Evening star., 1939-06-28
Champion Edge,
But Unruff|ed,
|s8- Choice
Tony's Lone Chance
Seen to Be q Telling
BY GAYLE TALBOT.
Associated Press Sports Writer,

NEW YORK, June 28.-It seems
almost like a dream that Tony
Galento, the blowsy New Jersey bar
keep, and Joe Louis, one of the
fastest, most destructive big men in
ring history, will climb through the
ropes at Yankee Stadium about 8
o'clock E. S. T0 tonight to fight
it out for the heavyweight cham
pionship Of the world.
A year ago the mere suggestion
of such a match was considered
ludicrous. Last winter, when Tony
signed the papers in Miami, it still
was good for a laugh. The idea of
fat Tony facing the Louis blasts
seemed about as sensible as a barge
sassing a battleship. And now. to-
night, we actually are going to
hunch forward in our chairs and
watch it happen.
For Louis, the "defendingest"
champion there has been, the occa-
sion will mark the seventh time
he has laid his title on the line since
he won it from Jim Braddock just
over two years ago. The Negro re-
CARDS Galento very lightly, expects
to knock him out inside three rounds
of fight scheduled for IS heats.
Has Trained Only Casually.
He has trained almost casually
and as usual has said next to moth
ing. He looks raZor-sharp and un-
rufhed. The gamblers, while fond
of pointing out that ANY man with
punch like Galentos has a
chance" still were offering unlim-
tied money at to that Louis re-
tains his crown.
For Galento it is chance he
couldn't have envisaged in his beer
lest dreams of few years back.
Never top-notcher, Scared and
marked by hundred hard bat
ties, the 230-pound veteran finds
himself fighting for the champion
ship at the fag end of his career
Joe Jacobs, the smartest little
schemer who ever managed a fight
er, is responsible. Whether he has
done Tony a favor is in doubt.
The experts (who also too fire.
quently are wrong have agreed al
most to man that Louis should
make a shambles of, his stocky,
Wide-open opponent within a few
rounds. Most of them, like the
writer, figure it will end in a tech
nical knockout. They doubt that
even Louis can put Tony on the
floor, for Tony is supported by
stanchions. Also, he has a fighting
heart.
Galento to Make Quick Rush.
Maybe it will be a great, pulse
stirring fight while it lasts. Gal
ento, with all to gain. is almost
certain to sail into his tall, sharp
shooting opponent, pinning his
hopes on his mighty left hook. He
has knocked out a long string of
hand-picked opponents with this
weapon. which really is fairly for
midable. But hitting Louis with 1t
is something else.
Maybe Tony, If he piles in hard
enough and isn't discouraged by the
whip-lash of the champions fists,
will land on Joe at the outset. Then
there could be a wild scene, one to
set 10000 or more spectators dancing
on their chairs Louis is not hard
to daze. He still doesn't take
stiff one on the jaw very well.
That, though, must be considered
an outside possibility. Tony takes
a long time to swing his left He
throws his whole body forward with
it, and while this momentous punch
is in progress Tony is an inviting
target. It's hard to see how Louis
can miss him.
Might End in Disqualification.
The fight could end in disquali-
sfcation. Galento is a rough-and-
tumble scrapper by preference. The
things that have been written about
him in that respect are not fiction.
If he's hurt tonight, as he most
likely will be. his instinct will tell
him to close with his tormentor and
fight 1t out alley fashion. He is a
good man with his head and his
elbows. The commission has issued
warning that the referee can dis
qualify an offender, despite its mo
foul" rule.
They will be a strangely assorted
pair up there under the light. Louis,
2 inches over feet, lat-stomached
and graceful as a cat, his face un-
marked and his lips in their per-
petual little pout. Tony, as squat
as gallon jug, his semi-bald head
sitting down squarely on his shoul-
ders without benefit of neck, his
beady little eyes peering out from
the layers of scar tissue.
When they go at it, there will be
some 1,700 uniformed and plain
clothes policemen scattered over the
big ball yard, for it sits in the heart
of Harlem, where riots are not un-
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