Evening star., 1938-05-11
HENRY A WELTER
|NPUNCH|NC HEFT
Weight Concentrated Above
Waist, Ross Opponent
Comedies Little.
BY GRANTLAND RICE.

BY GRANTLAND RICE.
NEW YORK, May 11-They have
been saying for long time-and they
have proved it-that good little man
can't lick good big man in the ring.
Stanley Ketchel, a blazing middle
weight with terrific punch, thought
he could take the heavyweight cham
pionship from Jack Johnson, and did
succeed in knocking Johnson down,
but johnson got up and knocked him
out. Johnny Kilbane, featherweight
champion. sought to take the light
weight title from Benny Leonard. but
Leonard knocked him out in three
rounds. Georges Carpenter not quite
a light heavyweight il actual pound
age, threw his vaunted right hand at
Jack Dempsey, but Dempsey took it on
the chin and then knocked Carpenter
out in four rounds.
They Were Great Fighters.
Mickey Walker an oyerstuffed
mlddlewelght at the time. climbed
into the ring with Max Schmeling in
the Garden bowl one night and took
. frightful beating.
Those are a few OF the outstanding
examples. Ketchcl, Kilbane. Carpen-
tier and Walker were great fighters.
Ketchel had roamed the land knock
ing out middleweights-and some very
good middleweghts, like Billy Papke
and Joe Thomas and Cyclone Johnny
Thompson. kilbane, who took the
featherWeight championship from Abe
Attell. was one of the best feather
weights ever to draw on a glove. Car
pentier, starting as a bantamweight,
fought his way up through all the divi-
sions, mopped up all over Europe and
beat some good American fighters.
Walker, the toy bulldog, held. sue
cesslvely, the WelterWeight and mid
dleWeight titles. beat some heavy
weights and fought a draw with Jack
Sharkey. Great fighters-all of them
but they couldn't give away weight
10 other great fighters and win.
A Different Slant.
The subject has been revived bv
the approaching clash of Henry Arm
strong and Barney Ross. Armstrong.
featherweight champion. is skipping
right over the lightweight class to
hurl his punches at Ross. boss OF the
welterWeightS. And many of those
who look at these things carefully
are saying that, while Armstrong un-
doubtedly is the best featherweight to
come swinging down the lane in a
long time, they think he has made
bad bargain and will wind up on
the short end OF the brawl with Ross
because no good little man ever licked
good big man.
AT first glance, that's the set-up.
But Is it? I don't agree that it is.
Armstrong is the featherweight cham
p!on and Ross the welterweight cham
pion. But Armstrong has been grow
ing in the last year. He has been
fighting lghtWeights at catch weights
and hasn't spotted them any pound
age. The last time he fought in
New York, which was against Lou
Feldman, he weighed 1876 pounds, and
doubt very seriously that he ever
can make the featherweight limit
again. think that all that would be
necessary to place that on the record
would be to have some recognized
contender for the featherWeight title
file a challenge with him. In that
case, it is 100 to l Henry would drop
the title right into the laps of the
boxing commission. So much for
Armstrong.
Never a Genuine WeIter.
Ross never has been a genuine
welterweight, coming in at the class
limit of lat pounds. He is nothing
more than a heavy lightweight. He
generally fights at 142 or 143. He
weighed close to l40 for his last fight,
which was with second-rater in Des
Moines a couple Of weeks ago. The day
he came to New York on his way to his
training camp at Ferndale, he weighed
las pounds. The most he ever has
weighed in his life. and this was after
a long rest between fights, was Just
under $50. He expects to weigh no
more than i43 for Armstrong.
Since Armstrong, inorder to qualify
Tor TINS light, must weigh at least 1876
is, Cne pound over the
limit so that, technically
at least, he Will be a WelterWeight-
the chances are there will not be more
than six or seven pounds difference
between the men when they enter the
ring. Obviously, five or six pounds is
not staggering handicap for
lightweight-or welterTeight-to carry,
especially when he hasn't had to
weaken himself to make his own
weight.
The Build of Armstrong.
That's one phase of the situation.
Another has to do with Armstrong;
build. A mans weight, measured only
in pounds. frequently is not as i'm
portant as the manner in which it is
distributed over his frame. Bob
Fitzsimmons weighed less than ITO
pounds, but above his spindly legs rose
the torso of a heavyweight, so that
he was at no disadvantage fighting
men who weighed 200 pounds and
over.
Armstrong is cast in a similar
mold. He has the thick neck, the
broad shoulders, the deep chest and
the powerful arms of las or even
$50 pound fighter. And a punch to
match his weight from the waist up.
Spindly legs? Certainly. But most
good fighters have had spindly legs
spindly. but strong and supple, to
carry them around and around the
ring. Haul out the old pictures and
look at Dempsey's legs-and Leon.
ard's-when they were in their prime.
The thick-legged fighters are the ones
who, as a rule, do not get very far.
(Copyright. 1888. by the North Anne :Ican
Newspaper Alliance Inc)
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