Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-11

YEW YORK. January 11.-Ive
been watching Tom Heeney,
~ Australian heavyweight. train.
4 ing for his battle this Friday
night with Jack Sharkey, Bos-
tons candidate for championship
honors.
The fight is one OF the importan Mt
heavyweight elimination bouts ar.
ranged TO find new challenger for
the world heavyweight title. 1t will
take place at Madison Square Garden.
i have seen Heeney skipping the
Rope, trying 10 punch the has. and
sparring with various partners. lie
Is the plodder type. even in skipping
the rope. He hasn't any grace. but
q fellow doesn't need grace 10 be ef-
fectiVe.
The Australian logged through his
sessions with The rope. which We're
from to 10 minutes long, without
stop. in a slow laborious way. He
showed nothing fancy or speedy. Just
work.
In his bag.punching Heeney con.
fined himself almost entirely to the
light bag. He missed lot. for he Is
no hag.puncher. He tried out his
punches. being satisfied TO land with
out trying TO keep the bag going in
rat-a-tat ali the time. He's what we
Cali high" puncher.
Should Aim at Body
In my opinion. he has been wrong
In this. lie should have trained more
on the big bag. punching low. This
would have helped him with his body
punches. ! believe they're the only
ones he'll find effective against Shar
kew
In his boxing ] noticed that through
out his training Heeney kept swinging
for the head. seldom shooting al the
body. But he showed "A nifty left
hook 10 the midsection when he let At
go. He took on a couple of rather
clever. green youngsters, Phil Mer-
curio and Vinko Jakasa. These fell
lows had little difficulty reaching him
with left jabs and right hooks 10 the
head. Mercurio is a big. tall fellow.
Although Heeney is familiar with his
style, Phil found Tom comparatively
easy 10 hit. IL was the same with
Jakasa.
George Courtney, the clever middle
weight. who has taken a liking to
Heeney and tried to help him with ad-
vice and instruction. gave Heeney his
best workouts. He did to Tom about
what Sharkey may be expected TO do.
Courtney jabbed with his left and
crossed over his right. He didn't have
much trouble lodging his heavier op-
ponent's returns. Courtney is as fast
as Sharkey. He was much too fast
for Heeney in the workouts.
Heeney looked best against Harold
Mays. heavyweight. He outfought
Harold. but he didn't show a great
amount of boxing skill. Tom hasn't
any too much OF this Charley Har-
t.sR ~
Courtney. both kept telling Tom 10
try more body blows. But Heeney
went right on hitting for the head.
I'd like 10 see him use more body
blows.
Shows Great Improvement.
As far az physical condition goes
Heeney is right and ready for hard
battle. His wind is good. and his tim
Ing and hitting are as good as they
were In his last fight with Pauline.
but no better. At that he is a greatly
improved aiI-round fighter over his
FIRST battle here.
After watching Tom work I decided
he was planning a plodding. aggres-
sise, relentless attack on Sharkey.
with the idea OF wearing down his
man. This liz his style, and you can't
change fellows style in a short time.
He'll fight against Sharkey the way
he trained.
Heerey Is tough. He can stand
quite a lot Of punishment and he has
o great heart. He was dropped once
By Pauline. but he got UP and kept
going. It's important 10 remember
little things like these when IL comes
70 doping Gut fight.
Today Heeney In better than he ever
was. He will be al his best when he
meets Jack Eharkey.
icopy7ght 1875 by North Americsp News.
paper Alliance