Sport: The Manly Art of Murder

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Ordinarily, the judge's report on the court's inquest would have been a formality. Since no one was legally responsible for the death of Professional Heavyweight Hayes ("Ed") Sanders, no one could be prosecuted. But to Chief Justice Elijah Adlow of Boston's municipal court the death of Ed Sanders (25), shortly after he was knocked out in the eleventh round of a fight with New England Champion Willie James, was still murder and the bout's spectators were party to the crime.

Since 1900, said Judge Adlow last week, 327 men have died from prize-ring injuries. There were six fatalities last year. In the same week that Sanders was killed, Ralph Weiser lost his life in Klamath Falls, Ore. "In the absence of a law legalizing boxing matches, an assault entailing such consequence would constitute murder . . . Both of the medical examiners insisted that the objective of boxers who engage in a contest is to deliver a knockout punch. In their opinion a knockout punch means nothing more than to inflict a brain injury on the contestant."

The court was critical of the few safety devices used in the boxing ring. "Professional baseball not only sanctions the use of a protective device for the head but some of the clubs require it. College and professional football spare no efforts to protect participants . . ." But he was even more critical of boxing fans. "The rules of the Boxing Commission forbid a one-sided match; [they] require a match to be stopped when a contestant is outclassed. But the spectators dictate the determination of these vital decisions . . . In the enforcement of the Boxing Commission rules, the claims of humanity and decency are drowned in the roar of the crowd. It is a sad commentary on our sporting world that as Hayes Sanders sank to the floor, there were boos from the crowd."