Imperial Valley press., 1938-10-23
Believe Il or Not-.
Garcia Favored in
Armstrong Battle
BY JACK CUDDY

ry Armstrong wreSted the welter-
their only fight. Homicide Hank"
battered Ross into retirement. He
punched his face lop-sided.
Ceferino Garcia fought Ross
three times and lost three times to
the Jewish battler
Yet, Garcia is quoted the 7-5 fav-
orite in the early betting to beat
Armstrong III their welter title
scrap at Madison Square Garden
on Nov. 2. He is favored to snip
Henry's string of "a straight vic
tories. How come? Is there some
thing sinister in those odds
No, my friends, that Us figure is
merely the signal that hammering
Henry's "honeymoo2" is over; that
he no longer is regarded as the in
vincible super fighter of the loweN
divisions He must achieve fresh
heroics before he can wiring general
acclaim again from tickle Fistiana.
Browrl-skinned Armstrong of Los
Angeles lost much lustre in his last
fight on Aug. IT, when he Stagger-
ed out of the ring wearing Lou
Ambers' lightweight diadem-after
Is electrifying rounds. Henry took
LOUIS pound title on a split
decision, but most of the $4,000
fans thought Ambers had won. And
they thundered their disapproval at
the loss of LOUIS tiara. Armstrong
had his third title. but the super
man myth was exploded almost as
definitely as the night when Max
Schmeling belted Joe Louis tu
sleep.
But why should Garcia be favor
ed over Henry, even if Hank did
win a close decision over Ambers
and suffer a mangled lower lip in
the process? Who is this Garcia
anyway? What has he done to re-
deem his three defeats by Ross,
who proved just a punching bag
for Armstrong?
Before studying the life and lar
rups of Ceferino, the Filipino, let
us first identify this Mr.. Barney
Ross, whom we have been using q
a yard-stick on the relative merits
of Armstrong and Garcia. The
Ross who won two 10-round decis-
ions over Garcia in 1885 was very
good fighter, right at his peak.
Despite this fact, Ceferino, floored
Farney twice in their first tilt a:
San Francisco.
Ross began to hit the tobaggan
III So He had faded considerably
when he defended his title against
Izzy Jannazzo late that year. He
met Garcia for the third time in
September, 81 in the Carnival OF
Champions. Through strenuous
training, Barney had improved his
form bit for that bout. Unfor-
tunately for Garcia the Filipino
suffered deep cash on the fore
head in the fifth round. Ceferino
fought the remaining 10 rounds in
mantle of blood. But. despite
this handicap, he almost knocked
out Barney in the 18th when he
nailed the champion on the chin
with his smashing "bolo" uppercut.
Barney fought the closing sessions
il a fog, but he remained On his
feet and took the decision. -
The fading Ross became bride
groom last December. When he
met Armstrong on May 81, he was
close to the bottom of the tobog-
gan-a shadow of his former self.
Life and the years had caught up
with him. Hence, Armstrong; easy
victory can be partially explained,
even though he spotted Barney
eight and a half pounds.
Meanwhile Garcia hasn't lost a
fight since the Ross bout in Sept
ember 81. Only one man lasted
the distance. That was Glen Lee,
rugged Nebraska middleweight. But
Ceferino gave Lee the worst beating
of his career in those 10 rounds.
And Lee remember, was middle
| WclBIlt WIZ lldu DcdJtIl IOpcyc
Woods, knocked out Harry Balsamo,
and gone the distance twice with
Fred Apostoli, whom the New York
commission regards as the No.
contender in the 160pound division.
Garcia spotted Lee about 10
pounds and Whaled the daylights
out of him. However, when he
meets Armstrong, he will have eight
or nine pounds weight advanta
over the bull-shouldered little
Negro. Moreover, he will have ad-
vantages in reach and height-and.
above all, in punch. With the lone
possible exception of Joe Louis,
Garcia is the hardest hitter, pound
for-pound, in the ring today
The men who wager their cab
bage on prize fights apparently
have been guided by some or all of
the, aforementioned factors. I'm
not saying that the 7-5 quotation l.
Il 10 nv