Life, 1926-05-20 · page 41 of 44
Life — May 20, 1926 — page 41: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical cartoon traces the decline of professional boxing's legitimacy over roughly 50 years. In 1880, a fighter eagerly accepts any match for prize money. By 1890-1900, he's making contracts and demanding larger purses. By 1910-1920, his demands escalate dramatically—requiring huge upfront deposits and refusing fights unless conditions are perfect. The final panel delivers the satire's punch: by 1926, the champion avoids fighting altogether, claiming he's too busy visiting his "facial surgeon." This mocks boxing's evolution from a sport into a money-grabbing enterprise where fighters prioritize appearance and profit over actual competition. The cartoon satirizes how professional boxing had become driven by greed and ego rather than athletic merit—a common complaint about 1920s sports culture.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
LIFE -and Pineapples Juicy-Cool salad of the gods! . . a dozen fruits in one, Guavas for Nature's summer ambrosia ike adfruit and mangoes growing in bung zalow yards. At breakfast whiff the Kona coffee that grew nearby. Ah! This is June and you're in Honolulu! Breeze-swept days for golf. Soft dusk jeweled with gorgeous tropical flowers. And at night —“Boy, another bed-cover.” Hawaii U.S, National Park with its volean wonders Suri Outrigger canoes. Mo. . Waikiki. You won't leave till you must. Cost? $300 to $400 covers everything fot 3 oF 4 weeks—round trip on ocean liners from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Vancou- ver or Victoria; hotels, inter the volcano trip and all sig scriptive brochure in colors, write now— HAWAII TOURIST BUREAU 227 McCann Btne., 451 Mowroomeny Sr., San Francisco nd cruising, OF 355 TORT ST., HONOLULU, HAWAII, UL. A. ENATORS ROBINSON, Harrison and Edwards have been constituted a contest committee on the question, “What is a Democrat Easy. A Democrat is a man addicted to the phrase, “You just wait until next year!” CLARK'S FAMOUS Siena Ry En appototed ew, oll-burning Cu peclaity ca 2 " sOUTH 1 Combined with the Mediterranean Fed. 5. $6 days, $900 to $2.300. ROUND THE WORLD 19. 121 days, $1,250 to $2,900. we the MEDITERRANEAN 7 to FRANK e “CLARK. “Times ‘nids., N.Y. From a Writer's Garden of Rejections W regret” Then sop up those tears on cheeks), “We regret the enclosed contributior (It’s been hanging around you for weeks) “Is not at the moment quite fitted” (That's a wow—“at the m that’s good!) “We thank you for having (And the stamps were too—you should!) (look at my destitu- submitted enclosed, “We shall always be glad to consider” (That's a line I've heard somewhere before) “Any manuscripts” kidder) “You may care to preser a roar!) “Yours sincerely—" (well, that we jawful, And, now that you've finished you (you're such a (there's song, Why didn’t yc just say: AWFUL! I knew that it was, all along.) Tip Bliss. Pugilism’s Progress 1280 RING him on; Ml fight th’ big ham any time, nothin’. Right now, if anywhere, fer ¢ wants it.” 1890 “Post yer forfeit an’ name the 1900 “We got a five-weeks’ contract with th’ Bouncin’ Babies Burlesque, te sparrin’ exhibi over, th’ champ’s ready to’ meet any one in th’ world fer th’ best purse offered an’ a suitable side-bet, winner take all.” 1910 “Th champ's got two months to g “Honest Fists an’ Heavy Hearts,” to talk business any time s, an’ as soon as that’s 1's willin’ to offer a purse of xty per cent. to th’ winn 1920 “Th’ champ'll fight when he gets good an’ ready, an’ then they'll have to lay one hundred grand on th’ line before we'll talk to finish fer seventy-five grand, paid in advance, and then they’s that fourteen weeks in vodville at ten grand a we Anyways, we got a movie So we won't be ready fer a year yet.” 1926 The Champion Regrets His Inability to Meet Challengers, Socially, or Otherwise, Owing to Previous Engagements With His Facial Surgeon. Jai Kevin McGuinness. Lour le & and after Jain the Bath Iways such a ple tic or Fleurs d'/ ROGER & GALLET Parfumeurs—Paris og Sara Avenve New Of all Best Dealers comicbooks.com