Evening star., 1937-06-22

jim AND Joe BOTH
TO AWAIT BREAKS
Last Few Hours of "Rest
and Relaxation" Usually
Is Anything But.
BY JACK DEMPSEY.

BY JACK DEMPSEY.
)H1CAGO, June 22.-Today is
the tough day for Jim Brad
dock and Joe Louis. This is
the day that they will have
With their thoughts. It will be broken
up by their weighing-in ceremonies,
their examination by the Boxing Com
mission physicians and their short
but hectic interviews during that time
BY the reporters who are here to cover
the fight and everything connected
with 1t.
After this the men will be hustled
away to secret" resting places, where
they will be expected to rest and re-
lax" until time to start for Comiskcy
Park and prepare for battle.
But will they rest and relaX?"
doubt it. In the first place, the "Se-
cret' hiding place will be known to
"a few close friends" and these will
find it impossible not to let some few
know that they are favored with the
important secret It's just human
nature for them to do So
Just Like a Wake.
MOT that 1t will make any differ
ence, but If my own experiences
are any yardstick, this interval between
weighing-in and starting for the scene
OF battle, this period of rest and re-
Taxation" will be just like wake, with
the difference that the "wakee" will
be fully conscious.
Lying of in bed room, removed
Just far enough from where the
watchers" are congregated for their
low-toned voices to reach him with
out being understandable, our fighter
will lie with his thoughts Of the i'm
pending fight waging three-cornered
battle with his tense determination to
try TO sleep and his unconscious
straining to catch the meaning of the
muffled conversation from the
watchers"
And he must be on the alert to
play 'possum and pretend to be
asleep when one of the solicitous
friends steals a tip-toed peek into
the room to see how he's coming
along, SO that he can go back and
report triumphantly that the champ
Is sleeping like baby"
In the case of Braddock and Louis,
I don't think either will lose lot Of
energy in this worry" period. Joe
isn't the imaginative type. According
TO all reports, he can sleep at the
drop Of the hat. Jim may not be the
sleeper that Joe is, but believe Brad
dock. if he does any thinking about
the ight-and how can he help it?-
will be concentrating on a determina-
ton to 60 in there and knock his
block off.
Pests Always Worrisome.
THE messages Of good wishes, and
the many who want to get to the
fighters and tell them in person about
these wishes, will not worry these two
~ much as they would other fighters.
OF course, the managers and others
OF the training crew will keep these
pests of, but they'll be Worrisome
just the same.
I think both these fellows will have
had q good rest on their final day."
They're both healthy fellows and they
have no nerves" Braddock I know
Is confident, and Louis is sort of q
fatalist, whether he knows it or not.
To both Of them it's just a fight.
I don't think either has any set
plan of battle. They both will make
their decisions-if they make any
at all-on the spur of the moment.
II either sees an opening, he'll try
to take advantage of it.
II it comes to general Socking
bee, each will have an equal chance
Of landing, but / think Braddock'S
blows that land will have more effect
ON Louis than Joe's will have on
Braddock. Jim is used to taking a
clout, whereas Louis will be surprised
when he gets one Of Jim's polthogues
Concerned Over Crowd Reaction.
THE one thing that worries me is
the crowd; what the reaction will
b 1T the finish Of the fight, no mat
ter how 1t turns out. There will be
. thousand cops on the job, and that
won't be one too many.
The fight is being held in the CEN
tar Of the Negro section, and il Louis
wins I hope the boys Of that race
exercise little Judgment. II they act
orderly, 1t will 60 long ways toward
doing what the leaders Of that race
have been trying to accomplish. If
they revert to rowdyism, well it will
be bad thing for the boxing game,
and will have 3 very bad effect on
their immediate future But I'm not
here to moralize or lecture.
And the same thing goes for the
white folks, too. There always are a
few who are trouble makers. And
they do lot Of harm. But let's not
borrow trouble. My main interest is
In the night.
said yesterday I'd string along
with the lucky guy" Let's hope the
whole thing turns out lucky for every
body. And now all we can do is wait
for the bell remember when I was
flehting-that old bell relieved all the
tension. Well, what are we waiting
for9 Lettergo!
CCopyr1ght, 1877
SOFT PAII. STIIGEEST