Imperial Valley press. (El Centro, Calif.) 1907-current, 1935-12-26
Baer Gets
Praise for
Gameness

NEW YORK, Dec. 26. U.P)-ThlS
being Christmas season, when the
world is filled with tenderness, toll
Grafton, turked, toddy and toys, II
seems timely to offer few words
of cheer for a man who received the
worst booting about of any indi-
vidual in sports during 1885.
Accordingly, we take advantage of
this Yuletide occasion to wish Make
Baer a Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year-and TO assure him
that we still believe he's swell fell
low and a game fighter, and that he
did NOT lay down TO Joe Louis.
We emphasize again that we are
extending this greeting to Make
Baer on Christmas. On any other
day, the millions of people
throughout the world who doubt
less disagree with us, but if they
do it now. they'll be violating
"king's-eX."
1t is the spirit of fair play, rather
than any warm friendship for the
Livermore larruper, that causes us
to come to his defense at this time
We incurred Makes extreme dis
pleasure before his bout with Louis
by warning all fight fans that Baer
was in poor condition for the battle
and by predicting that the Brown
Bomber would knock him out.
1t is too easy to say that man
Innnd II in q finhf n11d RI hr.1
him a yellow gutter. 1t is par
ticularly easy if you are an expert
who picked him to win, or a bettor
who had a wager riding with him
We can not forget how easy it was
for the experts to announce that
poor Ernie Schaaf took a dive the
night he fought Primo Camera. AND
the headline screaming that Ernie'S
knockout was fake. Only Schaaf's
death proved that he didn't dodge
it when he went down and was
counted out,
But the beating Schaaf received
from Camera, and the punish
ment Schaaf received from Baer
in the bout preceding the Camera
affair, were just flock of carcsses
compared to the murderOus bat
tering Joe Louis gave Make. 1t
was like watching man getting
kicked in the face by horse
kicks that smashed into Makes
face, swapping his head this way
and that, kicks that made the
flesh rise in welts and bruises like
slow movie biscuits expanding,
stunning the brain and smearing
his face with blood.
That was the beating we saw
with our nose over the ring apron
We did not see the movies-and we
do not know if they portrayed prop
erly the devastation that Louis
melted out. But we saw the fight.
Baer Wilted
Baer wilted to the canvas three
times under this terrible blasting
twice in the third and once in the
fourth, then he as counted out. We
doubted that he would answer the
gong for the fourth. But he came
out and took it. Finally he sank to
hands and knees in the fourth, and
as Donovan tolled off the count
Make tried to rise. He forced one
knee up and was resting on that
knee, shaking his head in stunned
beWilderment as the count ended.
Why didn't Baer tear into
Louis and shoot the works if he
wasn't afraid of the Negro? his
critics demanded. That's easy to
answer. Baer wasn't that kind of
a fighter. Baer always moved i'm
slowly so that he could set himself
before throwing his punches. And
Louis gave him few chances to get
set.
And why didn't Make regain his
feet if he was strong enough to get
to one knee. Let Jack Dempsey ex-
plain that. Dempsey was in his
corner that highland he doesn't
believe Make quit. Queer things
about being knocked out" Jack says.
I've seen some fighters, knocked
cold as herring, but keep right on
punching for two or three rounds.
The mind was gone, but the body
carried on. Others, when kayoed, flop
to the floor like dead. Others try
to get up, and can't. That was
Makes case. He was punched