"Good evening, Ladies & Gentlemen of the Radio Audience."
50,000,000 people purred contentedly at being thus addressed. Scarred thugs in saloons; bleary night crowds in Porto Rico; hawk-eyed Indians in New Mexican hovels; gentlewomen in staid mansions in Buffalo, N. Y.—all leaned forward eagerly.
"This is a big night. Three million dollars' worth of boxing bugs are gathering around a ring at Soldiers' Field, Chicago. Here come some of the preliminary boys. . . . Oho, that was a fast one . . .that hurt. . . . Well, they tried pretty hard . . . boxing is a prosaic business. ... I came up from St. Louis today in an airplane . . . that's real . . . you and the pilot and God ALL ALONE TOGETHER. . . . Have you seen Eddie Dowling's show? . . . Another preliminary . . . that is better . . . oho . . . hard left. . . ."
Another voice:
"Burning down at us are 44 1,000-watt lamps over the ring . . . all is darkness in the muttering mass of crowd beyond the spotlight. . . . The 'mike' is fixed on the ring floor in front of us. . . . The crowd is thickening in the seats. . . . There's Jim Jeffries . . .Mayor Thompson in a cowboy hat . . . Irvin Cobb . . . John Ringling . . . Tex Rickard in a beige fedora. . . . It's like the Roman Coliseum. . . ."
First Voice:
"Here comes Jack Dempsey, climbing through the ropes . . . white flannels, long bathrobe . . . friend in a long green coat. . . . Here comes Tunney . . . [blast of cheering from the crowd]. . . . He's got on blue trunks with red trimmings. . . . They're getting the gloves out of a box tied with pretty blue ribbon. . . . The announcer shouting in the ring . . . trying to quiet 150,000 people. . . . Robes are off. ...
The Bell.
"Jack leads with a long left and misses . . . boxing quietly . . . this round is just a little feinting between the two boys."
"But I thought Dempsey was 35," complained the lady in Buffalo, listening to her first fight. "He's 32," explained a male, "Ring slang makes boxers boys."