Evening star., 1939-01-24
Handicap Likely
To Wear Down
John H. Early
Few Feel Challenger
Will Lost Beyond
Seventh Round
By GAYLE TALBOT.
Associated Press Snorts Wrife,

NEW YORK, Jan. Rehabilitation
are that John Henry Lewis, fresh
from the light-heavyweight ranks,
will spot Joe Louis fully 20 pounds
when the two Negroes meet in their
l5-round title fight tomorrow night
in Madison Square Garden
Whe nthe match was made, the
lighter man planned to build him.
self up to solid 1875 pounds, but
when he finished his final workout
yesterday, he tipped the beam at
only 18l and predicted he would
not put on more than a pound or
two before the official weigh-in at
noon tomorrow.
Joe. who started training at 2l0
pounds, is down to his best fighting
weight of 202, and looked razor
keen in his final sparring session at
Pompton Lakes. He didn't look a
man who could be spotted 20 pounds
by any one who was unarmed.
Joe to Fight All Way.
The audacious John Henry is, in
fact, the first fighter to attempt to
concede anything like that much
weight to Joe since the Brown
Bomber reached championship class.
Tommy Farr, the last opponent to
go the distance with Louis, was of
an equal weight, a point possibly
overlooked by those who figure
Lewis will be on his feet at the end
OF Is rounds tomorrow night.
For all his admitted footwork
and defensive skill, John Henry is
bound to feel those 20 pounds every
time "Old Dead-Pan" bores in bn
him. And Joe swears he is going
to bore away every second, like he
did against Max Schmeling last
summer. incidentally, Bob Pastor,
who also escaped a knockout by
Louis, was forced to dodge the light
ming for only 10 rounds.
John Henry must 60 five more
than that, and fighting men say
those last five are brutes.
John H. Loses Some Bounce.
Some experts think John Henry
would have stood better chance
OF outwitting his pal Joe about
three years ago, when the boy from
Arizona was legitimate l75-
FOUNDER and elusive as a creased
pig. He's had many a scrap since
then, has taken on weight and lost
little of his bounce. Tomorrow
nights will be his Tooth profess
sional engagement. Still, he really
believes he will outpoint Louis and
win the crown, and he has a sur
prising number of supporters. 1t
looks as if the odds will be about
l to on the champion at righ time.
The only small doubt in the
minds of the Louis following is
whether their man has whipped
himself into the proper mental az
titude for this bout. They know Joe
has become very proud of his title
OF late and Is determined to beat
Lewis or any other man who DIS
putes his right to the crown, but
they know. too that he doesn't hate
John Henry like he did Schmeling
Challenger Cautious.
mo. sir, he can't tell me he'll go
after Lewis like he did after Scnme-
ling" said a charter member of
the Joe Louis Club "A man fights
like that only once in his life. That
was the greatest anybody will ever
see Joe Louis. But he ought to
work himself up enough to knock
out John Henry in about seven
rounds"
The impression of all who nave
watched the challenger train is that
he intends to wage cautious fight
and to concentrate on Joe's more
or less untested stomach. He, like
the others, is about satisfied now
that the champion can take it on
the jaw, regardless of what Schnie-
ling did to him in their first meet
ing. The body attack at least is
promising experiment.
Joe, he doesn't need to do any
special planning. With his big
weight advantage and the sudden
death in his fists. he figures he
can just climb in the ring and let
nature take its course He's already
urging Promoter Mike jacobs to
line him up anotnel bout for March.