Marciano rated above former*champions — , crane does Rocky Marciano rate the heavyweight champions of Si Past? Could he trade punches iene terms with John L. Sul- ne Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsim- je S, Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson, S Willard, Jack Dempsey, Max er, or Joe Louis? “gene growing number of TV nie €xperts” are divided on this ; al lon. Some see Marciano as thi umsy, rugged battler and no- he More; others consider him ia of the greatest punchers to € along for decades, and a “an Who is impervi ish- thent, pervious to punish 5 Aeise't unusual to underestimate Tim a champ. When Gentleman 21 re orbett stopped Sullivan in caged September 7, 1892, ad- shea of the Boston Strong Boy bank Scorn on the “dancing dete clerk” and excused Sully’s at on the grounds of age and 0 much whiskey, b : eer and champagne. . eee aoe Corbett a few years to had just aie of the public; he Popularit eached the height of his thronaa @.. Ven. Fitzsimmons de- oned him in 1897. i Dempsey had been called Willard Slacker” before he met atta Bak the title and the fans entered im heartily every time he a0 the ring. When war hero ae Carpentier clashed with “Y. in the Battle of the Ury in 1921, sentiment was all oo << Marci for the Frenchman though most of the cash was riding on the champ. In later years Dempsey became one of the best-liked titleholders of all time, and even today he’s the idol of youngsters who were born about the time Jack hung up his gloves. Rocky Marciano may prove to be another Dempsey in popularity, but how about ability? Could Rocky have beaten the Manassa Mauler who massacred Willard, slaughtered the frail Carpentier and crushed Luis Angel Firpo? It seems likely that Dempsey, as hard a hitter as Marciano but a faster, shiftier ringman, would have knocked out Rocky as often ano’s punch destroyed the Matthews’ myth as they met. Rocky would have | Apr. = been too slow to beat the Tiger Dempsey, and he’d have hit the deck within half a dozen rounds. It is probable, too, that Jim Corbett, the perfect boxer with the beautiful straight left, would have jabbed and stabbed Marciano until the Brockton Blockbuster was blinded, bleeding and beaten. Rocky might have gone the dist- ance, but he’d never have beaten Corbett. Two other great boxer-fighters, Jack Johnson and Gene Tunney, would have had little trouble with Marciano, while the ‘young Joe [ Louis could have flattened Rocky beyond a doubt. Now let’s think of the guys Marciano could have beaten. Bob Fitzsimmons and John L. Sullivan, for sure. Both could hit, but neither was as rugged as Rocky. Big, tough, sour-tempered Jim Jeffries would have slugged it out with Marciano, but in the end the boilermaker might have gone down. Jess Willard, never the possessor of a fighting heart, would have caved in when Rocky belted him a few. Same with Max Baer, who had all the equipment. of a fighter but lacked the will to win. Carnera? Braddock? Sharkey? Charles? Marciano could handle all with the exception of Charles, who might have won on a night when he was in the mood. In a series of bouts the odds would all favor Rocky, who is always in the mood to win. Yes, Rocky Marciano is a pretty good fighter, as his record shows. Take a look at it: 1947 Oct. 22—L. Epperson.... KO, 3 rds. 1948 July 12—H. Balzerian.. KO, 1 rd. July 19—J. Edwards... KO, 1 rd. Aug. 9—Bobby Quinn.. KO, 3 rds. Aug. 23—Eddie Ross.. KO, 1 rd. Aug. 39—J. Weeks...... KO, 1 rd. Sept. 13—J. Jackson... KO, 1 rd. Sept. 20—G. Cardione.. KO, 1 rd. Oct. 4—Bob Jefferson.. KO, 2 rds. Nov. 29—P. Connolly.. KO, 1 rd. Dec. 14—G. Ferron...... KO, 2 rds. 1949 Mar. 21—J. Pretzie...... KO, 5 rds. Mar. 28—Artie Donato KO, 1 rd. Apr. 11—James Walls... KO, 3 rds. May 2—Jimmy Evans.. KO, 3 rds. May 23—D. Mogard.... Won 10 rds. July 18—Harry Haft... KO, 3 rds. Aug. 16—Pete Louthis KO, 3 rds. rds. Sept. 26—T. DiGiorgio KO, 4 rds. 10—Ted Lowry.. Won 10 7 Se 7—Joe Dominic.... KO, 2 rds. Dec. 2—Pat Richards.. KO, 2 rds. Dec. 19—P. Muscato.... KO, 5 rds. Dec. 30—C. Vingo...... KO, 6 rds. 1950 Mar. 24—R. La Starza..Won 10 June 5—E. Eatman.... KO, 3 July 10—G. Buonvino KO, 10 rds. Sept. 18—J. Shkor...... KO, 6 rds. Nov. 13—Ted Lowry. Won 10 rds. Dec. 18—Big B. Wilson KO, 1 rd. 1951 9—K. Simmons... KO, 8 rds. a ae. Mitchell.. KO, 2 rds. Mar. 26—Art Henri... KO, 9 rds. 30—R. Applegate..Won 10 rds. 12—Rex Layne.... KO, 6 rds. rds. rds. Had 27—F. Beshore.... KO, 4 rds. Oct. 26—Joe Lovis....-- KO, 8 rds. 1952 Feb. 12—Lee Savold.. KO, 7 rds. Apr. 21—G. Buonvino.. KO, 2 rds. May 12—B. Reynolds.. KO, 3 rds July 28—H. Matthews.. KO, 2 rds. Sept. 23—4J. Walcott.. KO, 13 1953 May 15—J. Walcott... KO, 1 Ho hum. He - professional wrestling a sport, or should it be classed as an entertainment? Pll risk the wrath of all grunt and groan fans by asserting that modern professional wrestling is circus entertainment, with a touch of theatrical dramatics thrown in for good measure. Not so many years ago the grappling thespians were per- forming in rings filled with mud, with ice cream, and other out- landish concoctions. Today “tag wrestling” is all the rage. ‘Strange as it may seem to nor- mal people, the frenetic fans who follow the rassling racket refuse to believe that the antics of the big fellows in the ring are any- thing less than on the level. Be- cause the leviathans of the mat game occasionally get hurt in the course of their duties, these fans scream. at the cynical sports writers: “Whaddya mean a fake? He couldna been hurt if they was faking, ya dumbbells!” The myth of the integrity of modern wrestling is kept alive by a monthly mag called Boxing and Wrestling, a copy of which lies before me. (“Lies” is the right word in this case.) Keeping a solemn and some- what reverend mien, Boxing and Wrestling reports at great length the results of innumerable “championship” wrestling bouts, and prints long biographies of such wellknown squirmers as Georgeous George (Chase me, girls, I’m the last bus home!), Whipper Billy Watson, Chief Big Heart, The Masked Marvel, Dirty Dick Raines, Tarzan Zorra, The Great Togo, Cave Man Marconi, Yukon Erié, Mr. Moto, Abe King Kong Kashey, Duke Keomaka, Hombre Montana and many more with equally descriptive handles. As everyone who ever attend- ed a modern wrestling match knows, the matmen are divided into two categories, “heroes” and “villains.” Two heroes are never -|thrown in the ring together; the accepted formula is for a hero to meet a villain. When the hero wins, the fans go home hap- py, as the villain has received his . just punishment. When the vil- SPORTLIGHT By BERT WHYTE lain wins, the fans go home angry, determined to attend next week’s show to see another try his luck. Thus the, villains are just as good box office attractions (often better) than the heroes. It’s quite a shell game, which shouldn’t fool a two-year-old— but it fools plenty of so-called grownups. - Quality of the writing in Box- ing and Wrestling may be judged from this brief extract: “Hard Boiled Haggerty, him- self a tough customer, said of Tiny Mills. . . . ‘He’s an uncouth bestial creature bearing little re- semblance to the human species. He is little more than a savage with \the low brow of the Cro- Magnon Man. One look at Mills would scare a gorilla to death and it’s a mystery what Mills was doing when the Human Race was going through the process of foundation.’ Cruel words but with some foundation of fact in them. Outside the ring, Tony, as all villains are, is a model of kindness and gentlemanly be- havior. But watch him go on the Mat. Six feet six high, and scaling 275 pounds, Mills re- sembles a big black bear. He greases his hair and pulls his opponents, kicks, butts and punches. In short, as thorough going a villain as we have ever seen.” Ho hum. Anyone here for table tennis? * This week 15,000 sportsmen took part in an International Sports Meet in Paris. Aside from some 13,000 French com- petitors there were 2,000 sports- men from all parts of Germany, England, Austria, Belgium, Bul- garia, Scotland, Finland, Hun- gary, ‘Italy, Poland, Rumania, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Is- rael, Algeria, Tunisia, Monaco and Trieste. The big Paris sports meet was a preliminary to the Internation- al Friendly Sports Meeting of Youth which will be one of the highlights of the World Festival of Youth and Students at Buch- arest, Rumania in August. Many Canadians will attend, including at least half a dozen from B.C. PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 29, 1953 — PAGE 11 « fe Les