The daily monitor. (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1940-1942, 1941-06-18
|Expett 10000
10 5ee'Blood'
Tonight

O0s ss0"sOsS
in Peak Condition;
Louis On Edge
BY GAYLE TALBOT
oNEW YORK, June ls-(R-
The biggest, richest prixefight
crowd since the second Louis
SchIneling battle three summers
ago will surge into the Polo
Grounds tonight to watch Joe
Louis defend his heavyweight
championship against clever Bill
ly Conn Of Pittsburgh.
The big negro's 18th defense
Of his title promised to draw
more than 10000 and to gross
approximately $500, 900, n COM
pared with the $1,000, 900 that
flowed into Promoter Mike JAG
obs treasury the night Louis
crushed Max Schmeling, the
man he hated, in less than
round.
The most popular opinion was
that something very much like
that was due to happen tonight
to Conn, though the 23-year-old
challenger had plenty Of sup
porters. The odds against the
former light-heavyweight king
Ewere frightening steadily in the
Broadway marts. Last night it
was possible to get odds Of z
to 2 against his winning, and one
commission man estimated he
would be offering . solid 4-to-1
against Billy by nightfall.
Five special trains from Pitts
burgh and q half-dozen others
from scattered cities poured fans
into town this morning. Bos-
ton fans were known to have
chartered 20 planes. The fight
regulars and the big spenders
from every section of the coun-
try will be at the ringside. The
battle of the little man against
the big man has captured the
public fancy to an Astounding
extent;
Joe and Billy - the big, dead
ly-punching brown man and the
slim, handsome young game
cock - will square off for their
hereunder at about Q pm.
(E.S.T.) In the outside event
of rain they will put it off un-
til tomorrow night. The best
information II that the referee
will not be Arthur Donovan,
who, unfortunately for him, has
become known as Louis "house
referee" A good guess Il that
1Bflly Cavanagh, West Point box
ing instructor, will be the third
man.
This will be the first heavy
weight title fight at the Polo
Grounds since the famous rough
house between Jack Dempsey
and Louis Angel Firpo back in
the golden age" of boxing. And
IL will be Conn's first outdoor
appearance here, his other bouts
having been staged in Madison
Square Garden. But the size of
the crowd will not scare Billy,
any more than has the prospect
Of sampling Joe Louis dyna-
mite.
The official weish-in, sched-
uled at noon at the offices of
the state athletic commission,
was expected to show Louis
packing IN advantage of about
Is pounds. There was some in
cidental wagering last night that
Conn would scale under ITS, but
his hackers contended stoutly
that it made no difference whe-
Their Billy weighed ITO or 100.
The main thing was that he was
in the peak Of condition and
confident Of winning.
Like everything else that
could be said about Conn, how
ever, this also could be said for
Louis. The bomber has been on
edge for several days, anxious
to get at the boy he thinks talks
too much" He expects to stop
Billy in two or three rounds.
4This observer, being conserva-
tive, favors the latter figure.
Where the Conn adherents
point out that Billy is fast u q
streak and . great boxer, the
same may be said about Louis.
The negro il fully rs speedy as
his challenger and, in the opin-
ion Of many, q more finished
boxer. Where they differ most
Is that Louis hits with shock
ing force, whereas Conn IL m
average puncher Louis can
win by q knockout any time he
connects right; Conn must base
his hopes on winning the decis-
ion.
II