Arizona republican., 1922-01-22
RAIL BIRDS TRY
TO PICK WINNER
N BILLY Al GER
MARSHALL BOUT

Billy Alger almost ruined the semi
final yesterday when he uncorked n
vicious right that all but floored
Speedy Garcia in a sparring bout at
the Coliseum. Billy has been hold
ing his punches in the workout to
save his sparring partners. but yes
terday he unintentionally let one go
backed up by plenty Of smoke. Gar
cia is a husky boxer with enough
avoirdupois to stand punishment but
AIger kicks like Sis mule down on
the farm. Speedy says Alger hits
harder than any man he ever met In
a real fight.
Billy will do light road work TO-
day and will round out his training
tomorrow by boxing few rounds al
the Coliseum. For the last two or
three weeks Alger has been doing a
large amount of gym work, edging
off the surplus flesh and keeping his
range of distance good. Road work
to keep his wind in first class con-
dition is all that is necessary until
the hour of the fight.
Alger says he will go into the
ring in the best condition of his ca
reer and confident that he will beat
Marshall. He is not under or over
estimating his opponent, but will
fight him the same way he would
the. champion of the world. Word
from MarshalPs training camp has
convinced Billy that his opponent can
hit and when a fighter can hit Il is
anybody's fight until the count of 10.
Like Alger, Marshall has been hav-
ing considerable trouble getting the
local boys to work without with him.
They are willing to train with the
main eventers in order to learn more
about the art, but when It comes to
letting them shoot real blows they all
back down. SO far Joe Grimm Is the
only local battler willing to give
Jimmy a workout. joe is well de-
veloped and he can take good hard
punch.
The betting odds jump around more
IN Phoenix than the curb market in
New York One place Alger is a
topheavy favorite and next door you
can get odds on Marshall: but there
is no place where the boys are willing
to make a flatfooted statement as to
who will win. Alger is the favorite
on paper, but anytime man can hit
he has a chance of winning and Mar
shall will show more stamina than
the average fighter who faced Alger
during the past five or six months.
Pena made q game showing and last
ed for several frames, but Pena is
not in MarshalPs class. The Sacra-
mento boy has six years experience
in four divisions and he proved his
ability to take punishment when he
fought Henry Borba to draw. Borba
is the class of Oakland welters.
There is no disputing Algers steady
Improvement and Mondays bout may
show another big jump in the Ari-
zona boys class. If Billy can show
as much change as he did between
the Carter and Pena bouts. Marshall
must show championship class to beat
him.
Regardless OF who wins Mondays
scrap, the fans are due to see fight.
If the bout ends in two or three
rounds it will be all fight while II
lasts. When two sluggers stand toe
to toe, one of them must fall.
Fighting as he did against Pena
Billy Alger can beat any lightweight
who ever stepped in a Phoenix ring,
with the possible exception of Charlie
White, and Billy will soon be in line
for another look at the lightweight
contender. If Marshall beats Alger
he stands solid down here and If
Billy beats Marshall the fans are go
ing to see some fight while it lasts.