WRESTLERS TO ARRIVE SUNDAY; ALL READY FOR MONDAY'S CARD
Originally Published In The Racine Journal News, Saturday Afternoon, March 2, 1912, Page 5.
Four big wrestlers—Jess Pedersen, John Peneok, Joseph Smeykal and Germany Sampson—will arrive in the city from Chicago Sunday to put the finishing touches on their training previous to the bouts at Lakeside auditorium Monday night. The quartette is down to weight and in the pink of condition.
In view of the controversy going on in Chicago regarding "fixed" wrestling bouts, Manager Joe Budar, of the Drexel Athletic club, which is promoting the card, issued a statement last night in which he asks the fans to go over his record and discover, if they can, any "fake" athletic event he has staged in Racine during his many years as a promoter. The statement follows:
"March 1, 1912.
"To the followers of manly sports:
"In view of the controversy raging in Chicago regarding 'fixed' or 'fake' wrestling bouts just now, I desire to say that neither of the two bouts to be staged at the Auditorium Monday night in of this variety and if I thought for one minute that they were to be anything but straight, I would not permit them to be staged. "During the past 10 years I have staged many boxing and wrestling bouts in this city and I ask the fans to go over my record and find, if they can, a bout that was not on the square from start to finish.
“Wrestling bouts as well as boxing matches have been ‘faked’ in other cities, but to my knowledge none has even been put over in this city.
“As proof that the bouts are to be real things, I would say that Peneck, who wrestles Pedersen, is to get a chance at Gotch should he beat Sampson. In both bouts the men have something to work for and are not going to take any chances on ‘faking.'
(Signed) "JOSEPH BUDAH."
Manager Budar has a gang of men at work in the big rink today setting up 5,000 chairs and constructing a ring so that everything will be in readiness for the wrestlers to make an inspection of the place upon their arrival here tomorrow.
Up to last night over 800 reservations had been made for seats and it is expected that the biggest crowd that ever witnessed a wrestling bout in this city will turn out.
http://wrestlingperspective.com/working/1912/racinejour0302.html
Webmasters: Please feel free to put a link to this page on your Web site. However, please do not cut and paste this article and put it on your site.
Copyright © 2007 Wrestling Perspective. All Rights Reserved.
Wrestling Perspective, WrestlingPerspective.com, The Online Companion To Wrestling Perspective, and The Phantom of the Ring are trademarks. In Perspective, A Different Perspective, WP, Perspective/Counter Perspective, The Thinking Fan's Newsletter, and For The Discriminating Wrestling Fan are servicemarks of Wrestling Perspective.
Wrestling Perspective • PO Box 8310 • Utica, NY 13505