Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-03-08
Louis, Schn'eling Secure as Ring Rulers
NO CHAMP LOOMS )
IN MINOR R|NCL0T
Max Baer'S Recall Is Tip-oh
on Scarcity of Talent
Among Big Boxers.
By GRANTLAND RICE.

BY GRANTLAND RICE.
LOS ANGELES, March 8.-Recent
action in the heavyweight boxing divi-
sion has left Joe Louis and Max
Schmeling bracketed at the top-and
no one else close to them.
Jim Braddock defeated Tommy Farr
and then retired. Returning travellers
from New York bear out earlier re-
ports that, while Jimmy Adamic had
enough on hand to lick Harry Thomas,
he still is q couple years away from
Nathan Mann.
Whoever wins when Farr and Max
Baer meet next week, it will not matter
much, since it Is a cinch that neither
ever will beat Louis 1t is extremely
doubtful that Baer ever again could
beat Schmeling and Farr doesn't fig
ure to, either.
This sums up the heavyweight situa-
ton at the moment, with the excep-
ton of Tony Galento, Roscoe Toles
and Buddy Baer.
Galento, while a rugged and cour-
ageous soul, is not much of a fighter.
Toles has beaten Thomas, but that
makes him only one on a long list. He
would like to fight Adamick, and the
bout would be natural in Detroit, but
Doc Kearns will have no part of it.
Not right now, anyway
This indicates that Kearns thinks
Adamick isn't ready for Toles yet, but
1t doesn't mean that Toles is anything
like q great fighter. My information
on him is that he is a pretty good
fighter-but not much more than that.
Buddy Baer has improved steadily,
but still Is quite a way off. He can
punch, but he still has no defense He
has managed to slug out numerous VIC
tories, but fighter must be able to
do more than slug to get by Louis or
. Schmeling-or even Galento.
Bringing Back Max Baer.
II there are any other young heavy
weights coming up out of the sticks or
of the sidewalks, they haven't come up
far enough to rate serious considera-
ton. Indeed, the tip-off on the cur
rent activities of the heavyweights is
that Mike Jacobs felt warranted in
calling Max Baer back to work.
Max lost to Braddock, was knocked
out by Louis and outpointed by Farr
Against these, the only performance
approaching major victory he has to
offer is his defeat of Ben Foord. He
stopped Foord, which is more than.
Schmeling could do.
But that was not exactly startling
performance, and If there were any
youngsters punching their way up to
the big-time swiftly, there would have
been no summons for the elder Baer.
So Louis, who was knocked out by
Schmeling in 1886. but is the heavy
weight champion of the world, and
schmeling, who was knocked out once
by Baer and subsequently went into
. decline that seemed to mark the
rapidly approaching end Of his days as
. fighting man. will fight in June. and
the winner will not have to worry
about . dangerous opponent for some
time thereafter. Or that is the way
1t looks now.
For one thing, the winning Of the
title by Louis prompted no hysteria,
such Is the victory of Jack johnson
over Jim JefIries way back in 1910.
A feeling swept the Nation then that
somehow 1t was disgrace to the
white race to have Negro champion.
That was silly, of course, and it Is a
tribute to the advanced intelligence
Of the multitude that nobody feels
that way now.
white Hope" Era Started.
One good result of the elevation of
johnson, however, was the struggle
OF powerfully built young men all
over the country to reach the TOP of
the pugilistic heap and wrest the title
from him.
First Of the white hopes, as they
were called, was Carl Morris. Carl
wasn't much Of a fighter and a great.
many Of the others were palpable
clowns. But at least there was an in
fusion Of young blood into a division
that was dying of dry rot, and, after
. while, some good fighters came
along.
Best Of these undoubtedly was Lu-
Their McCarty, who was killed Just be-
fore he hit the peak. A couple years
later Jess Willard took the champion
ship from johnson and, with the adj
vent OF Jack Dempsey, the class had
. great champion again and entered
into its most exciting and prosperous
era.
And away back, far behind the mil
lion-dollar gate, but in a direct line
back Of it, were those earnest young
men who came tumbling out of engine
cabs, from under box cars and from
the machine shops and the streets
OF the cities when the news was
flashed from Reno that Jeffries had
been counted out.
Louis, by his clean fighting in the
ring and his exemplary conduct out
side 1t. has raised neither enmity nor
the desire to see him, as q, person,
knocked from the top of the heap.
But hight managers, securing the
country for young heavyweights, are
growing pessimistic over the outlook.
The lone optimist among them
appears to be Kearns, who has been
talking Of Adamick as another Demp-
sey and who said, right after the
Thomas fight, that the next opponent
he wanted for his man was Schmeling.
Kearns Pure Optimist.
But Kearns' technique is to claim
everything In loud and penetrating
voice, and nobody has to believe
him-although once they did-that
being, Of course, when he had Demp-
sey. In regard to Adamick, the
opinion Is general that he Is no better
than he should be for q fellow who
has had just so many tights and that
KearnS was talking through his hat
when he talked about Schmeling As
Jimmy's next opponent.
However, there IS no need for even
those who take these things very
seriously to be alarmed about the sit
uation. There will be . great heavy
weight again, even II he hasn't shown