The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-02-21
WEBB CHOSEN AS
 SLIGHT CHOICE OVER I. TUCKER.
Star Light-heavies Meet Tonight for Chance to
 Get COnn'S Crown
By JACK CUDDY United Press Staff C0rresp0ndent)

Limited Press Stan CorrespOndent)
 New York, Feb. 21--(UP)-Jimmy Webb, St. Louis, and Tommy Tucker of New Yo1x, outstanding young light heavyweights, battle IS rounds tonight at Madison Square Garden in the opening of an elimination to determine Champion Billy Conn's successor.
 Price maker Eddie Borden quotes Webb the II to 10 favorite in sur prisingly heavy betting.
 Conn soon will give up his 175- pound crown, in accordance with the New York commissions rule, be- cause he is matched for heavy weight title tilt with Joe Louis in June-probably at Yankee stadium
 Tonight's winner will meet the victor of a bout between Anton Chricstoforidis of Greece and Gus Lesnevich of New Jersey, slated for the Garden, May 2. Chtristoforidis is recognized as titleholder by the National Boxing association. The ultimate survivor will be recognized as undisputed world champion.
 Won Close One
 Webb was a slight favorite largely because he won 8 close eight-round decision over Tucker in September in the semi-fina to the Conn Bob Pastor bout. Webb was fioroed for the count of nine in the last round of that brawl, but his early lead gave him a hair-line advantage.
 Web bis favored also because o1 his superior speed and skill and because Tucker, who has been fight ing mostly heavyweights during the past year, had to pare down from an accustomed ring weight of IFS pounds to the ITS limit. Tommy will lcome in just under the limit giving him an advantage of about three pounds over Webb, a natural light heavy.
 However, Tucker is receiving brisk backing, and some of the experts pick him to win for the following reasons. He punches just as hard as the St. Louis lad: he is more rugged and has more stamina; Webb suffered broken collar bone since their September encounter and was on the shelf for three months; since recovering, Webb has knocked out three mediocre opponents, but it's still uncertain whether the injury has handicapped him for top-flight competition.
 Evenly Matched
 Jimmy and Tommy are the same age, 8, and each has lost the same number of decisions during their careers - three. Neither has been knocked out or stopped. and Tucker has never even been f1oored. Webb, a bit more stringy in build, has been on the floor several times, but he always rose and carried on.
 In some of Webb's previous bouts, he showed tendency to tire. This may prove costly tonight when both boys are attempting the long 15- round route for the first time. In their September scrap, Tucker suf- fered a bad brow gash in the second round. This handicapped him considerably during the bout, but Tommy still finished much stronger than Webb and probably would have registered a Kayo had the fight been over a longer distance.
 Tucker has had bit more experi- ence than his opponent. Tommy engaged in 63 professional fights, while Webb had 55. Both have knocked out more than half of their rivals. Fuckers best punching exhi- bition was the night he floored Solly Krieger, ex-Middleweight King Krieger never had been on the can VAS before.