Bobby Bauer, ceach of Can-
ada’s Olympic hockey team, the
Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen,
says the Russian team will he
“hard to beat” in the January
26-February 5 games, but is eon-
fident that his team will finish
on top.

“We can’t overlook that faet
that these English League teams,
made up mostly of Canadians,
took some bad beatings,” says
Bauer.
edging. Harringay Racers 5-4 im
London last. month, after win-
ning an earlier game by a wide
margin.)

“The Russians are speedy,”
says Bauer.
important, because the Olynmapie
rinik is 200 feet by 106 feet and
that gives a fast man plenty of
ice surface.
team ourselves, and a higher-
scoring team than last year
when we won the Allan Cup.
We intend to play clean hockey
and expect to win.”

quer

(Photo shows Russians

“Speed will be

We’re a pretty fast

That old question pops up

Could a wrestler whip
a boxer in mixed bout?

Since hands were weapons given to the: earliest man, it can be assumed that
in.

i i the two oldest sports in existence. i
ee . Ever since then the question

‘sed from time to time — could a wrestler whip a boxer in a mixed bout?
s d, but the problem remains unsolved,

ties were combined, but later the two became separate sports

has been rais
Fierce arguments have resulte

In the beginning both activi

It would seem that all one had 2264 the question: “In a free-
to do was to match a ROPE so al between Rocky Marciano,
eeelnst pee Eee a ae eee lheavyweight boxing champion,

r cal 4

ae De ee cane results., and Lou Thesz, Wrestling cham-

If the wrestler was a slow MOV-! pion, who would win? ;

ing type, opposed to a fast, hard-| Among the experts questioned

hitting boxer, he was a Saba Marciano and Thesz. They

out i i nd. In cases: said: : :

che nn Teen ea to land | Marciano: “I’d bat his brains

and the wrestler managed to get out, throwing punches from the
‘ to close quarters, the boxer found} opening bell. Thesz has no de-

: - i ile-drivi hes
his shoulders pinned to the mat. fense against pile-driving punches.
Recently a sports magazine And I’ve broken a few holds my-

Sass ne
*

‘Go easy Joe’ says Doug

i ifter-turned-wrestler Doug Hepburn assures Joe
5 aie rence heavyweight boxing champion who is now 2
wrestling referee, that he wouldn’t think of hitting an amen:
ent with a closed fist. On occasion wrestlers have disregard
Joe’s instructions and the Brown Bomber has retaliated by
knocking them flat. However, such shenanigans are all part
of the act, and not to be taken too seriously.

self. I’d welcome the chance to
prove that I can lick Thesz.”

Thesz: “I would win. A wrest-
ler is better equipped for rough-
and-tumble fighting. I saw such
a match 20 years ago between
Ray Steele and Kingfish Levin-
sky. Steele licked the Kingfish
in 32 seconds. Any of a dozen
wrestlers could lick Marciano.”

Thesz, you will notice, recalls
a fight between a top wrestler
and a mediocre boxer. He could
have mentioned the time Bob
Fitzsimmons met a wrestler and
flattened him for the count in
10 seconds.

In picking Marciano over Thesz,
a New York publicity man nam-
(ed Bill Hutton remarked that
! years ago he witnessed a match
| between a boxer and a wrestler-
,judo artist. “The wrestler got
the boxer down, but the boxer
delivered the knockout punch
| While sprawled on his knees,”
‘he said. y :

Another sports fan answered
this way: “The present crop of
professional wrestlers we have
on television aren’t really wrest-
lers. They do too much clown-
ing — not enough wrestling.
Marciano would murder any
of them, including Lou Thesz.
But the oldtimers like Jimmy
Londos and Zbyszko would
tear Marciano apart.”

There is no doubt that modern
wrestling, which has become
strictly show business and ex-
hibitionism, doesn’t produce many
real wrestlers. Even a man like
Doug Hepburn, with a minimum
of training, is featured as a star
performer because of his weight-
lifting fame. Could Hepburn last
more than a few seconds against
a fighter like Marciano? It is
doubtful.

On the other hand, no one can
deny that in a mixed bout the
wrestler, once he managed to
avoid the first'blows and got his
arms around his opponent, would
have a terrific advantage over
any boxer.

“no one.

Bert Whyte s

SPORTLIGHT

SEeRING: off the New Year

with some predictions in the
world of sports: Rocky Marci-
ano to remain unbeaten but
Sugar Ray Robinson to lose his
crown; Montreal Canadiens to
win the Stanley Cup; B.C. Lions
to finish fourth in the WIFU,
Esks to take the Grey, Cup
again, Marilyn Bell to conquer
Juan de Fuca if she tries the
big swim this summer; United

States to win most gold medals

at Melbourne, but USSR to

rack up most points in the
Olympic Games.
xt it $0
Naming Marilyn Bell and

Normie Kwong as Canada’s
Athletes of the Year surprised
If Marilyn swims the
Strait she’ll be in line for a
third citation. \

xt + 593

Along about 9 a.m. Monday
I began~toying with the idea
of joining the Polar Bears for
a dunk in English Bay that
afternoon. In theory it seem-
ed sound enough, but in this
case theory remained divorced
from practise, for when the
Polar Bears (including, I read
later, a 77-year-old woman)
were dashing gaily into the
freezing briny, I was safely
tucked away in my little bed,
cozy and warm, sleeping the
day away... -

x tt x

Women broke into sports in
England, Canada and the U.S.
through archery, croquet and
lawn tennis less than a century
ago. The-males of that period
preferred women to be soft,
clinging vine types, who‘ spent
their time knitting, sipping tea,
and reclining’ in hammocks,
Muscles for females were dis-
couraged — at least the kind
of muscles developed by, ath-
letics. I never read of any hus-
bands of that period forbidding
his wife ‘to ‘scrub floors, darn
sox, or toil over a kitchen stove.

Well, much has happened in
a hundred years, and there is

now scarcely a sport in which.

women do not participate.
Wrestling held out for a long
time in Canada, but finally ex-
hibitions between female grap-
plers were. okayed by the ath-
letic moguls, and in the past

month we have seen a couple
in Vancouver.

Do the crowds like to see
women wrestling? They do. Is
the wrestling of a good calibre?
Well,’ all modern wrestling is
strictly for entertainment pur-
poses, and the women put on

MILLIE STAFFORD

just as interesting
as the men.

Some old shellbacks complain
that women should be barred
from wrestling because the eom-
peting girls lose their “dignity,
charm and appeal” while toss-
ing each other around. An old,
familiar refrain. In emancipat-
ing themselves from the shackles
of conservatism and male su-
premacy, women have had to
fight such attitudes before.

Does wrestling make a wo-
man less feminine? Take a look
at Millie Stafford, who appear-
ed.on a wrestling card here
recently, and then write me if
you have any complaints,

exhibitions

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — JANUARY 6, 1956 — PAGE ‘ll

oe Ce |