Durable Dane," a name that stuck to him throughout his career.

Nelson was then matched with Aurelio Hererra, the Mexican champion, at Butte, Montana. Herrerrawas acknowledged the hardest hitting lightweight in the ring. I thought that would be the end of Nelson because any fighter could hit him when and where he desired. Nelson simply could not protect himself from his opponent's blows. In the first round Hererra knocked Nelson down and it appeared to be all over. That did not bother Nelson. In a second or so he was on his feet chasing Hererra all over the ring. About the fourteenth round Hererra was down and out, and Nelson, apparently unharmed, was on his feet ready for more.

As far as I was concerned the Hererra fight completely changed my mind. I was for Nelson against the world and never again lost that faith in him. After a visit to Salt Lake Nelson went back to San Francisco after Jimmie Britt, the then acknowledged white lightweight champion. He got his match after considerable squabbling and Britt went the way of the rest. Nelson was now the acknowledged white lightweight champion of the world. Nelson made Salt Lake his home after he began to climb upward, joined the Eagle Lodge at Bingham Canyon, and spent his spare time around this vicinity.

However, there was Joe Gans, colored lightweight champion. Gans was without doubt one of the greatest fighters that ever lived—crafty, clever and a puncher. But he had a Chicago manager who used Gans to promote his own financial interests. Gans won or lost a fight under orders from his manager. If he could make more money in betting by having Gans lose, why Gans lost, and came back at a future date to win over the same man. Gans finally broke away from this manager and confessed he had faked under orders, but he found it hard to clean up his reputation. This was the status of Gans when Nelson defeated Jimmie Britt. And Gans stood between Nelson and the undisputed lightweight championship title.

Now comes the Gans-Nelson fight. Nelson and his manager, Billy Nolan, were in Salt Lake vacationing. Nelson was resting and having a good time. Goldfield, Nevada, was a booming mining camp. About 25,000 miners, prospectors, promoters, businessmen and gamblers had gathered there. Money seemed to grow on the trees and everybody was prosperous. We had a fighter here in Salt Lake at that time named Jack Clifford. He was a fair boxer, had a lot of experience and was a pretty decent fellow. He approached Nelson and his manager Billy Nolan and asked them if they would give him a fight if he could get a $10,000 purse hung up in Goldfield. They said they would and the next day Clifford was off by train to Goldfield. In about a week there came a wire from Goldfield in care of me, as sporting editor of The Herald, offering Nelson a $10,000 purse to meet Clifford. Nelson's manager wired back "Yes" and asked for transportation money to come to Goldfield to sign articles and arrange details.

In about a week another wire came to me from the Goldfield promoters asking Nolan how much money he wanted to meet Gans instead of Clifford. Right there I advised Nolan and Nelson to let Gans alone—he was dynamite and dangerous. However, Nolan wired back he wanted $30,000. Almost immediately a wire came back. "We will give Nelson $30,000 for his share in a fight with Gans." I handed the wire to Nolan and he said he would put it up to "Bat." We went down to the old Salt Palace and found Nelson at his favorite sport—riding a bike and watching the riders train on the Salt Palace track. Nolan handed "Bat" the wire without saying a word. Bat read it slowly and turning away said. 'T would fight my own mother for $30,000. Tell them we accept." That was the largest amount of money ever offered a fighter for his share of the purse up to that time.

Nolan went at once to Goldfield. Nelson departed a few days later and preparations for the fight were on. Goldfield became the pugilistic center of the world at once. There were a dozen leading Goldfield citizens, bankers, businessmen and gamblers, on the committee to promote the fight. As usual under such circumstances there were a dozen managers and the promoters were working at cross purposes. A meeting of the whole committee was called and Tex Rickard was selected as the manager and placed in full charge of the fight.

This was Rickard's first connection with a prize fight and as a promoter, and he traveled a long way afterwards before death suddenly called him. Well, the fight came off as scheduled and Gans was awarded the fight in the forty-second round by George Siler, the aged, near-sighted referee from Chicago. He claimed Nelson had struck a low blow thus committing a foul.

The real truth was that Gans could go no farther and claimed a foul as a last resort. However, the crowd was with Gans from the start on account of Nolan's actions during the preparadons for the fight and his demand that Gans weigh in at ringside with his shoes on at 133, the lightweight limit. Gans did, but it weakened him and the crowd was for him all through the fight. Gans had a very pleasant personality anyway and could always make friends. I had met him a number of times and must admit he was one of the most ingratiating Negroes I ever knew. However, George Siler was wrong and the blow was not a foul as it remained for me to demonstrate later.

Immediately after the fight Nelson and Billy Nolan came to Salt Lake with moving picture films of the fight, which under the agreement became Nelson's property. We took the films to Harry Shipler, who reproduced that part of the film showing the questioned blow under a heavy glass and enlarged it. The enlarged print showed the blow was clear-cut. It was too high for a foul and was pointed upward, a typical so-called solar plexus blow with which Fitzsimmons defeated Corbett.

I reproduced the blow from a photo in The Herald and my copy was widely reprinted all over the country. Later Gans and Nelson met again and Nelson won a clean-cut victory. Gans died shortly after and it was commonly claimed that the beating he received at Goldfield was the real cause of his death.

But to continue with Tex Rickard. During the period covered by this article the fighting game was gradually closed in the East and then the Middle West. All fights of major importance, therefore, were held on the Pacific Coast, in San Francisco in particular. Immediately after these big fights the contestants' ultimate destination was Broadway, New York. The trip across the continent was generally made in short jumps, with the leading contestants, both winners and losers, making public appearances to pick up some easy money. Salt Lake was the first stop, with Denver, Kansas City and Chicago following in the order named.

We Salt Lake sport writers therefore had an opportunity to meet these sporting celebrities and in some cases to become more or less well acquainted with them. It was thus I met both Jim Jeffries and Jack Johnson.

During this time Jeffries had met and defeated every contender for the heavyweight championship. He then went into retirement to lead the easy life he had won in his long and victorious career. Then came a fight between Tommy Burns and Marvin Hart, which was billed as a fight for the championship left open by Jeffries' retirement. To give it a reality, Jeffries announced that he would give the title to the winner and it was so advertised. Burns won and proclaimed himself the heavyweight champion of the world. After a short time Burns left for Australia to capitalize on his title.

In the meantime Jack Johnson, colored heavyweight, came to the front as a fighter of ability. Johnson tried to get a match with Burns and finally went to Australia where he forced Burns to fight him. Johnson won easily and came back to America with the title. He had little trouble in defending it and a clamor started for Jeffries to come out of retirement and again assert himself as champion. Jeffries did not want the job and fought the meeting off for some time but was finally induced to come out and re-enter the ring. As it proved later, Jeffries had been out of the game too long and could not get in condition to meet Johnson who was then at his prime. After signing articles it was agreed they would meet in New York and accept the highest bid for the fight in early December 1909.

Where would they fight? The East was closed to the fighting game and so was the Middle West. London and Melbourne, Australia, were mentioned as possibilities. Of course there was California and Nevada.

I believed Utah would stand for the fight as the city government was very liberal at that time and we had pulled off some pretty big fights here.'' Notably the Root-Gardner fight for the light heavyweight championship and a return defense fight for the title between Gardner and Schrek. So I began to get busy.

During this time the Goldfield boom exploded. The live wires left for greener fields and Tex Rickard transferred his activities to Ely, Nevada, which was rapidly coming to the front with the opening of new mining activities. Ely's only large city connection was and is Salt Lake. Therefore, Tex Rickard came to Salt Lake frequently and we became very well acquainted. He was always interested in fights after the Gans-Nelson success and we naturally discussed fighters.

With the field open to bid for the Jeffries-Johnson fight I believed Tex Rickard, with his record behind him, could bring that fight to Salt Lake. Remember the gate for the Gans-Nelson fight stood at some sixty-odd thousand dollars, the largest gate ever taken in at any fight up to that time, and this was under Rickard's management. I wrote Tex and asked him to come over to Salt Lake as I had something that should interest him. Tex came and I laid out the fight situation all over the country and my plans for landing the fight for Salt Lake. I set the purse at $100,000, a prize that should stagger all other promoters. Tex fell for the idea and we canvassed the public officials, state officials and the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber appointed a committee with A. Fred Wey as chairman. It was decided that I should go with Rickard to New York as I was personally acquainted with both Jeffries and Johnson.

We left Salt Lake quietly, no one with the exception of Fred Wey knowing our mission. Tex carried with him a certified check for $25,000 as a deposit for his bid.

Jeffries and Johnson were both touring the country with road shows at this time drumming up interest in the coming fight and incidently earning a little extra money for themselves.

Tex and I went directly to Chicago where we registered under assumed names as we did not want to tip our hands. There we located Jeffries playing in Indianapolis and Johnson appearing in Pittsburgh. We started on Jeffries first and after three days had his consent to fight in Salt Lake under Rickard's management for a $100,000 purse. We next went to Pittsburgh and contacted Johnson and at the end of a week had Johnson lined up on the same terms. We then left for New York to attend the opening of the bids about three days before the time set for the occasion. Again we registered under assumed names. So well did we keep our secret that not a single sporting writer in Chicago, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh or New York learned of our presence. We rode around in automobiles with them, and either Jeffries or Johnson, but no one learned of our presence until Tex Rickard slapped his bid and twenty-five $1,000 bills for the fight on the table. Another $1,000 was added to our bid at the last minute because Johnson told us McNary of Los Angeles intended to enter a $100,000 bid.

Well, we landed the fight. At the last minute I induced Rickard to insert "Utah, Nevada or California" as the scene for the fight to protect himself in case something came up to prevent the fight being held in Salt Lake. This proved wise as things turned out. We came home and began preparation to hold the fight here in Salt Lake. A certain clique wanted in on the fight and threatened to stop it if Tex did not declare them in. Well anybody that knew Rickard knew he could not be bluffed. In a short time the preachers went into action and called on Governor [William] Spry to stop the fight. The Chamber of Commerce refused to go to bat for the fight and Governor Spry refused to act without being requested to do so by the Chamber of Commerce.

Rickard hung around Salt Lake for about six weeks trying to get assurance the fight would not be stopped and finally left for San Francisco in disgust. There he found the same trouble he had in Salt Lake. Jimmy Coffroth was the boss of the game there and he wanted in or no fight. Coffroth was one of the bidders at New York, but sixty thousand was as far as he would go. Finally Rickard left for Reno where under the law any person could get a permit for a prize fight upon the payment of a thousand dollar fee.

There the fight of the century was pulled off. Johnson was awarded the fight in the fourteenth round, because though Jeffries was still on his feet, never having suffered a knockdown, he was too weak to continue. A tired old man, he had tried to defy nature and failed.

This fight proved a financial success for Rickard and launched him as the greatest promoter of all times. Later he brought out Jack Dempsey at Toledo, Ohio, and set the stage for the million dollar gates which followed. Rickard was a natural showman, but he always wanted the best man to win and always gave both men in the ring an equal break.

I was greatly disappointed that Salt Lake did not get the fight. I had spent about six months giving my time and efforts to land the fight for Salt Lake. Just think of the publicity it would have given the old town. It was my idea of a sporting editor's duty to his paper and his town.

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