The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-07-03
BAER none TOO
IMPRESSIVE IN
STOPPING TONY
GalentO Misses Advice of
Jacobs; Make Proves
Superiority as Actor
BY HARRY FERGUSON
UNITED Press Sports EditOr)


Jersey City, N. j., July Sup
There's poem that goes like this
and there's a moral in 1t for those
who follow the fortunes of the
leather-fisted men:
Last night saw him on the stair,
The little man who wasn't there"
Last night there were three green
steps in the stair and they led up to
square of white canvas in Roose-
welt Stadium.
The little man who wasn't there
was Joe Jacobs--canny, cocky Joe
the ash heap Of pugilism and
breathed fire and fight int his fat
body. Joe Jacobs wasn't there be-
cause he IS dead, victim of a heart
attack a few weeks before he and
Galento were on their way up to
great things, perhaps even to the
championship Of the world.
Lacked Advice
So last night Tony Galento, de-
prived of the shrewd brain of Joe
Jacobs, lacking encouragement and
advice In the desperate ticking Sec
onds between rounds, lost fight
to Max Baer. The end came at the
start of the eighth round when Ga
lento, a bloody, sodden mess, was
unable to get off his stool and wad-
die back into battle. Joe Jacobs
might have sent him back into bat
tie with his caustic tongue, but last
night Joe Jacobs was
The little man who wasn't there.
So Baer, none too brilliant in this
none too brilliant fight, gets a shot
at Joe Louis In September and Tony
Galento goes back to his tavern in
Orange, N. j., to curse his fate and
to curse the day that death took
Joe Jacobs away from the three
green steps on the stair.
You might even say that the little
man who wasn't there was in the
camp Of the enemy for just before
Galento went into battle agents OF
the Jacobs estate attached hisspurse
and said they would demand 80 1-3
per cent Of what two-ton earned
last night. Jacobs was Galento's
manager and his name Is on the
contract that sent Tony down the
chute to oblivion under the cool
New Jersey stars last evening.
For time, In the first two min
utes Of fighting, 1t seemed that the
little man was there-at least his
spirit was there on the three green
storytelling at Galento as he has
done so many times before, come
on, T. c., this guys a bum"
For Tony came out fighting, toss
ed his long left hook and caught
Baer high on the right temple.
Then he smashed another left to the
body and seemed to- have command
Of the fight. But trouble came to
him in the second round when they
went into neutral corner and
Baer, towering over two-ton and
having an enormous advantage in
reach, slammed In hard blows to
head and body and won the round.
Then, In those speeding go seconds
of rest between rounds, was the
time Tony needed the little man
who wasn't there, needed somebody
to tell him to crouch and lunge with
his left, needed somebody to whisper
to him that he was the great Ga
lento who had once floored Joe
Louis with one punch.
In those go seconds Galento lost
the fight, lost another shot at Louis,
lost the hope and confidence that
could have been given to him only
by the little man who wasn't there.
Baer No Killer
Baer was no killer last night. He
was a superb actor, grimacing, max
ing an elaborate bow to Galento
at the end of the fifth round, loaf
ing for two minutes and half of
each round and then fighting for
30 seconds. But somehow Baer
senSed that something was missing
from Galento's fighting equipment,
not thing of the flesh but thing
Of the spirit. And Baer, always a
great front runner, always cocky
when he is ahead, moved in and
went to town. In the fifth round he
slammed round-house rights to Ga
lento,S head; in the sixth round he
went inside with leftS and rights
that left purple patches on the roll
of fat over Galentos belt. And in
the seventh round he stepped back
and measured Galento and sent
across sweeping right that was
tailor made and custom fitted for
two-ton's jaw. Galento'S knees
buckled but he hung on and
wobbled back to his corner.
Seconds went to work on the cuts
that streamed blood around Tony,s
mouth. They checked the flow, they
put smelling salts OF his nose, they
flung sponges full of cold water into
his face. Tony seemed to come to
for a moment. The bell for the
eighth went "bongp Tony turned
his head for a moment and then
slumped back, a beaten, helpless
fat man. In that one turn of his
head he had seen the green stair
and