Can Jersey Joe beat Charles again ?

4 my
O EVENT in the realm of

Sports attracts more world at-
tention than a heavyweight
championship fight. But no
heavyweight title bout in recent
years “has caused less public stir

than the June engagement of
champion Jersey Joe Walcott
and Ezzard Charles.

This is hardly to be wonder-
ed at. Walcott, a ring veteran
Who hit the heavyweight jack-
Pot after five tries, has shied
away from defending his crown
Mm the year since he scored an
Upset kayo victory over Charles,
His hopes of picking up some
€asy moola on the side failed
to jell, so economics finally
forced him to sign for the re-
turn bout with Charles.

Boxing promoters want to get
tid of Walcott, who is long past
his prime and is not a box-of-
fice draw. On the other hand,
they aren’t too happy about the
Prospects of Ezzard Charles, who
really an overgrown light-
heavyweight and no more color-
ful than the ancient Jersey Joe.

Since the Joe Louis era boxing
has been in the doldrums, in
the Case of the heavyweight di-
Vision. Only bright spot, from
the promoters’ viewpoint, is the
Tise of Rocky Marciano, but the
Brockton belter is still raw and
@wkward in the ring, and many
of his “spectacular” victories
have been carefully arranged by
Al Wein,

When Walcott and Charles

lash, can Jersey Joe repeat his
stunning upset of last year, when
he flattened Ezzard with a left
hook in the seventh stanza?
Most of the experts say ‘‘No.”’
Charles won two previous en-
counters, they point out, and
Walcott won last time out only
because he was ‘‘a very hungry
old man with a big family to
feed.”

The experts overlook one

‘thing, and that is that Jersey

Joe hasn’t profited financially
from holding the title and is
just as hungry now as he was
last year, He’s looked into an
empty cupboard and answered
the question, “TV or not TV?”
by letting a television outfit
cover his training for the Charles
fight —- a dangerous procedure,
and brought on strictly from
hunger.

Not so many years ago fighters
employed ‘‘spies” to sneak into
an opponent’s training camp and
report back on .his opponent’s
condition, type of training, and
so on.. Now all Charles has to
do is switch on his TV set and
look Joe over.

Lack of public interest in the

Waléott-Charles fight doesn’t ~

mean that it may not be a good
serap. History shows that some.
of the most lauded battles turn
out to be duds, while bouts that

appear to be one-sided or dull
on’ paper prove thrillers.

‘When Jack Johnson and Jim
Jeffries clashed at Reno, Neva-
da, on July 4, 1910, with Tex

JERSEY JOHK WALCOTT

Rickard as promoter and also
acting as third man in the ring,
excitement was- at fever pitch
and Jeff’s followers were sure
he’d win back the title. But the
fight itself was never close.
Johnson toyed with his slow,
lumbering opponent and finally
put him away.

Jess Willard was a prohibitive
favorite to lick Jack Dempsey
when they met at Toledo under
a broiling sun on July 4, 1919,
in another Rickard promotion.
Jess weighed 245 to Dempsey’s
188, and towered over the tan-
ned ex-miner, Prior to the
bout he had predicted a quick
and easy win. But at the bell
Dempsey tore into the giant Wil-
lard, smashed him to the floor
seven times, and almost anni-
hilated him. At the end of the
third round the bulky champ
threw in the towel.

The “Battle of the Century”

‘between Dempsey and the

French war hero, Georges Car-
pentier, drew the first million
dollar gate in ring history, but,
the fight hardly lived up to e6x-
pectations, Dempsey winning
easily in four frames.

On the other hand, when
Dempsey met Luis, Angel Firpo,
the Wild Bull of the Pampas,
the champ looked like an easy
winner, knocking Firpo to the
canvas five times in quick suc-
cession as the fight opened.
Then the Wild Bull swung a
roundhouse right which lifted
Jack clean out of the ring, turn-
ed the battle into one of the
most sensational title defenses
ever staged.

The moral is: No one knows
what will happen in a heavy-
weight fight. Even Charles and
Walcott may produce some
thrills and chills, though the
odds are against such a pleasant
prospect.

Clippers
win twice
in a row

PACIFIC TRIBUNE Clippers,
who got away to a bad start in
the Industrial Baseball Leagueé
this. season by losing three
straight games, hit their stride
over the weekend, whipping
Longshoremen 3-1 Saturday and
coming from pehind to beat
Nisei 4-3 Monday night.

Longshoremen scored the op-
ening run in the first frame Sat-
urday, but Clippers tied the
score in the second and produced
two more runs in the fifth to
put the game on ice. Gerry
Blitch hurled a fine game for
Clippers and got good backing
from his team-mates,

Nisei took a three-run lead
Monday, but the PT boys scored
two in the fifth on Tony Sloan’s

homer, and another run in the

sixth tied the score. In the last
of the seventh Bob Everett drew
a walk, stole second, advanced
to third on an infield out, and
came home on Ray Andrus’ sharp
drive to centre field.

Clippers’ next games at Pow-
ell Street Grounds are against
Boilermakers on Tuesday, June
3, and Western Bridge, Satur-
day, June 7. “we'd appreciate
a bigger cheering section of Pa-
cific Tribune readers,’’ say the
PT ball players.

A left. hook li

see Seats Fc be

ke this one kayoed Charles last time.

SPORTLIGHT

By BERT WHYTE

MAYBE IT is those new glamor uniforms the Nut House gals
are sporting this year, or maybe it is just the good brand of ball,

. but crowds are flocking to Kerrisdale park every Monday, Wednes-

day and Friday to watch Senior A women’s softball. Methinks it’s
a combination of the two. The long-stemmed Nut House beauties
are pleasing to the eye (see cut) and the teams are all playing
heads-up ball for this time of the season.

Nut House and Western Mutuals appear to be the two strongest
teams in the league, and the rivalry between them is bound to

become a drawing card in the
next few weeks. Mutuals have
never forgiven Nut House for
knocking them out of the play-
offs in three straight games last
fall, after Mutuals had led the
league all season,

Mutuals have perhaps the best
chucker in girls’ softball, Laura
Nelson, but the Nut House have
two top hurlers in veteran Grace
Granberg and former pro
mound star Ethel Ramsay.

cae * *

‘COMMENTING ON Ty Cobb’s
recent blast at modern ballplay-
ers, editor Bruce Jacobs of Sport
Life classifies Cobb as one of
those guys who believes that
“everything was better yester-
day.’’ He writes:

“Ty Cobb remembers that
baliplayers in his day were bet-
ter. But like the soldier who has
fought a war in. mud, disease and
blood and then only recalls the
leave in Paris, the free-flowing
wine, and the attentions of an
affectionate girl, Cobb has over-
looked the stew bums, the ill-
conditioned eccentrics, and the
low level of sportsmanship that
prevailed in his day.’’

= * * *

BARGAIN BASEMENT:

Winner of last week’s dollar was
Myron Glucksman, 6729 Gran-
ville, who correctly named Cy
Young as the big league baseball
ster who won more than 500
games (he won 5/1).

This week's question: Who did
Jéhn L. Sullivan win the heavy-
weight championship from? Win
a buck by being the first reader
to mail the right answer to Bert
Whyte, Pacific Tribunte, Room
6, 426 Main Street, Vancouver.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — MAY 30, 1952 — PAGE 11