Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-12
BY BENNY LEONARD,

Retired Lightweight Champion of the World.
n YEW YORK. June 11.-This week
the old Indian sign" rears It's
VI head in the boxing ring. Will
4 it be sCotched? Or will it keep
up it's record and score again?
We will see on Wednesday night, when
two fistic idols of New York's East
Side meet in the ring at the Polo
Grounds in what looms as the most
attractive boxing show so far an
nohnced for the outdoor season.
Sid ferris will have the Indian
sign" as an ally when he faces Ruby
Goldstein. his great rival here in New
York. The reason is this: ferris
was a popular and locally known pro-
fessional boxer when Ruby still was
a kid in knickerbockers, and along
with the other kids of the neighbor-
hood Goldstein idoliZed ferris. lie
watched Sid go up the fistic ladder
step by step. and he regarded him
with that adolescence with which all
the young East Side regarded the
brilliant Sidney.
1t was ferris success in the ring
that determined Goldstein TO try to
emulate him. And so, Goldstein came
to look upon Tcrris as n master. He
SPARED VIII him and was happy to
receive q black eye or bloody nose
from the star boxer" He jealousy
carried Sidney's phernalia to the
local clubs on nights when Sid was
going to fight, and he sat at the ring
side and Worshiped as Sid strutted his
stuff within the roped arena.
Sid Master Boxer.
In their sparring bouts ferris al
ways WAS the master. He knew more
than the hardhittinS yOungster, and
he impressed his knowledge on him.
Now. here's the rub: Goldstein is
one lad l think, who is more than
ordinarily susceptible to what we term
the Indian sign" in boxing. OF
course. we all know that it is merely
| hazard, but there are those who can
not for the life of them surmount
these mental hazards. Others of the
more rugged and phlegmatic type-I
was almost on the verge of saying the
more sluggish mental types-roll over
or crash throui;h the mental hazard
with all the Nashbuckling of an
| Army tank.
| But GOldstein is not one of these
| latter. He is an intelligent, supersen-
sitive lad. and although he has the
| foundation of a great athlete. as yet
he strikes me as being frail when it
! comes to taking and absorbing real
hard knocks.
The fault dates back to the time
| when he was taken in hand by
| coterie of well wishers with more
money than experience in managing
fighter. and they ruined him by
pampering him. They meant well. and
| had only Ruby's good at heart. but
| they didn't realize then that Gold
stein was not the type who could
withstand this pampering and con.
tinue TO develop into what they fondly
expected he would be, a world cham
pion.
I have said before that all Ruby
Goldstein needs is experience and
| seasoning. They're analogous.
ferris Is Confident
ferris is confident that he can
handle Goldstein with ease. He has
a sort of respectful contempt for the
effrontcry of the kid" in meeting him
in actual ring combat.
AS for Ruby, he will tell you. with
Il bit too much a show of braggadocio
to be convincing, how he expects to
| knock out ferris. Somehow he gives
you the impression of a little boy
whistlinS as he walks through the
dark street at night.
| ana yet GOldSteln victory is not
! beyond the bounds of possibility
ferris is fast. but so is Goldstein;
ferris is clever. and so is Ruby. But,
| while ferris can withstand more pun
ishment and knows more tricks of the
game than Ruby. the latter undoubt.
edly has harder punch.
ferris has never shown so extra
we'll against another boxer. His best
and most brilliant work has been
| against the sluSSers or the awkward
rushers. Lew Paluso boxed ferris in
/ serves me correctly. and though Sid
ular with the spectators. judging by
/ the boos that greeted the announce
ment of the verdict
/ And then Sid didn't win by a city
mile when he took on Jimmy Good
! rich, the last man to face Goldstein.
Sammy Mandell drew and then won
! in his fights with ferris, and Cuddy
! De Marco. another lad of the boxer
! type, held ferris so even that the
! verdict, a newspaper one, was pretty
well divided at the finish.
From this it would seem that if
! Ruby will go in and fight. using nor
| NAL care, he certainly might have n
| louk-in with the master boxer of his
| Imagination.
| But then we come to that unknown
| quality. the old Indian sign" Just
| how much of Il part will it play in this
battle it will all depend on this.
! GoldStCin is training under a slight