The New York herald., 1922-12-25
JOHNSON FIGHTING
WAY TO TITLE BOUT
Young HeavyweightWill Face
Crucial Test in Contest
With Brennan.
By CHARLES F.. MATHIsoN.

By CHARLES F.. NIATHISON.
Floyd johnson. the fast climbing
heavyweight. who Was discovered by
Alex Greggains and schooled by the
veteran, is slowly but surely nearing
the point in his career when he will be
matched for title bout The most diff
ficult obstacle yet encountered by the
youngster will be in the person of Bill
Brennan, with whom Johnson is to box
at Madison Square Garden. January H.
Brennan. a veteran of the ring. has had
more experience and Is a more force
full hitter than any heavyweight that
Johnson has met up to the present time.
II the youthful Westerner succeeds in
tanning the Chicagoan the victor can
not be denied the right to Consideration
for a match with the champion.
Johnson should defeat Brennan be-
cause of his speed. as the latter has
slowed up considerably in recent years.
The younger man is a rapidly moving
fighter, boxes quite well and is one OF
the heaviest hitters in the history of the
class. Physically he is an ideal heavy
Ing close to 200 pounds. lie has shown
ability to stand up under punishment
and he Is not given To undue excita-
bility.
The only thing that may initiate
against Johnson's success in bout with
Brennan would be IL the youngster lost
his head In critical period of the COM
bat. Should he become overanxious and
take desperate chances to bring the
bout to a close the ring generalship of
the battle SCARED Brennan might pre-
vain. Should johnson take Brennan
into camp the youth would become a
formidable rival Of Wills for bout with
Dempsey. Wills has the first call on
the champion for title bout, and there
is small doubt that they will meet next
summer. No matter which wins he will
be called upon to give battle to John
son. The contest. therefore, between
Brennan and Johnson will be watched
with the greatest interest.
Criqui's Status as Fighter.
Inspection Of the record of Eugene
Criqui, who holds the featherweight
championship of Europe, does not in
dicate that he will do much damage
to the. featherweights of this country,
Notwithstanding the fact that he has de-
feated all the best men Of the class in
Europe. Nearly all the Frenchman's
victories have been achieved over sec
ond and third raters. among them be-
ing Billy Matthews and Ben Callicott.
two light hitting chaps. with fair de-
fensive skill Criqui required sixteen
rounds In which to stop Callicott and
the same number or rounds in which to
dispose Of Matthews The latter was
q e,<< ,s<xl.1 - N
the Greensboro S. c. last summer. and
acted the part Of an awkward novice.
Charley Ledoux, once a formidable
puncher. but now in the pugilistic dis
card, was also stopped by Criqui
But the two best men that Criqui ever
met in the ring stopped the French
man. These are Tommy Noble, who
once held the English featherweight
championship. and Pal Moore, the
Memphis boxer. Both scored knockouts
over Criqui in 1919, Noble sending the
Frenchman to grass in nineteen rounds
and Moore settling the matter in the
fourteenth round. Considering the fact
that Moore Is by no means a heavy
hitter his Knockout of Criqui caused
astonishment. The bout with Moore
took place in Albert Hall. London. and
Moore took the lead at the start and
held II steadily. Moores right hand
might as wen be tied. but his left is
effective. In the fourteenth round
Moore hooked a left to the stomach and
Criqui curled up on the floor. where he
was counted out by referee Eugene
Corri
Another bout on the same night was
between Johnny Griffiths OF Akron.
Ohio. and Francis Charles, at that
time the welter champion of France.
Griffiths stopped Charles in the third
round with a body punch. There are
At leaset dozen featherweights in
America who can be relied upon to
give Criqui all the fight he desires and
probably a bit more than he bargains
for.
Criqui has a match with Danny Frush
in London next month. but unless Frush
shows more courage than he did in his
bout with Dundee the Frenchman
should prove the victor.
The deterioration Of Joe Lynch never
was more apparent than in his bout
last Friday night with Midget Smith.
Time was when Lynch would fight
furiously without cessation for several
rounds. never showing the slightest
WEAKNESS. In the contest with Smith.
Lynch made half dozen rallies during
the fifteen rounds. but they were OF short
duration and the efforts seemed to slow
the West slider to a walk. If Lynch IL
matched with some hard hitting bantam
who can keep going without clinching or
running away. the title Is likely to
change hands.
Carl Tremaine, who looked like a
champion year ago. has practically
been barred from boxing because OF
his refusal TO support his children
Chairman Muldoon., who Is Of the opinion
that the dependents of fhe boxer would
benefit more II he we're permitted to
fight and earn money. has started n
movement looking to the reinstatement
of the youth.