The Washington herald., 1922-03-09

through half an hour 81 lightning
sparring. they decided that he was
sun Q nghting machine.
AND that was what the sporting
EDITORS told their reading public.
McGinty was sticking grimly to
his training schedule = trying to
oulid up weight. But they had to
install false scales In the gymna-
sum. According to them the ex-
champion weighed close to 100
pounds. Only Tolliver and &C.
sGinty knew. the truth.
Kid Curry was having his usual
struggle to get down to 15s pounds,
the middleweight limit. He had to
make II at In the afternoon. That
would allow him to take on at
least two pounds before the bell
rang.
To make the farce more convlnc-
Ing, Tolliver forced Curry TO train
as he never had before. He en-
ployed two clever lightweights as
sparrtng partners, as well as two
numbering, second-class heavy
weights.
The reason Is this" he said to
the sporting writer's, both Curry
and / know that in the great Nc
Ginty he will meet the fasteGt
middleweight that ever toed the
rosin. That's why have the two
lightweights. They'll give Curry
speed. Also McGinty can hit at
least 200 pounds harder than any
man Curry has met. Hence. the
heavyweights. They'll teach Curry
to absorb a heavy wallop and, keep
| going.
What are our plans for the fight
None at all. We know that no sys-
tenn of attack will bother an old fox
like McGinty. 1t will be the hard
est fight Curry has ever had, and
the only instructions I shall give
him are to do his best. You know
what that means. or course, Cur
ry will win. You can't expect me
| to say anything else"
However, even this dubious talk
from the manager of the Kid did
not shake the conviction of the
! great majority of the fans.
Every man who had seen the
workings of that terrific shift
scrambled to get his money down
on the Kid. The experts knew that
youth will be served. and they bet
In the same way. Consequently, on
the night of the fight. with the
great Coliseum packed to the raft
ers. the odds were to l that Curry
would win. 3 to I that he would
win by a knockout, 2 to l that he
! would win by a knockout within
ten rounds and even money that the
decisive punch would be hammered
over before the end Of the sixth
round
On that last bet Tolliver placed
a good deal of money. but the ma =
jority he was saving for the great
plunge later on.
The first preliminary. a lightning
draw between two bantamweights,
was hardly over before a subdued
murmur began TO go about the
house. One of Tolliver's assistants
slipped up to him and whispered
in his ear:
Somebody has uncorked the
straight dope about the weights.
Is hearing that McGinty only
have ten pounds handicap when the
! OCll
"All right" said Tolliver, go and
sit down"
He himself had spread the rumor
about the correct weights. 1t dou-
bled the odds. He placed another
bunch of money on McGinty to stay
six rounds. and his takers gladly
gave him to. l at those amazing
odds
With the last preliminary over
and the oficials of the big bout
scrambling into the ring. the crowd
fell still as death. Now Kid Curry
slid under the ropes and ducked
his head to the shout Of welcome
But that applause was brief. The
throng waited for some one else.
And at last he came in a stained
tattered. green bathrobe.
For twelve years that faded
green robe had been his emblem OF
success. Thousands Of the specta-
| tors had seen it before. All the
others had read Of 1t. Every man
in the house sprang to his feet
yelling.
1t was a full fve minutes before
the clamor died away. only to rise
again louder than ever when the
announcer introduced the "unbeaten
champeen. Kid Curry" and then
the grand old man" But the cheers
died away when the green robe
was slipped off.
There was grace and alertness
in the 1.-THE body OF the old cham
pion. but something more than
grace and alertness was needed In
that ring. For there stood Kid Cur
ry. his face rendered still more hid
eous by his grin. He was slender
to the waist. but from that point
to his shoulders he spread like a
wedge. His neck was short and
thick. his arms were ridged with
muscles and terrible even before
they were raised into position.
The bell changed. The two met in
the middle of the ring and shook
hands. The crowd groaned, for
now the disparity in strength was
obvious. The referee spoke. The
men danced apart.
For a moment they crouched-a
breathless moment that drew men
forward to the edges of their seats.
All except Tolliver, who whispered
to a man beside him: Bob. get
down another 500 on McGinty to
stay six rounds. They'll give you
3 to 1 now. Quick!"
Curry was the first to lead. He
sprang in, feinted with his left and
drove his right for the body. But
the grand old man slid to one side
mot an inch too far--and as the
gloved hand shot past his ribs
his left darted twice to the head of
the erstwhile champion.
Another gliding step, and he was