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AT THE RINGSIDE By Barney Naglerl NEW YORK, N. Y., lvlay 10.— They were Just about to announce the signing of the match between Floyd Patterson and Hur ricane Jackson, pen-ricane Jackson, penciled in for Madison Square Garden June 8, and Jim Norris was standing around with the boys in Julius Helfands star chamber. He was tanned and smiling and his usual forthright self when somebody asked him why he had been delayed in matching Pat terson and Jackson. Its the managers," Norris said, "theyre to mad at each other, I couldnt get them to agree." "You mean," Norris was asked, "that it " was a personality problem?" * A A "You can put it that way if you want to," he said, "but what I mean is that these two- fellows, Cus and Lippy, just wouldnt give an inch. Just then the name named Cus, DAmato toy surname, came along with his Patterson, a lean, rather fine looking Negro lad ©ut of the slums of Brooklyn. "Do you know Jim Norris, the boss of the IBC?" DAmato asked Patterson. "Sure," the fighter said, "I know him." For Patterson, this was a speech. He is a laconic lad, turned inward, no doubt, by the circumstances of his background. He is not inarticulate, but the words come slowly, it seems, he is unaccustomed to public speaking. A few minutes earlier Patterson had delivered himself of a backward verbal glance at a sparring session he had with Jackson back in 1954. This had taken place at Ehsans Camp at New Providence, N. J., when the Hurricane was in training for a match with Clarence Henry. Jackson, it Avas recalled, had been forced to postpone a bout with Clarence Henry because-he had been cut during the sparring session. "It was nothing, just sparring," Lippy Breidbart, the Hurricanes manager, had reported. Now, speaking about it, Patterson was making it more than sparring match. "I guess we were really going at it," Jackson said. "I was. Maybe he wasnt, because hes the kind of fighter that needs a crowd yelling to make him go. He wasnt barraging and thats when hes best. Do you need a crowd to fight better?" Patterson was asked. AAA "I guess so," the young fighter said. "It Continued on Page Forty-Nine AT THE RINGSIDE By BARNEY NAGLER r Continued from Page Two doesnt make you a better fighter, but it .gives you confidence." There is every likelihood that Patterson and Jackson will be fighting in full view of a large studio audience at the Garden. N6rris, talking about the difficulties of making the match, predicted a sellout, balcony seats," he said. "Were going to charge 2 to for the * Balcony? The galleries at the Garden have been dark on boxing nights for years. L "Im giving them 0,000 each from the television money and a privilege of 0,000 Br 25 per cent from the ga te receipts, ■whichever is greater," JMorris saidi "That f means theyll get at least 0,000. I expect I.Ill get at least -5,000 from Gillette for I thp- television "You know, June 8 is important to Gil-1 lette because it comes just before Fathers ! Day. They think they can sell a lot of blades as gifts." "You should have Bobo Olson fighting that night," it was suggested. "Hes the father of the year." Norris didnt laugh. He smiled. "Im glad I got this one going," he said. "Cus and Lippy hate each other, I might say, and they just wouldnt agree to terms unless each got as much as the other. Well, we worked it out. "Now," he went on, "Ive got this tour- j nament going. Id like to match Archie j Moore with the winner of the Holman-Baker fight tonight, and have that winner go against the Jackson-Patterson winner." "Moore isnt going to want to fight twice to get the heavyweight t i 1 1 e Marciano kicked aside," a man said. "In that case," Norris said, "well do the best we can."
