The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-10
BY HARRY FERGUSON 1wy-lAnI mmnl. GwNnwAa ENtAaw>

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 New York, May l0-(UP)-Well, say you are Q contractor and all of a sudden people run up and tell you that you have landed the big job and that you're rich and fa- nous. What do you say and what do you do2
 Or say you are c fighter and have just won the middleweight cham pionship of the world and the mob Is storming at the door of the dress ing room, trying to slap you on the back, telling you what Q great guy you are, comparing you to Tommy Loughran and exaggerating oil over the place. What do you say and what do you do?
 You don't say or do much much of anything. At least, Billy Soose didn't last night after he worked his way through the mob and got to his dressing room in Madison Square Garden. He he'd just won the world middleweight champion ship from Ken Overlin. It was c dull fight. There were boos all over the Garden. Nobody was cut, no- body was knocked down. They tus- sled and tugged for 45 minutes and ct any time during the proceedings both of them could have been en- gulfed by the yawns at the ring side.
 But this was c great night for Billy Soose. This was the pot of gold ct the ned of the rainbow. This was journeys end on c jour- ney that began years ago in Q Pennsylvania coal town for Q scrawny kid. It was Q night for smiles and laughter and congrat- ulations-a night for sending tel egrans to relatives and putting In long distnce calls and worrying about the bill some other day. But none of those things happened. soose st aon Q table in Q white washed room, 24 by 20. A blue bath. robe was around his shoulders. Don't ask me why,. but in this hou of victory and triumph tears ewre in his eyes.
 The tape had been stripped off his hands and you could still see the gray marks the adhesive left. He was staring at his right hand. Did you hurt that hand, Billyp" "Yeh, sixth round" Break 0 bonep" Hope not, but I'll get an x-ray,'
 A little man hustled up and said, You won good, Billy" No answer. Somebody else asked, "Tired, Billy?" No answer. A photographer popped fiashlight bulb and Soose jumped. Did Overlin hurt you, Biny?" Nope
 There was silence for a while and then g photographer said. "How about one shot with Q big smile, Billy?" He tried but 1t was terrible: sort of like Q man who has just been sentenced to life and decides to keep stiff upper lip. Then he pulled the blue bathrobe closer around his shoulders.
 The point is that this kid had spent back-breaking, heart-breaklng years to arrive at this moment. He sweated weary hours on the road. He shadow-boxed until his arms felt like they were about to fall off. He fought in tank towns for coffee and cake money. Year by weary year he got little smarter, 6 little faster, a little cutter in ducking and slde- stepping. He hungered for this mo- ment and when it arrived he had no appetite for 1t.
 Billy Soose'is not great middle weight champion. Offhand, we would say that he would be lucky to last three rounds against Mickey Walter when the Mick was in his prime. A lot of people think Over lin licked him last night, although the two judges and the referee gave 8 unanimous decision to Soose. We thought Soose won it, too, by noth- ing more than Q whisper. But we also felt--as did almost everybody else in that gloom shrouded dressing room-that 1t must be more fun to plan to win the middleweight championship than 1t actually is to win 1t.