Imperial Valley press., 1937-05-30
Bench
warming
BY BURnETTE KINNE
Post Press Sports Editor

Fifteen hundred persons. the
third largest fight crowd Of the
season at the Fl Centro arena
turned out Thursday night to see
Herman Graves defeated by Rip
Slade. but went home disappointed.
Graves, valley champion and con-
queror of Slade. Golden Gloves
champion, pummeled Rip through
four rounds Of fast fighting in a
bout that was never in doubt after
the first round.
The valley titleholder beat Sade
to the punch consistently, landing
harder. cleaner and more often. He
kept Rip off balance through most
of the battle and conclusively prov
ed that he is ready for bigger game
the pros.
Herman will. however, have TO
hurdle one more obstacle before
leaving the simon pure ranks. and
he viii climb through the ropes
one week from Thursday 10 do it.
He Will meet Johnny Dean. tough
San Diego Marine who dropped a
decision TO Slade three weeks ago
in the FL Centro ring.
Dean will be in better shape
than when he lost to Slade. lie
is a different type of fighter
than Graves has ever faced and
is expected TO give the Bomber
lot of trouble before the four
rounds are completed.
Dean. who has fought all over
the world and has met the best
navy, marine and civilian middle
weights, continually boreS in and
continually throws both fists.
And Ehen those failing fists
land they damage Dean has fought
in more than 100 fights and has
dropped only two decisions. And
more than once he has risen from
the canvas TO pound out = victory
Graves has lost only one deci-
sion in the FL Centro ring-to JACK
Morrissette - and he erased thai
blot on his record with a clean cut
verdict over the BraWley battler in
a return bout
For that reason and because he
defeated Slade, Graves will be
slightly favored when he waltZes
into the ring to meet the Marine.
But odds can not really be con-
sidered when two hard hitting
middleweights meet in a battle
which both want TO win more than
anything else in the world
Graves desire to win Is perhaps
stronger, for he wants to enter the
pro game with a clear record, but
Dean is anxious to clean up his
slate by whipping the Negro.
X
Watching Hardin Young send his
tiny midget speedster around the
El Centro track in record time Fri
day night erased any doubt from
the minds of other drivers whether
or not the BraWley driver would be
q serious threat TO the title hopes
of Salmen, Hetzel, Herrick, and
Cooper
Young. who drove several rather
futile races after sustaining an in
jury in Los Angeles. returned to
form Friday night in time TO re-
capture the point lead from Salmen
which he had held previous to the
mishap on the coast.
In winning Young drove a bril-
liant race and served notice 10 his
opponents that he would be the
man 10 beat in future races.
Upsetting the dope bucket seems
TO be the facorite pastime Of El
Centre hign school tennis players.
Danny Judd, Spartan No. l man.
came through Unexpectedly Fri
day afternoon to win the valley
high school singles tournament with
a three set victory over Jack Bow
ker Of CaleXico.
Judd was given only an outside
chance TO reach the finals, and
lac surprised even his staunchest
supporters by flashing a brand of
tennis that carried him to the
title.
His team mates accomplished q
similar feat earlier in the season
when they played an outstanding
brand of tennis to defeat CaleXico
high in the second meeting between
the two schools, and tie the Bull
dogs for the league title.
preseason dope had Fl Centre
in a poor third position.