The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1929-07-01
~ TODAYS
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NJNfk Miller

While Tommy Loughran paid
Max Schmeling a very generous
compliment after watching him
hew down the Spanish wood
chopper, Tommy has been do
ing some thinking on his own
part in the meantime which
might indicate his praise of
Schmeling might not have been
any too sincere.
For Tommy is authority for
the fact he will retire from the
light heavyweight ranks on the
night of July Is, whether Jimmy
Braddock lifts his title or not.
Loughran is going to enter
the heavyweight ranks where
the real money is to be made.
While he has been the light
heavyweight champion he has
hardly starved but it is not
stretching the truth to say he
could make as much money in
one well-ballyhooed heavyweight
fight as he has made during his
entire reign over the light heavy
division.
So much for the financial
angle of the contemplated tran
sition. The practically of the
proposed change is debatable.
He may be making mistake by
changing seats in midstreaTn.
The thing has not always
worked out. Jack Delaney
didn't do himself much good
when he switched horses. Shar-
key, Heeney and NJ aloney
stopped him before he knew
what it was all about.
On the other hand, or Bob
Fitzsimmons, who fought around
ITS pounds, waded right through
the division above him, cleaning
'em up one by one. 1t takes a
good man to get away with it,
but Tommy is almost a natural
heavy now, weighing well over
$50. He's only 81 now and
can't very well be through
growing.
We recently talked with James
j. Braddock, the man Loughran
meets the 18th Of this month
in a title bout and not so re-
Gently, year ago in Tom
Heeney's camp, we saw Jimmy
spar. He is impressive in the
ring and has an physique which
any man might envy. He has
a good head with it and is
among the real ring prospects
of the present era.
Braddock has knocked out
Latzo, Griffiths and Slattery.
Apparently Loughran doesn't
care whether he keeps the title
or not, for should he defeat
Braddock, he faces another long
period of enforced idleness be-
cause Of the lack of formidable
competition.
Thus, he will either lose his
title honorably July 18 or alb
dictate just as honorably after
wards. It will be a financial
exigency plain to all which win
make him do this.
Loughran's decision to go
after the heavies isn't a sud-
den one by any means. At
training camps as far back as
Dempsey's last stand at Allan
tic City, all Of which Loughran
visited either as a sparring part
ner or a newspaper writer, he
made no secret of the fact that
he thought the current heavy
weights where more or less of
the palooka brand. So the
germ of ultimately turning
heavy" has been breeding in
his mind for a long time and
apparently he is about ready to
succumb.
Even at Paulino's camp in
Hoosick Falls, where, incident
ally Loughran will train for
Braddock, the light heavyweight
champion was saying the more
he saw of these heavies, the
more convinced he was that he
could lick 'em all.
"They may laugh at me-" he
said, shut think / can out
point all those big fellows and
they can't hurt me. Remember,
they laughed at Tunney, too.
am still growing and if I stop
making weight l will be close