New Britain herald., 1927-07-19
SHARKEY IS wary
OF LUCKY punch
Boston Battler Confident Demp-
sey Won't Slip It Over

New York, July 10 P-The only
thing Jack Sharkey fears in his bat
tie with Jack Dempsey Thursday
night at the Yankee Stadium is that
the former champion may pull a
sneak punch" as his manager calls
it, or. in palmer terms, land lucky
blow.
Sharkey himself dismisses the
idea with gesture. He is confident
Dempsey won't be able to slip any
thing over" at any time. He feels
that he will be ready to meet the ex-
titleholder on any terms or in any
style of milling. But his manager,
Johnny Buckley, doesn't want any
chances overlooked.
Il don't want Jack to be too con-
fident," Buckley declared today.
THE only thing he has to fear is
that Dempsey may slip one through.
a sneak punch A lot Of things can
happen in the ring but l don't see
how Sharkey can fail to win by a
knockout, anyway you figure the
two. Jack is younger. stronger,
faster and more accurate, if not a
harder hitter than Dempsey"
The finishing touches were sched-
uled today for two of the most I'M
usual training programs any pair of
heavyweights have ever INDUCED in
for a fight of such importance as the
million dollar spectacle assured for
this Thursday night.
Sharkey's almost Indifferent, pay
as-you-enter workouts in Madison
Square Gardens top floor gymnasi-
UNI have contrasted sharply with the
secrecy or mystery surrounding
Dempsey's preparations under the
direction of d new mentor, Leo P.
Flynn. Publicly. both have appear
ed to work under wraps"
The principal result of all this has
been to throw the expert talent into
more confusion than usual when 1t
comes to picking the winner, Drifts
toward Dempsey one day after a
particularly impressive punching en-
hibition by the eX-champion usually
have been followed the next by
swing back to the younger, speedier
Critical verdicts, based on ring
form, have kept Sharkey favorite
in most wagering but newspaper
polls among the average fans have
revealed decided confidence in a sue
cessful comeback by Dempsey. The
experts dismiss this mass opinion,
however, as merely a demonstration
of Dempsey's personal magnetism,
tn popularity of any great athlete
trying to claim his old place rather
than the product OF any definite
knowledge Of the rivals fighting
powers.
Speed and defense were the watch
put in his final drills. His workout
this afternoon was to be his last,
his manager explaining that he never
does any active work the day before
a fight. The drying out is expected
to bring Sharkey down to 1872 pounds
at the weighing in Thursday after
noon at o'clock. The sailor topped
the scales at 1876 yesterday.
Bandages which the fighters will
wrap on their hands before donning
the gloves Thursday night have
aroused considerable discussion. In
tent, as they say, on having every
thing open and above board Buck
ley and Sharkey prefer adjusting the
bandages in the ring in full view. as
Dempsey and Tunney did at Phila-
delphia. This boxing commission,
however, believes this may cause un-
due delay and virtually has decided
to have the wrapping done in the
dressing rooms, supervised by
deputies as well as representative
in each case from the riva' camp.