The Washington times., 1930-03-29

wearing q panied and rumpleC
his nose q blot Of red.
He looked the part of a de-
feated fighter going into the
sixth round but, just as the game
fish swims against the tide so
did McLarnin come on against a
torrent Of leather to steal the
show from Young Jack Thompson,
at the end Of 10 rounds, that will
be remembered long after many
a present-day fighter is forgotten.
It was a great fight and great
fighter won it. In fact, it took
q great fighter to beat Thompson
last night, although many in the
crowd Of 10000 will enter a de.
murrer on both counts. That is.
many doubted the evidence Of the
verdict and still more of, them
felt that McLarnin missed great.
ness by a unanimous mile.
They are telling the neighborS
today that James has lost the
snap of his punch, that some
where between the GoldStein
knockout of a few months ago
and the Thompson fight last
night, McLarnin has degenerated
into a commonplace mauler.
They do both McLarnin
and Thompson an injustice.
James still can punch the
head off any man who gives
him IOng-range action, just
as he always could. But
Thompson was not that kind
of q mouth organ last night.
At times, he circled rapidly to
the right, shooting q profusion
of jabs into McLarnin's counte-
nance. Again, he crowded in
close where James, a long-range
swinger, could do no more than
tumble around in inept bewilder-
ment. He beat McLarnin at this
game so badly in the dramatic
fifth round that I believe he laid
the foundation for his own de-
feat.
It is my impression that a fast
moving, circling Thompson could
have beaten McLarnin last night,
Just as a rapidly pirouetting Tun-
ney pecked the eyes out OF Demp'
sey. But Thompson did not delgn
to win by the dot-and-daSh system.
He elected to go after the victory
by the sock-and-slash Method. HIS
success in the fifth round had
made him slug crazy. And so ne
gambled on a knockout-and lost.
He was q gallant loser, at that,
a man who took a punch with an
enthusiasm equal to the manner
in which he gave 1t, a. fighter OF
great variety and resourcefulness
and a sharpshooter who almost
shot the great McLarnin down IN
the fifth.
The early moments Of this
round were Jimmy'S, with a right
cross and a left to the body, but
Thompson crowded inside to land
three rights that swivled McLar
Minis chin around behind one ear
Another right, then a left to the
jaw followed and, when McLarnln
tried to fight Thompson off, the
latter beat him to the punch with
every left and right he threw.
James finished the round
on his heels, with blood trick
ling down his nose and the
earnest admOnitiOns of the
referee following him to his
corner. Thrice this round
was he cautioned for hitting
low and once for using the So
called backhand punch.
While they waited for the sixth
the crowd buzZed with audible
wonder. Was McLarnin, reck
oned the greatest welterweight o1
the age, to be beaten by a 4-to-1
shot? It looked that way at the
moment. James had won three
Of the first four rounds with hiE
forcing tactics, but one Of these
rounds had clearly been Thomp
sons and the fifth had seen hin
punch James around as though
he meant to commit the rest o1
the evening to the pastime.
But, faced though he was with
a style that was hardly ideal tt
his purposes, McLarnin proceeded
to prove that he could fight al
well In adversely as ever he hac
In assured success.
He took two hard rights to the
head and q Sickening left hook tc
the body in the sixth, but won the
round with series Of rackine
rights to the body, got a stand-ofi
In a rather slow seventh round
then lost the eighth with some
thing to spare.
This was drawing the decision q
little too fine, so James put or
one of the fastest finishes seen ir
a New York ring this year to wiz
the ninth and tenth and inciden
tally the fight. Both were glitter
ing rounds, the pair of them stand
ing nose to nose and slugging il
out, with McLarnin in front mos
Of the way. In the ninth he tool
a smashing right to the body anC
came on again. In the tenth TIVE
right crosses drove his knees to
gether, leaving him slightly dazed
His reply was to punch his wa!
out of the fog and keep on top o.
Thompson to the bell.
| Teff T. MI