The Wilmington morning star., 1940-02-10
LOUIS WINS FIGHT BY DECISION
CHAMP 0UTP0lNTS
CHILEAN FIGHTER
Decision Booed By Fans; Co.
doy Hurts Louis Several
Times In Hard Battle
By SID FEEDER

NEW YORK, Feb. 9.-R-"The
South American Way" going from
the sublime to the ridiculous as
portrayed by Arturo Godoy, gave
Joe Louis the toughest battle OF his
heavyweight championship run to-
night, but wasn't good enough to
take the fistiana's highest crown
from the Brown Bomber's kinky
head.
For fifteen rounds, the champion
was at times ~befuddled and some
times hurt by the Chilean fisher
mans crouching, crowdlng tactics,
but in the end he came on like a
real ''boss'' to take a split decision
in what Referee Arthur Donovan,
who has been the third man in the
ring for all the Bomber's battles
here, insisted was the hardest,
toughest test Joe had ever had. =
Yet, although Joe won clearly n
clearly, as the crowd of 1857 roar
ed to the bruising, mauling match
the real hero of the affair was the
South American, who took the dusky
dynamiter's Sunday punch" time
! after time and still came on, crowd
ing Louis against the ropes and CIV
ing him trouble with long overland
lefts.
In the final analysis, it appeared
the greatest knocker-outer since
Dempsey-and rated by many as
the greatest Of the big men for all
time-was no longer the killer he
was in running Max Schmeling n
John Henry Lewis in less than a
round, in ripping Tony Galento's
face apart last summer, and in
chalking up a string of eight consec'
utive title knockouts in his record
run of nine consecutive title de-
lenses.
It's true that the bobbing, bounc-
ing Arturo of the Andes was prob
ably a more rock.chinned challenger
than any Joe has had to face to
date, but the fact remains that
Louis was 1 to Is to flatten the
South American long before the
route had been run. And he not
only failed to flatten him-but he
didn't even come close to putting his
panties on the floor.
The Associated Press score card
gave Louis ten rounds, including
all Of the last five, and voted ar
rogant Arturo, who didn't even
L.,a &l1 Jooet hit of fpor IF tho
champions famed fistic explosives,
five heats.
Referee Donovan voted in this
way, too, while George Lecron, n
of the judges, handed ten rounds
to Louis, four to Arturo and n
even. The other judge, Tommy
Shortell, awarded the fight to Co.
doy, ten rounds to five.
Louis weighed 203, Godoy POP.
Boos greeted the decision from a
great part of the crowd, which con-
tributed to a gross gate of $685.
$3.50. But this was regarded as
largely a sentimental expression
on the part of the faithful.
After the fight, neither Dattler
showed any particular signs Of the
rough evening, although Godoy, who
campaigned in this country with
some success three years ago, and
then retired to Iquique to be reim-
ported by AL WE'LL recently, came
out of the affair with a bloody nose
and a small scratch under his left
eye.
1t was the first time any chal-
lenger had stood up to Louis over
the derby route since Tommy Farr,
the Welsh coal-miner, turned the
trick three years ago. And this n
was a lot tougher for the fight.
games "Mr. Big"
Godoy had been well-coached in
his plan of action. He came right
out in his South American wad-
de-" a crouch that proved effective
throughout, but sometimes drew a
howl of laughter from the crowd
as in the fourteenth round when he
bobbed around the ring, circling the
Bomber for fully two minutes with
out a blow being struck, and look
ing for all the world like a monkey
in the zoo.
Louis, weighing the heaviest he
has ever been for a title go, started
right out as though he was going
to make it short and sweet. He nail
ed Godoy with a left hook to the
head in the second minute, but it
did no more than cause Arturo to
leap in, back the champion against
the ropes and pitch at head and
body. He showed right there he
wasn't afraid, and he was showing
it right up to the final bell.
Three times Godoy still was
punching at the bell ending a round,
and the referee had to pull him off;
five times he was off his stool, i'm
patient to get back to work before
the bell sounded opening a round.
Louis brought his right uppercut
into play in the second, making
Arturo's knees bukle, but they stiff
fened right up again ind once more
Godoy crowded and pushed Joe
against the ropes. Finding this blow
effective, Joe used the uppercut off
and on throughout the fight when
the mitigating got too tough-and
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