The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-05-25
Sports Parade
BY HENRY M,I.EMoRE
United Press staff Correspondent

NEW YoRk--without throw
ing a single punch as hard A.
the beverages he drinks. Ken
Overlin won the middleweight
championship Of the world last
night by beating ceferino Gar
cia in q 15-round bout at
Madison Square Garden.
II you are = drinking person.
keep on reading this story
you'll enjoy IL and draw much
comfort from II. II you are
teetotaler. or one WIN looks
upon the grape in wrath. stop
right now, because the facts I
have to tell you are going to
make you awfnlly mad.
For seventeen years overlin
has taken his fights and his
fun where he found them. Dur
ing the seventeen years he has
had. according to the record
books, 173 fights. And, during
the seventeen years. by his own
admission, he has had $4,000
drinks.
Now q man can't have that
many drinks without learning
something about fighting. and
Overlin evidently remembered
everything he had ever learned.
He used 1t all against Garcia,
who IL younger man, n
stronger man, q better condi-
toned man, and q harder-hitting
man.
From where I was sitting
Overlin seemed to have a punch
for every kind of drink he'd
ever had. His left hand was
singer. His right hand was a
rock and rye. His uppercut was
a gin sling, and whenever Gar
cha threw his famed bolo punch
he used an effective d'Aiquiri
duck. In short, Overlin proved
that he was not green (river) in
the ring, and knew a lot about
old fashions.
Before you get the mistaken
opinion that !. too, know some
thing about liquors, perhaps I
had better dry up and give q
technical description of the
fight.
1t was another triumph of the
boxer over the slugger. Garcia
was q one TO two favorite be-
cause he carried n knockout
punch In his right hand. Every
one In the slim crowd knew all
he had to do to win by a kayo
was TO land just one. Overlin
knew this too and his skill In
avoiding such . happening was
what made the fight interesting.
LEFT DOES 1T
He kept Garcia off balance
with left hand. He tented him
out of position by cute move
ments Of his body, eyes and feet.
He slapped him, cuffed him, and,
on those rare occasions when he
was hurt. quickly and carefully
tied up the Filipino so he could
not get set for punch. When
he grew tired-and he reached
this unfortunate stage as early
as the third round-he concealed
it with a skill that pulled the
wool over the eyes of the slow
thinking champion. Boxing has
never had champion whose
mental processes were quite as
slow as those Of Garcia. His
reflexes responded as slowly as
the bud of a century plant to the
sun, and from the time he cock
ed his lethal right hand until the
time he loosed it a spectator
almost had time to go into the
lobby and have soft drink
and a sandwich.
Garcia was like = fast ball
piteher-without a ball. He
would 60 through all the mo-
tions of throwing his right and
then stop. All OF a sudden. 1
can imagine him waking up TO-
day, looking down at his right
fist and saving:
Hell, I'm going out and hit
that guy with this"
I'd be the last person to say
that Overlin won because he re-
fused to keep training, and be-
cause he drank immoderately.
NY guess is that he won despite
his playboyfulness. Had he been
in condition he might have stop
ped the dull-minded Filipino long
before IS rounds were completed.
But let US stop trying TO find
a moral.
There scarcely ever is one TO
be found in a prizefight.
Boy. bring me vanilla Tom
Collins