Evening star., 1932-11-27


M Kid Chocolate now knows
Y what it means to be fool
ish, for he has pulled up
sharply and foresWorn Harlem's
bright lights.
AS a consequence, the Keed has
been having the time of his life
outspearing and outsnarting his
opponents during the past three
weeks and will be in prime shape
to defend what the local boxing
commission calls his feather
weight championship on Decem-
ber 6.
His opponent will be Fidel La Barba,
who is coming all the way from Homo
lulu to try for the disputable title.
Chocolate is second Pancho Villa
when it comes to putting on class
Nothing but the best in silk underwear,
glaring neckties and loud clothes for
the Cuban dandy. His wardrobe is as
extensive as that of movie star. The
Keed took a fancy to himself and every
smile of his admirers went to his head,
so that for time his manager and
mentor, Luis Gutierrez, was unable to
reason with him.
The Cuban became careless in his
work and figured he was far and away
too good even for lightWeightS to beat
him. He went out of his class to win
the junior lightweight championship
and packed on considerable weight. So
much so that in his fight with Lew
Feldman he seemed to tire and lose
much of his nimbleness afoot. He ap-
/ i Il e..
to watch his knees for signs Of buckling.
A GAINST little fellow with a small
n time club rep, frankie Marchese,
Chocolate was forced to exert
every effort to gain the decision. 1t
may be that the officials saw only Kid
Chocolate i'll the ring, but the wise
gallery gods. pulling for the underdog.
thought MarcheSe the winner and booed
the decision.
Then came the Johnny Farr fight in
Detroit, and the fans were certain that
the Cuban had reached the end Of the
trail The Keed was slated to return
to Detroit for another fight but he con-
veniently forgot to catch the train and
the fight was called off. 1t is just as
well.
Chocolate was undergoing new ex-
perience. He took a Scoldlng like a
little man, asked for time out to think
it over and returned to his manager
and apologized, promising to forego the
bright lights and ctart all over again.
A good deal of Chocolates troubles
were caused by parasitic managers In
the fight game who wait on the side
lines and grasp each opportunity to
poison the minds Of budding youngsters
against the men who worked hard and
long to maneuVer them into good posi-
tions.
Gutierrez has directed Chocolate ever
since he was u years old, when he was
selling papers in the streets OF Havana.
At present Chocolate is the idol of Cuba.
Under different management his name
would be anathema to Cuban fans, and
| it is extremely doubtful if he would re-
turn to his native country knowing he
would be ostraciZed.
, 60 the Keed has reformed and, judg-
y ing from his work against Pete
Nebo, he will be at top speed for
La Barba Nebo has been doing re-
! markable work as a lightweight and
had Chocolate lost to the psuedo
Seminole Indian, the defeat would have
been discounted in that Chocolate was
fighting cut of his class. Instead,
Chocolate uncorked some of his old
speed and all that Nebo or the fans
could see was a streak of black flashes.
In that fight Chocolate satisfied an
old grudge. No one knew about this
until after the fight, when the grinning
Kid gave the story away.
1t seems that Nebo's father owns a
fish market on the same street in
Havana on which Chocolate lives. Pete
boasted about his prowes5 and be-
moaned the fact that Chocolate was in
| a lighter class or he would show Havana
fans that he was a greater fighter than
the Keed.
Chocolate heard all about it from his
friends and kept it to himself. Given
the opportunity, he punched Nebo all
over the ring and laughed himself silly
exposing Pete's nationality.
A b7istling 10-rounder against Eddie
Reilly found Chocolate as good as, If
not better, than the Cuban bon-bon of
old, and La Barba will have a job on
his hands when theV met