New Britain herald., 1926-08-24
(BY JOE WILLIAMS)

Gene Tunney was slow in de- veloping. Even the switch to Billy Gibson, noted as the creator of the great Leonard, had no immediate effect in ripening his fighting quail ties if any. He continued to show the tell-tale marks Of the manufac- tured fighter.
 Gibson, accustomed 10 watch Leonard step in and out. hit and get away with the instinctiye genius of Q master, must have suffered a vio- lent pain in the neck the first time he went behind Tunney in q fight.
 This was at the Commonwealth sporting club in New York. Chuck Wiggins, mediocre mauler from Indianapolis was Tunney's opponent. The decision went to Tunney on the ground that he had insulted the ringside observers in somewhat lesser degree than had Wiggins. It was, in short, horrible thing.
 Several weeks later Tunney made his second start under Gibson and was thrown out of the ring. didn't see the fight but ] was told later Tunnoy was not at fault. He tried to fight in his earnest, plod- ding way but the whole proced dure was bore to Jack Renault his opponent.
 Philadelphia, was the scene or this meeting. The clients endured it in pained silence for four rounds and then showered the two young gents with q bumper crop of razz- berries.
 The demonstration influenced Pop" O'Brien, the referee, to re- quest both Tunney and Renault to look around and choose their near est exits.
 Tunney's next activity under Gib- son was another championship fight against his old roughhousc com- panion, MT. Harry Greb. Tunney looked bad in this fight, too. The judicial gents at the ringside gave him an undeserved decision. Greb clearly outpointed him. and had what I thought was big edge at the finish.
 But deserved or no the decision went to Tunney and with it the American light-heavyweight title title of no great value or standing in ring history but q title none-the- less.
 As consequence Tsnney joined the ranks of the rings small circle of comebacks, five in all.
 Billy Papke knocked out Stanley Ketchel for the middleweight cham pionship in 12 rounds at Vernon, Cal, Sept. ', 1908. Three months later Ketchel came back and stopped Papke in the same number of rounds, thus recording the most re- markable reversal in form known to the game.
 Jack Britton dropped the welter- weight championship to Kid Lewis, the Engishman, in a 20-rounder at Layton, O., in 1917. Two years later Britton knocked out Lewis to regain the crown.
 Pete Herman won. the bantam weight championship from Kid Will Hams in 1917. lost it to Joe Lynch in 15 rounds in 1920 and won it back six months later when the pair met in a return bout at New York.
 Herman then took on Johnny Buff and was beaten in 15 rounds in September, 1921. Lynch qualified for another shot at the title and proved a successful comeback by walloping Buff.
 Tunney came back to get the de- cision over Greb after he had spent just nine months in the ex-cham- pion circle.
 "Greb could have knocked me out that night had he known the con dition 1 was in" Tunney admitted, referring to his second fight with the Pittsburghcr q went into the ring with a high fever and it was an effort to move my legs and lift my arms"
 'Tunney hadn't let it be known he was sick either before or after the fight. An alibi. good or bad, never helped a fighter" is his philosophy.
 Tunney proceeded to prove that he wasn't precisely right that night hy meeting Orch again later in tha