The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-02-04
|BETTINA BELTS OUT FOx;GAIN
 175 LB. GROWN
FavOrite Lasts 9 Rounds 1; Manager Pulls Evil
 Eye" Stuffs
BY HARRY FERGUSON Limited Press Sports Edltor)

BY HARRY FERGUSON
 United Press Sports Edltor)
 New York, Feb. 4.-(UP)r- Melio Bettina, an earnest farm boy from Beacon, N. Y., was released from c hypnotic trance In the early hours of today 'end--wonder oi wondersi--He awoke to find that he had been involved in Q prize fight and had been crowned by the New York boxing commission as light heavyweight champion of the world
 It must have dome as quite shock to him because the wise men of Broadway had assured him be- fore the battle that he had only one chance in three of defeating Tiger Jack Fox last night Inside the crimson ropes ct Madison Square Garden. But mind conquered mus cle and todays hero Is Jimmy Grippe, Bettina's manager who Is e magician and hypnotigt by trade Q bespectacled gentleman who has Q severe case of eyeStrain from hypnotizing people last night.
 Moving right briskly for Q man who is in c trance, Bettina belted the Tiger to the ropes in the ninth round last night and Referee Eddie Josephs, e charter member of the Society for the Prevention Of cruelty to animals, saved the Tiger from further punishment by halting the fight. Automatically, 1ettina became light heavyweight cham- pion of the the world inside New York state. Elsewhere the light heavyweight champion is John Henry Lewis, who recently made the strategical error of trying to whip Joe Louis by slammihg, his chin against the heavyweight champions glove.
 It was e sight to see when Man. ager Grippe prepared to release Bet- tina from his trance in the dressing room after the eight. Grippe is Q magician who once got quarantined in Beacon during an epidemic and wound up managing Bettina. Since then he has cast the evil eye on oil Of Bettinas opponents and has put his own man Into an invincible trance that makes c hard jolt to tho jaw seem aS pleasant as the first zephry of spring.
 So Bettina lay on Q rubbing table and Grippe waved his hands in the air and whispered "light, lot there be light" Bettina stirred but he was promptly slammed back to tho table when c camera man coniplair' cd that his flash bulb wasn't ready When oil the camera men were ready, Grippe said flight, let there Do light and more light" Bettina moved uneasily and Grippe fixed him with c stare.
 Let there be more light and light- CT still"
 Bettina bounded oif the rubbing table and said, T think I'll take c shower"
 On tho way to the shower he db- played amazing knowledge about tho fight for c man who had been bat- ting for 27 minutes or so in the never.never land Of hypnotism. He had c vivid recollection of tho sixth round when Tiger Jack caught sim with c right uppereut and almost tore his head of. He also seemed to recall-a bit bitterly-that his seconds had been so busy with hypnotism before tho bell rang for the first round that they forgot to equip him wit ha fiouthpiece and that he fought three minutes with his molars and incisors in jeopardy,
 Once he got past that first round, Bettina was over the hill, The Fig" CT Is c negro from Spokane, Wash, who walks around the ring with his goriiia.like arms ct his side, soak ing up punches and waiting for c chance to throw ai1 upper cut. The Tiger was c wee bit unhappy last night. All Of Beacon, c tranquil lite to city 70 miles or 50 Up the Hud. son, had turned out to see Bettina and had brought c fifo and drum corps along. Just before the battle the band paraded around tho ring playing "Therell Be c Hot Time in the old Town Tonight" and reports drifting in from Beacon this fnorn- ing indicated that the band was guilty of gross understatment.
 There were no cheers for the Tig- or and he resented 1t. He also was irked by Magician Grippe who came to his corner while the gloves were being put on and attempted to fix the Tiger with on evil stare, The resourceful Tiger put one hand in front of his face-one of the few times in the evening that he got his hands higher than his shoulders.
 Dettina. thoroughly hypnotised, began belting the Tiger with rights and lefts when the fight started. Along about the eighth round the Tiger really had Tiger stripes on his body from the licking he was tak- ing. A left hook dropped the Tiger and he took . nine count before getting Up. Bettina belted him into the ropes with blows to the head and body. Then the bell rang.
 At the beginning of the Iinth round Bettina rushed over into the Tigers lair and let him have 1t with rights and lefts to the head. That went on for c minute and 22 seconds and then the referee called it quits.. It seems that the Tiger was in e trance, too.