Serious Blow

At Indianapolis Firpo staggered under the first serious blow he has encountered in the U. S.--a $2,000 jolt in the pocketbook from Jack Druley, who promoted his exhibition with Joe Downey, of Columbus, O. The furry financier, who saw this wallop coming when Druley paid only half of his $4,000 guarantee before the gong clanged, tried to dodge it by sulking in his corner and refusing to box more than four rounds unless the balance forthcame. This sulkiness prompted more than 10,000 Indianapolitans (already infuriated by Governor McCray's decree that the go must be a gentle exhibition) to surge about the ring demanding satisfaction. Their Mayor, Lew Shank, clambered to the platform threatening jail for boxers and promoters if ten rounds were not fought. Firpo reconsidered, toyed with Downey for three rounds. Then he remembered his deficit and forgot the state law against roughness. He pounded Downey into a state of collapse, and. vowing legal vengeance upon false Jack Druley, left for his Atlantic City camp to begin active training for" his fight with Dempsey. In Buenos Aires, Felix Bunge, Firpo patron, sheltered his protege's boxing science against the typhoon of criticism that has swept down upon it from the north. Senor Bunge exhibited to newspaper men cinemato-graphic analyses of Dempsey's style, in opposition to which, he stated, Firpo's technique had been specially evolved. Boasted Bunge: " We know Dempsey, while Dempsey does not know us." Meanwhile, Dempsey is working with the blare of trumpets silenced. Although he is sometimes seen at the Saratoga race track, near his camp, he is seriously engaged in preparation for the Pampas financier. Floyd Johnson, possibly the fifth-- best heavyweight in the ring, is a member of his squad of sparring partners.

*Dempsey, Wills, Firpo, Gibbons.