The Washington times., 1936-05-25
USING
GOD IN
TO SPAR
Bv KIRK MILLER


down to the Cameron
Street gymnasium of
Heavyweight Bobby
Tow, in Alexandria
:. any of these marvel
Gus May afternoons,
you would observe
what impressed the
oversigned as a very
paradoxical S i t u a.
tion.
Of all people, Tow is using
Bobby Goodwin as a sparring
mate in preparation for his
15-round fight with Marty Gal
lagher at the ball park two weeks
from tonight.
Now that may not sound like
very startling statement to you,
unless your memory goes back a
few years to the oak-Shaded train.
ing camp of Bobby Goodwin at good
old Herald Harbor where Ma"
Goodwin used to invite the visiting
press into such delicious suppers
of fried chicken and Georgia corn
pone.
Not Long Ago
That has only been about three
or four summers ago, but the way
time flies, sometimes it seems like
only last week, particularly when
you pass a restaurant from which
fumes of fried chicken excite your
sensitive nostrilS.
Well, it was around in those
summers of 1888 and "a that God
win was at the height Of his pugu-
istic career, and it was also then
that he was using tall, gangling,
but solidly built Birmingham (AlaD
boy by the name of Bob Tow as
his chief sparring partner to keep
himself in good shape for the &C
tive program of fisticuffing which
his manager, Pa" Goodwin had ar
ranged for him.
Yea, Bobby Tow was the guinea
pig in those days. He was the
chopping block on which Goodwin
was hewing his way to fighting for
tune. Tow could take it even in
those days, and he could stand up
there in the ring and let Goodwin
hammer away at him all afternoon
long.
Reversed Situation
But today the situation is re-
versed.
Tow is on the upper rung of the
pugiliStic ladder. Goodwin has
started to slip considerably, and he |
is happy to pick up a few Sheckles
taking the part of the guinea pig
for the lad who, not so long ago,
was just a training-camp test tube.
Such is the fight game, my
friends, as Bob Goodwin and little |
old wizend PA" Goodwin will tell |
you, looking through their sunken
eyesockets of years of experience.
You're here today and there to-
morroW-mostly there. Young
Godwln, his handsome features
pretty we'll SCARED from his many
contacts with sharp, singing
leather, will tell you it's no bed of |
roses, nor panSies, either; yet, he |
isn't sorry he went in for it, be-
cause his second cousin, Young"
Stribling. very game fighter, in
spired him to take up the ring
as a profession.
And although the Godwins,
father and son, are hardly what
you'd call on top of the heap at
the moment, they are glad enough
to be of what service they can to
the big, numbering boy who few
years ago was acting in a similar
Sparring-mate capacity to them at
Herald Harbor.
Birmingham Boys
I learned thing or two about
Bobby Tow down at the Alexan-
dria gymnasium recently, that I
hadn't known previously.
He was born in Birmingham,
Ala, the same Southern city that
gave the boxing world Petey Sar-
ron. the humpty-dumpty little
featherweight champion of the
world.
It seemed to me quite a coinci.
dence that both Tow and Sarron
should have both been born in Bir-
mingham, and both later moved
their pugilistic residences to Alex
andria, Va. But it's the gospel
truth, although it sounds more like
fiction.
It's a fact, too, that both boxers
learned to fight in the boys clubs
of Birmingham, conducted a great
deal on the order of the police
boys clubs of Washington, Spon-
Sored by the Metropolitan force.
So, when the officers in blue
knock at your front door this week
and ask for donations for the up
keep of the local boys clubs, you
may feel you are donating to help
develop such manly young ath-
leteS as Bobby Tow and Petey
Sarron; and don't forget to patron
k1a tho Co1loohoy