Evening star., 1940-02-19
The
SPoRTLIGH7
Record for Armstrong
In Bout With Garcia
BY GRANTLAND RICE,
Snecial Cnrresnnndenf Of The Star

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 (N.A
N.AD.-Which Is the deadliest
weapon of war-machine gun or ar
tillery?
Well get part Of the answer
dipped in resin, on March 81 ir
this somewhat excited city when
Henry Armstrong steps out In search
Of his fourth world title.
Armstrong will call on the ma
chine gun as Ceferino Garcia, the
defending middleweight champion
falls back on the artillery, hoping
to leave Hammering Henry a crum-
pied mass in the wake of one or
two direct hits.
No fighter ever bagged four major
crowns before, but Armstrong is
having his head fitted for the fourth
and record-breaking coronet. Arm
strong already has absorbed three
titles, on through the welterweight
division, and the sepia simeon is
confident he can find room on his
curly cupola for an all-time mark.
Armstrong Tuned to Throw
5000 Punches in Bout
I've proved I can throw over 300
punches in the course of a single
round" Armstrong tells me. THAT
means over 5000 punches through
10 rounds, as I rarely ever slow up.
I can't afford to against fellow
who can tag you like Garcia can.
Il still believe balance is a big
part of any sport-both mental and
physical balance. And it's hard to
keep either balance when yorh are
being hit 100 times a minute, which
is almost twice a second. I know
a lot of these punches are not land
ing on any vital spot, such as chin
or head or stomach. But they are
landing somewhere-they are up
setting balance. My idea is to keep
Garcia ever from getting set. That
might be too bad, because I know
how hard he can hit"
How can you keep up such a
pace for 10 or more rounds?" asked
Armstrong.
Doctors tell me I have a heart
the size of a heavyweight" Arm
strong said. Far bigger than any
middleweight's. They tell me my
heart measures about the same as
Joe Louis heart. Or Tunney's or
Dempsey's. That must be a big
physical help. It must be some
thing like having giant motor in
q small car"
Armstrong already has worn
three crowns on his bobbing brow
Ruby Robert Fitzsimmons is the
only other fighter who can lay claim
to this amazing performance and
one of these was the light-heavy-
weight title, which at the moment is
trif1e moth eaten, to break il
gently.
If Armstrong, weighing 140, OF
less, can whip Garcia at Gilmores
Stadium next week, he will stand out
as the most sensational performer
in the history of the ring, no mat
ter how far back you 60 to Grecian
and Roman fighting days.
Garcia will pack more than 10
extra pounds into action at this
meeting. This means a lot more
than any such discrepancy among
heavyweights. Once fighter passes
185 or 100 pounds he is big enough
to whip any one-no matter what
his tonnage might be. Most of the
giants are too slow to move around
such as the Willards and the Car
neras.
But it's different in the lighter
classes, where they should all have
speed.
Gorcio Is Confident
He'll Better Foe
Garcia, the middleweight king, is
an artilleryman. He figures that
one of his punches, if it lands, will
more than Offset 10 or 20 punches
thrown by Hammering Henry and
his machine-gun rataplan.
"I'u nail him on the right spot
before the fight is over" Ceferino
tells you, land when I do he'll know
he has been hit. I've found out he
can't hurt me. He's a tough fellow