The Washington times., 1929-10-25


loves to see somebody sock some
body else to sleep when noth-
ing like that is in prospect they
just won't turn out in volume.
At the moment, there are no
outstanding sluggers in the game
Study the champs and the near
champs from the flyweights to the
heavy division and you won't nnd
; d single slugger Of consistent va
riety. They aren't gifted with
dynamite.
OF the smaller men, Hid Ch"co-
late Is perhaps the hardest wal
loper: when he swings into action
there's always the likelihood that
ha will drop the other fellow be-
fore the scheduled distance has
beeu Travelled. What's the resuit7
Nothing except that Chocolate -
one of the best drawing cards III
the game today.
During the brief time that Ray
Miller was knocking hghtweignts
into a coma, the Chicago younsster
used to pack the arenas. But the
minute that Ray began forgettlne
how to plant his left hook nopoov
cared much about his actlvitles.
Ring history proves that its
psolden eras" depended pretty much
ON whether the boys were sluggers
or NOT. John L. Sullivan was
nI1gger and always a GREAT MAG
NET. Bob Fitzsimmons, super
hitter, hauled in the customers be-
cause they knew that when Bob was
In action he was quite likely to give
them what they wanted-a spectac-
s,Isr Knockout. Jim Jeffries was
sluSSer. more than a boxer-a man
Evith a paralyzing punch. And Je1r
established various attendance rec
1rds. When Stanley ketchel was IN
hia prime, and knocking folks sun
with ona or two pokes. he brousht
customers from all parts or the
country to see him in action.
while Benny Leonard per
sisted I'm the use Of boxing tao
! Ties, he wasn't much Of an at
traction, But suddenly ne
hecam1 a hitter de luxe, knock
ing out the boys almost as fast
as they could toss them at him:
J ,Nfter that they couldn't bui'd
auditoriums big enough to house
xhoso who wanted to see Benny
do his sleep producing stuff
Folks didn't turn out to see me
doing some fancy footwork or ex-
hibit science. They knew L WIS
IN there intent upon knocking oue
the other fellow, risktng kaye
.nvgek II 1 failed. They wan'eo
to see me flatten somebody-oE
see the other dude flatten me.
They knew that one result or we
nthsr was fairly certain. So they
3 piled in and didn't mind the price
that Rtckard assessed,
wbsn schmeling knocked out
Noe Monte and then put away
Risko hs was the rage. Hurrah!
'Annsrentlv q new and spectacular
eT,reer had appeared. Here was
"new killer" Schmeling be-
Ssne a sensational figure. En-
thnsiasm over the heavyweight d.
vision was restored. II the Ger
man could knock out Pauline
we'll. then the boys and girls
would have paid million or TWO
to see him in his next flght "n"
would have busted down FENCES /"
ees him in action.
But SchmeIing did not stop
the Basque. He beat him say
agely. But lie couldn't finish
him, And although Max is
still rated as great somehow or
other the wild raving over him
has ceased. He didn't prove to
he the killer" that he prom
\ Ised to be.
don't think that the fight fans
have frightened the purse strings,
nor that they have become fed
} 11p" with fisticuffing. It's my idea
that the modern generation Of pugi-
Iisttc followers demand knockouts-
or the promise of knockouts-as the
return for their admission ticket
payments.
And so, as I see it, when the
time arrives when a new slugger
appears on the horizon and begins
to knock over fOemen like cham
pion rifleman busts clay pigeons,
the golden era" will do a quick
comeback and. IL that man happens
TO be a heavyweight, he may play"
10 gates topping that record-break.
ing intake In Chicago when / fought
Gene Tunney the second time.
Copyright. 1919, King Features