The Waterbury Democrat., 1938-11-01
.WELTER TITLE. BOUT MAY END ITHTKOWINNER
Armstrong and Garcia Are Both "BIeeders" Now;
 FilipinOs Hail Hero
BY JACK CUDDY

BY JACK CUDDY
 United Press Staff CorrespOndent)
 New York, Nov. 1.-(UP)-Blood probably will determine the winner of tomorrow nights welterweight title brawl between Champion Henry Armstrong and Ceferino Garcia at Madison Square Garden.
 Most experts along hammers Lane figure that the referee will be forced to halt the scheduled 15-rounder when one of the principals starts shedding too much gore.
 Garcia, with a mass of scar tissue on his left brow, and Armstrong, with an unhealed lower lip, are due to bleed quickly and copiously if either weak spot is hammered much. That's why this is one of the most dangerous betting fights in cham pionship history - aside from dif- ficult-to-determine co omparative prowess of the gladiators.
 Senor Garcia of the Philippines is getting his second chance at the 147-pound crown. In his first try, mantle of blood handicapped him greatly. That was the night when he almost dynamited the diadem off Barney Ross head, in September. 1897. He suffered a gashed brow in the fifth round. and blood half blinded him during the remaining sessions.
 Too many repair jobs on that brow, down through a decade of warning, left it as undependable as an over-patched inner tube. Now. at 28, he is quick bleeder". If Hammering Hank lands on that scar tissue in an early round, he will use the gasll as target. and It won't be long then before Ce- ierino loses on a technical knock out.
 Armstrong is facing an even greater blood hazard. He is enter ing the ring with a spongy lip-a lip not yet healed after the terrible mangling 1t suffered on August IT. That was the night he Staggered Into the lightweight tllrone-room. an unpopular victor over Lou Am- bers.
 Ambers' uppercuts lacerated Henry's lip SO badly that 10 stitches were required. Manager Eddie Mead believed that the lip would heal completely in two months and d haH. But it hasn't. When Henry started boxing preparations for his scrap, Sparmate Chalky Wright Jabbed the lip. It opened bit and oozed blood. Since then the Los Angeles negro has worn an "iron mask" to protect his face.
 Physicians said Henry swallowed more than a quart and a half of blood during the Ambers melee. They said the blood. rather than Ambers' punches, made him so sick and groggy that he staggered to the wrong corner at the end of the bout. Armstrong said, That's rieht I knew 1t was making me sick. but kept swallowing because I was afraid the referee would stop the light If he saw that blood"
 If Ceferino's bolo lands on that lower lip, the ring will be bathed m red rain, and soon Garcia win be the new welter king.
 Heavyweight Champion Joe Ioi,is arrives today to see the bout and to confer with Promoter Mike .Ja- cobs about a January title defense
 Manila, P. T., Nov. 1.-(uP)- Ceferino Garcia, the best abign lighter these islands have developed Will become a national hero com parable only to the late Pancho Villa If he wins the welterweight cham pionship from Henry Armstrong tomorrow night in New York.
 Most Filipinos are flyweights ar ieatnerWeights, and boxer weigh ing more than 1S5 pounds is con sidered almost in the same light as 2 freak. Thus, if Garcia can grab the 147-pound crown, he stands to achieve an insular immortality perhaps even surpaSsing that of Villa, only Filipino ever to win unanimous recognition as a world champion.
 The 15-round Garcia-Armstrong light has outstripped next weeks national elections as topic of con- versation in this archipelago where politics and prize-fighting have been headline news since the Amer ican occupation.
 Anyone with a dollar to bet on Armstrong could find a dozen talk CTS in a single block. The loyal argued that Ceferino was the only man ever to knock Barney Ross off his feet when he was cham pion - and even Armstrong couldn't do that when he won the title.
 Garcia was only 13 years old when Villa won the worlds flyweight title from Jimmy Wilde in 1923, and had never dreamed of becoming a fighter himself. But after year in high school Ceferino went into the sugar cane fields with his father. It was swinging the huge, flat bladed bolo knife through the cane that developed his bolO punch, hard right uppercut that is com bined with half-hook and de- livered with devastating force.
 He has had 93 bouts of record, winning AT hv knockout