Evening star., 1938-02-19
NATE OUT T0BEAT
CHAMP TO PUNCH
Stoutly Denies He Will Play
Stooge in Tiff With Joe
Next Wednesday.
BY JOHN LARDNER.

NEW YUM, req. 10.-k1OW muCa
chance has tune-up opponent-any
tune-up opponent-got against Joe
Louis? Mr.. Nathan Mann OF New
Haven, Conn. believes that a tune-up
opponent has as much chance against
the part-time bomber. the champion
Of the world. as q major foe. AS
much chance as Max Schmeling has,
for instance.
Here is the way I figure says
Mr.. Mann, who is booked to meet
Mr.. Louis for the title next Wednesday
night. i am supposed to be stooge.
Louis Is supposed to sharpen up what
the sports writer's call his weapons
against me, to get ready for the
Schmeling fight. I am supposed to
60 the way of RetzlafY and Pauline
and Ettore and Simms and the rest
Of those bums-I mean the rest Of
those fellas.
We'll, I signed for the fight with
that understanding. I am to 60 out
there and beat Louis il can. But
nobody thinks I will. To most Of the
people in this country am Nathan
Mann, the stooge. A few folks up in
Connecticut think have q chance,
and they are betting on me, but to
everybody else am just a sample
sample Of what Louis can do.
Mann's Feelings Not Hurt.
"You might think that hurts my
feelings. 1t don't. Why? Because
look at this fight as a fight, and
not few rounds OF sparring. Louis
title is on the line. If I win-if I
happen to kiss him with solid punch
and he goes down. am the champion
Of the world. That don't happen in
gymnasiums. This real fight,
from my point Of view, and when
sock Louis it'll be just as good as
Schmeling socking Louis"
Mr.. Mann speaks these words very
hrmly, as though he means them.
Your first thought, naturally, is that
Mr.. Mann is whistling his way
through a broken field OF gravestones.
Is he afraid Of Louis?
I'll bet." says Mr.. Mann, a sharp
and intelligent sort of prize fighter,
that you asked that question to every
mug that ever fought Louis. And III
bet that they all told you the same
thing-hell, no, I'm not afraid. I'll
beat his brains out. And I'll bet that
80 per cent of them were lying in
their teeth.
well, I'm not afraid Of Louis, and
maybe you think I'm lying, too But
I'm not. The only way I can prove it
Is in the ring next week, and you'll
have to wait till then to see that I
mean what say.
Louis No Dempsey, Says Mann.
"I've caught several Louis fights
I saw Schmeling stiffen him. and I
saw Pastor run him dizzy. and 1 saw
Farr go the distance. If I can't do
as we'll as those birds, I'll cash in my
gloves and retire. And that's not
supposed to be a pop-of. It's Just
common sense. Louis can knock me
out II he lands. But I can lick him,
too. What is there to be scared Of?
He's just another fighter. He's no
Dempsey"
Nathan has the right attitude. Any
tune-up f1ghter-any stooge-can
beat Louis. That's the gamble that
Joseph takes in these preparation
nights. Pastor. strictly straight man,
almost ruined Joe's reputation by
running away from him. George
Brescia, the clumsy Argentine, in the
most obscure of all Louis fights since
Joe became famous. caught the brown
man squarely on the button with q
haphazard punch and nearly did the
business. Joe was reeling and stag
gering for the better part of a minute
after it landed
But what happened to Brescia when
Joes head cleared? What happened to
Jimmy Braddock, much more stylish
operative than Brescia ever hoped to
be?
Mr.. Nathan Mann sums it up when
he says, Louis can knock me out If
he lands" You can't trade punches
with Louis. You have to paralyze him
with the first one you throw, or the
paralysis Is all yours.
Louis Must Beat Rumors, Too.
There is certain amount of gossip
going the rounds about this Louis
Mann fight. and your correspondent
would be traitor to his trust if he
did not pass the sinister whispers
along.
Mann will win. That will cheat
schmeling out Of his title chance.
Then, when Herr Schmeling has re-
tired to the lindens of his native arch
duchy, Louis will come back and re-
heve Mr.. Mann of the championship,
which Nathan has been holding in
trust for him.
Those are the rumors, and they are
nne for cleaning pipes with.
Mr.. Louis should knock Mr.. Mann
cold. think he will. But if Mr..
Mann reverses the process, it won't
be the result of fix. It will be the
long shot coming home and roosting at
Joseph's door-for tune-up fights are
as tough as major fights, and the
more you expose your chin, the better
chance you have of being hit there.
DR.. John Kearns was right when he
said: Dempsey was q sucker to loaf
three years with the title. But three
years OF loafing with the title is bet
ter than three years OF hard work
without it."
Copyright. 1888. BY the North American
Newspaper Alliance. 1nc)