Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1931-07-05
SOUTHERNER
COURAGEOUS
Fight Is Stopped In 18th
AS w. L. Hangs On
Helplessly
BY EDWARD y. NEIL

CLEVELAND. July 4-P- The
nations proudest holiday. indie
psndence Day. found a black-brow-
ed. smiling young German perched
high on the heavyweight throne
that has come to be a traditional
American possession. acclaimed on
all sides for the first time, the true
ruler Of the kingdom.
Many OF the faithful who saw
Max Schmeling win his crown fIom
Jack Sharkey last June on a foul
while reclining in a New York ring,
we're non too sure OF the even
tempered foreigners fighting abil-
ity. But those Of the clan who
peered down from the vast reaches
Of the magnificent new Cleveland
municipal stadium last night Will
never doubt again.
Schmeling took one or Americas
finest heavyweights. Young Bill
Stribling. from Macon. Ga. and IN
fifteen rounds OF his first title
defense hacked and hammered and
hewed the handsome southerner
into a bleeding. stumbling. punch
soaked ~caricature Of the trim and
perfect young athlete who answered
the opening gong. And about half
a minute before the end OF the
fifteenth round, when II seemed
the Georgian would stagger through
TO the finish and evade a knock
out. Schmeling turned loose his
final blast. Fourteen seconds before
the final bell would have sounded.
Referee George Blake. from Los
Angeles. was forced to halt the
hopeless struggle and award
Schmeling the victory on a tech
nical knockout.
Strib Courageous
1t was a bitter end. for Striking.
to a gallant. courageous stand. but
in one sense 1t was as much yindi-
cation for him as the stunning
victory was for the German. Just
as the faithful and the critics dur
ing the past year have doubted
Schmeling's fighting ability. SO has
Stribl4ng's courage AZ times been
maligned. But last night, If he get
nowhere IN particular with his
fighting. at least he did turn IN a
masterpiece OF bravery, dogged
courage under q b~listering. cuttir.
fire that probably would have ar
initiated any heavyweight cam
paigning today.
For the first three rounds. Strib-
ling was at his best. a tall. lean
greyhound OF a boxer. fast, tricky,
and an accurate. dazzling puncher.
The stolid German marched into
him. half-crouching, weaving a
little. and Stribling nailed the
champion With every punch in the
book. He tossed Schmeling around
III the clincheS, kept him off bal
anceS. and peppered him with
rights until the Teut0n's eye began
TO swell and the Striking fanciers
sat back IN anticipation Of a pleas
ant. interesting evening.
Schmeling smiled and took his
punishment. never faltering. Str b.
ling let him have the left. drilled
him with the right. and still he
came on.
Stribling started 70 falter in the
fourth As Schmeling swept on ike
a rising tide beating against 4
shore. A short hook TO the III "a
brought blood from Stribling's nose.
Re wavered. And from that point
on. with the exception OF one
desperate. failing rally that ar
RED the eight round for him,
Striking slipped back. His right
eye lid vas cut in the seventh. his
left IN the tenth and barely made
his corner erect as the gong ended
that round.
Badly Battered
his lips were smashed. hts nose
cut. ana his bloOd-smeared face was
a CORY mask. Grlmly he took his
beating as The German, increasing
his pace as the battle wore on.
hammered him about the BODY.
crummed on the battered features.
But badly as Striking was hurt.
the dramatic ending IL the fiji
tenth round came rs a surprise.
Schmeling caught the Georgian
with a short left hook and right
cross to the chin with the fight
only seconds 70 20 and down went
Stribling in a heap or his own
corner. He sprawlsd on the canvas
almost under the lower rope and
he barely reached his feet at the
count Of nine. Schmeling tore into
him. halted for a second as he
sensed the gallant s~cutherner's
desperate plight. and looked plead
ingly az referee Blake. instantly
the Pacific coast official stepped
between them ard lifted Schmel-
inE's hand In token OF victory.
While the battle was a fighting
success. It was anything but a
money-maker. Thee were s~ca-fely
$4,000 In the h-l amDhi-theatey
that was built to hold 10000. The
gross receipts were estimated at
sS250n0.