ANNIVEESARY NUMBER 1919 



109 



The Philippines' and the Boxing Game 



By Clayton Young. 



People in the Unit- 

 ed .States, particu- 

 larly those in the 

 middle west and on 

 the Atlantic Coast 

 where the Philip- 

 pine Islands are sel- 

 dom heard of and 

 where even their 

 geographic location 

 is often hazily given 

 as "somewhere in 

 the tropics", will 

 probably learn with 

 surprise that not 

 only is Manila one 

 of the best boxing- 

 loving towns in the 

 world, but that it boasts besides, a Stadium 

 that surpasses anything ever built for the 

 same purpose anywhere in America. 



People who would be apt to put off a trip 

 to Manila because of the belief that they 

 might miss their regular diet of boxing shows, 

 can go ahead, with arrangement for the journ- 

 ey, assured in their own minds, not only 

 that they will be able to take in a boxing show 

 whenever the desire moves them, but that 

 they will be able to see in action, boys who 

 compare, to say the least, most favorably with 

 boxers to be found anywhere else in the world. 



FRANK A. CHURCHILL 



At the time this publication went to press, 

 Llew Edwards, featherweight champion of 

 the British Empire and lightweight title holder 

 of Australia, was in Manila, and Frank A. 

 Churchill, president of the Olympic Athletic 

 Club, Inc., builders of a PIOO.OOO semi-open 

 air stadium which was opened in February, 

 1919, was carrying on cabled negotiations in 

 the hope of getting Benny Leonard, light- 

 weight champion of the world, to come to Ma- 

 nila and meet Edwards in a bout for the title 

 on the Fourth of July. 



The new Olympic Club Stadium was open- 

 ed on the night of February 22, with Llew 

 Edwards and Francisco Flores, a wonderful 

 little Filipino boxer, appearing in the main 

 event, Edwards winning the decision. In- 

 dicative of the interest that the people of 

 the Philippine Islands take in the boxing 

 game is the fact that fully three thousand 

 people were turned away on the opening 

 night, the new Stadium unfortunately hav- 

 ing a capacity of but 5,000. 



Vince Blackburn, bantamweight champion 

 of Australia, and four other famous Australian 

 and English boxers, with their manager and 

 trainer, George Baillieu, were also in Manila at 

 the time this article was written, all under 

 contract with, and appearing at, the 

 Olympic Club Stadium. 



The policy of the Olympic Club, under 



the personal direc- 

 tion of Frank A. 

 Churchill, of hold- 

 ing two shows a 

 week, means that 

 new boxers are al- 

 ways in demand in 

 the city of Manila. 

 For a number of 

 years most of the 

 American boxers 

 who have made 

 the trip to Manila 

 have been Pacific 

 Coast men. But 

 now, with his new 

 club in operation 

 and men of the callibre of Llew Edwards and 

 Vince Blackburn in Manila, Churchill has 

 announced that he is anxious to hear from 

 other good men, no matter in what part of 

 the world they may be located. 



Boxers or their managers, wishing to ar- 

 range bookings with the Olympic Club, should 

 address their correspondence to Frank A. 

 Churchill, Olympic Stadium, Box 421, Manila, 

 P. I. 



The club's cable address is "Olympac," 

 Manila. 



LLEW EDWARDS 



OLYMPIC CLUB STADIUM 



