The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-12-21
ny FRANK G. MErKE

Bill Brennan and Floyd Johnson
will sling blows at each other in Madi-
son Square Garden, New York. on the
night of Jan. IL.
And thereby hangs another tale
| which involves THE Silver Fox CT
the Prize Ring"-one Leo P. Flynn.
1t may be recalled that Bill is the
party who has given Jack Dempsey
the toughest fights which. the King OF
battlers ever experienced. And IL
| likewise will recur to memory that
some months ago when Brennan was
discussed as an opponent for Demp-
sey in a New York ring, the New
York State Athletic commission. IN
majestic voice and solemn manner,
spoke words along these lines:
Stories have come to US that BreIt-
nan is not the fighter he used to be.
Therefore, before we permit him to
battle for championship, he must
prove to US that he is in condition to
do So
Just about this time, this Floyd
Johnson was gathering fame and pres
tige unto himself He knocked over
lot of second and third raters. He
was aided by splendid publicity out
fit. AS a result it gradually became
noised around the U. S. A. that this
Johnson fellow was the one bloke be-
yond Harry Willis who could give
Dempsey a tough time of it.
Gets Grand Idea
And right then and there The Silver
Fox, Flynn, connected with grand
idea. He determined to Sic Brennan
onto Johnson, feeling confident that
{ r he or
and thus re-establisn himself as a
fit and suitable opponent for the king
of gladiators.
So "feelers" were sent to the John
son camp concerning a Johnson-Bren-
nan tilt. But the nothing doing sign
was tapped into the faces of the
Flynn scouts, for the Johnson handlers
at that moment had wholesome re
spect for OF Bill-reckoned him as far
| too smart and too tough for Floyd at
| this period in Floyd's career.
| Flynn, realizing that the only way
! that the Johnston folks could be in
| fluenced into such a, match would be
| if they could be made to believe that
| Brennan was but wreck of his former
self, proceeded to wreck" his heavy
weight battler.
Stories Are FIoated
| Stories began TO float hither and
thither That Bill wasn't training; that
Bill weis hed about $50 pounds; that
/ Bill was drinking the output of the
bootlegging industry of the United
States; that Bill was soft and flabby;
that Bill had astigmatism, spavins,
rhinitis, 8 influenza, pluerisy. rheuma-
tism, dandruff and some other terrible
ailments.
To make it seem even more realistic
Bill wandered around among the elite
of the boxing world, wearing waist
/ line-about eight inches bigger than it
ought to be. The natives looked at
Bills amidship section-and comment
ed that Bills fistic days were done.
They didn't know that the excess
weight had been created by many
windings of wooden cloth around Bills
tummy.
To make it seem all the more realis-
tic that Bill was dissipating, the vet
eran gladiator used to show up at
nights in arenas where fights were
staged giving a splendid imitation of
victim of too much hooch. To make
the deception perfect, Bill smeared his
lips ever and anon with alcohol and
then was careful to get within ''whiff.
ing" distance of those who we're sure
to tell the Johnson folks about it.
Brennan People Fooled
! What was the result of this STRAIT.
egg?
i Nothing more or less than that the
Johnson people finally decided that all
they were hearing about Bill Brennan
was really true-and that Bill was the
softest bit of picking in the world
They figured it out that Bill still had
a great reputation and that if Floyd
could take" Brennan it would lift the
youngster to lofty pinnacle overnight