The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-05-22
BABY FACE TOO
GREEN YET FOR
ILLINI MASTER
Crown for Raw Courage in
Prize Ring Must Be Award
cd LiOn.Hearted Celt
SHEIK WINS NINE ROUNDS
Champion Says. 'McLarnin
Will BE Next Worlds
Lightweight Ruler
BY EDW ARD J. NEIL
Press Sports Writer)

New York. May 22.-(R)-The
lightweight division still boast the
same old ruler--dapper, clcan-cut
handsome Sammy Mandcll-but If
ever they award titles for raw cour
age in the prize ring, Irish Jimmy
McLarnin, must be crowned king OF
them ALL
For fifteen rounds under glazing
lights above ring pitched in the
center of the polo grounds, the
black haired sheik from Rockford,
Ill.,, slashed and tore last night at
the body and chin Of the McLarnin
kid.
Let's that shot out with the sting
and drive of n whip-lash cut about
Jimmy's face. Short right chops
closed his left eye, efts smothered
the other eye, and punches from
every direction brought stream OF
blood from his nose.
But there was one point Mandell,
the master, could not touch. Nc
matter how that dazzling ring gen
eral poured his batteries into JIM
my's head, crashed his hands to the
body, and ripped the Irishman's
head back with uppcrcuts, he never
could reach Jir,my's heart.
Which No One Denied
There was not Il dissenting voice
in the disappointing crowd Of less
than 25.CO0 that gathered in the big
National League ball park for the
most important lightweight battle
in the past five years, three times
postponed because Of bad weather,
when Joe HUMPHREYS announced that
Mandell still was champion after
fifteen rounds Of furious battling.
But neither was there a spectator
who did not stand and cheer the
lion hearted effort Of the smuggling
Celt to lift that crown when Nc
Larnin, a fistic sensation after he
knocked out Sid Terris in a punch,
dragged his tired. battered body
from the ring.
For every one of those fifteen
rounds, McLarnin. hoping always to
land the smash that slowed away
the ghost Of the ghetto. piled into
the champion-and into a storm Of
punches that battered his features
almost beyond recognition. 1t was
the attack Of youngster who
didn't know what fear meant. a kid
with fighting heart that couldn't
be slackened. the attack Of bull
pup into the jaws of fleet, slashing
terrier.
Won But Three Rounds
Jimmy's effort, not only won him
the plaudits Of the crowd but the
wholehearted recognition of the
champ himself. But it gained him
only three Of tie fifteen rounds and
carried him on even terms with the
titleholder in three others. Mandell
won nine rounds by wide margins,
but McLarnin, never giving up al
though blind on one side and rapidly
losing sight on the other, made his
most gallant sorties in the last two
rounds.
The right that drummed once on
ferris chin and ended that fight
abruptly, seemed to bother Mandell
but little. Fleet and tireless, Sam
my shot McLarnn's face full of left
jabs from the opening gong, tied up
the challenger in most of the
chinches, and splashed merci!ess
right chops on Jimmy's head al
most at will.
There were times when it seemed
that Jimmy must go down, that
even youthful body as rugged as
the sturdy challenger's must bend
under the clouds Of gloves that
fairly smothered him. Then it was
that McLarnin called for extra
strength, extra courage to bore
through, to tear at the body of the
titleholder.
The lion heart Of the Irishman al
ways responded. After losing the
first four rounds, at times appear
ing so crude that Mandell held his
forehead with one hand and pasted
him with the other, McLarnin came
back to take the fifth and even the
sixth on sheer aggressiveness and
courage. Jimmy hammered both
hands ceaselessly into Mandcll's
body and slowed him up.
To the Last Ditch
Jimmy's cause was hopeless in the
face of the champs power, when he
hammered in again to even the
ninth and win the tenth. Only a
knockout could win the title after
Mandell slashed and tore the chal-
1enger through the next three
rounds. But then it was that Nc
Larnin fought hardest of all to gain
the fourteenth round and end his
title try, almost blind, bleeding pro-
fusely from the nose, in gallant
last ditch struggle in the final
round.
To critics about the ringside it
appeared that McLarnin, despite his
sensational record and punching
power, made his bid for the cham
pionship too soon. He could not
cope with Mande" in ring general
ship. He couldn't match his speed,
and at times his boxing ability was
almost pitiful in comparison with
that Of the blackhaired Italian.
Jimmy plans to wait . year before
trying again.
when the battle was over, and the
radio beckoned the titleholder who
has defended his crown only twice in
three years, his first words were
for the loser.
s'Cee, I'm tired" said Sammy. II
fought the gamest man ever faced.
I'm still the champion, but the next
stwsight: king will be Jimmy
And Jimmy, soaking his bruised
1eod and punch-shut eyes in hot
Uo&er in his dressing room, hoped
unmmy spoke the truth. But the
gokt time he promised to bring 70
~ battle ground something besides
y 6Ghting heart, something Of the
oS1zt and ringmanship that whipped
~ - msrcllssslx last night