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\ tarrying a concealed weapon. ‘FRere-hes . been talk of an elimination tournament among Patterson, twice heavyweight champion, Doug Jones, Eddie Machen, and Cleveland Williams, all top-ranked fight- ers, to determine the next challenger. The subcommittee members ‘were in- terested in other of the organization’s pre-fight activities, also. Much of their interest centered on Liston’s gift of more than half his shares of Intercontinental Promotions to Margolis, a long-time friend. When the corporation was formed, Liston received 500 shares—-50 per cent— with the Nilon brothers getting most of the rest. Before the fight Liston gave 275 of these shares to Margolis, which will yield him an estimated $100,000 after taxes of the Liston-Clay fight income. “It sounds to me like Liston was fleeced,’’ Sen. John McClellan commented acidly. Cherry heatedly denied the sena- tor’s allegation. Liston, he contended, ‘“‘made a better deal with Intercontinental than has ever been made in the history of boxing.’’ Liston’s share, he estimated, will still total about $500,000 after taxes. The gift, he continued, was payment for Margolis’ services in introducing Liston to Jack Nilon and in helping to form Intercontinental. ‘‘Isn’t that a rather large finder’s fee?’’ the senator inquired. Cherry conceded that it was. Nilon, who testified after Cherry, ap- peared to be considerably less con- cerned about Margolis than the sub- committee members. ‘‘Personally, I feel that anyone who can put up with Mr. Liston’s antics—even if he got the whole thing—he’d be underpaid,’’ he said. Lis- ton ‘‘dogged it’? in training, Nilon said, complained of minor ailments (‘if he caught cold he acted as if he were dying’), and surrounded himself with hangers-on who assured him that Clay would be too frightened to get off his stag. eed? Oe 2 SRN tt Veer maser won et —Broblems of a Fight Managen—__. Among these hangers-on was gambler Joseph “‘Pep’”’ Barone, once part owner of Liston’s contract along with Frank “Blinky” Palermo, who now is appealing a Federal conviction for shaking down a California boxing manager. ‘‘Sonny thinks an awful lot of Mr. Barone,’”’ Nilon said. “He thinks Barone is good luck. Sonny’s very superstitious—he won’t let you throw a straw hat on the bed, for example.” This interested Sen. Philip Hart, Dem- ocrat of Michigan, the subcommittee chair- man. ‘‘Isn’t it a manager’s duty to train his fighter and get rid of the hangers-on?’’ he inquired. ‘‘You don’t know Liston, he’s a very difficult man,’’ Nilon sighed. ‘‘You have to be around him to appreciate him.’’ The hearings were something of a break for Ed Lassman of Miami Beach, the president of the World Boxing As- sociation. Two days before they started, Lassman announced that the association was considering taking Clay’s title away from him because of his agreement allow- ing Intercontinental Promotions to handle his next fight and because his eendct, re and after winning the champ- jonship, was a liability to boxing. ‘‘He is a detriment to the boxing world and a poor example for the youth of the world,’’ Lassman charged. Lassman Makes a Hasty Retreat He got little encouragement from most of the rest of the boxing world. Spokes- men for the Illinois and New York state boxing commissions promptly declared that as far as they were concerned, the only way Clay could lose his title was in the ring. When the hearings began, Lassman retreated from his stand and said his as- sociation would withhold action until the subcommittee had finished considering its proposed legislation. He is scheduled to testify this week and has indicated that he, too, will urge the establishment of a Federal boxing commissioner. Wheth- er this is ever realized, many can agree with Senator Hart’s statement that box- ing has become ‘“‘the object of general public disrespect and distrust.” : - — JAMES R. DICKENSON quae ae