Evening star., 1941-06-24
Second Bout With Joe
Would See Billy
Beaten Again
Fatigue Affected Froil
Boxer as Greatly as
Champs Potent Punch
BY LEWIS F. ATCHISON.

BY LEWIS F. ATCHISON.
Maybe Billy Conn is destined to be
the next heavyweight champion Of
the world and certainly he came
within one punch of achieving that
lustrous goal in the 18th round Of
his scrap with Joe Louis, but we
don't think it's in the cards for
sweet Willyum to rule fistiana.
A return match, you say, will prove
Conn the better man-at least a
wiser, smarter fighter. but we beg
to differ. Billy never will take
Louis for a couple of good reasons.
In the first place he isn't big enough
and in the second Joe has the old
persuader in both mittens. It's
a powerful guarantee against inter-
lopers of Conn's stature.
Louis seemed trifle stale to this
observer. He seemed weary from
those long months in the gym, too
finely drawn and too eager to get
it all over with. Along about the
tenth round we had a suspicion
Louis didn't care much who won if
he only could rip off the gloves
and get away from it all. And that
is not meant to imply lack of
courage on his part. The job simply
had become monotonous.
Got X. o. He Needed to Win.
thought of the fight is Louis simple,
honest statement in his dressing
room after the fight that Trainer
Jack Blackburn had told him he
needed a knockout to win. If it
went the full Is rounds Joe lost, so,
needing a knockout, he went out
and got it. What better proof could
he give of his superiority over the
Pittsburgh challenger, or of his
right to the title?
1t was not so much matter of
Conn's losing his head as Louis
regaining his in the 18th. Conn,
too, shot his bolt in the 18th, to our
way of thinking, and was too fa-
tigued to stave off his opponent after
that. We don't think he could
have stayed away from Joe on a
bicycle after the 18th and the out
come of the battle hinged entirely
on Louis ability to overtake his
swift opponent and drive home his
one-two.
Conn gave Louis good boxing
lesson over most of the distance, but
there were times when Louis stayed
with him exchanging parry for
parry, feint for feint and left for
left. Billy got in his best licks COM
ing out of the clinches when Louis
would straighten up and relax, ex-
pecting Conn to step back or the
referee to step in.
Conn was on the alert and as
soon as he felt Louis unbend whipped
over a stream of lefts that
caught Joe by surprise and left
him f1abbergasted and bulldo1ed.
This was something wholly new to
the champ. So was Bills clever
stunt of leading with a left several
rounds and then blasting Joe with
a right.
That he shook up Louis by this
strategy is putting it mildly and
was the smartest bit of ring gen.
eralship that has been witnessed
in many years. Any other fighter
might have tried it and been fat
tened by Joe's counter-punch but
Conn had arranged the trappings
perfectly and timed it exactly.
But Louis took all of Conns
tricks, strategy and Sunday
punches in stride and came on to
win the hard way by a knockout.
That Joe would put the chill on his
pencil-thin rival seemed apparent
in the earlier rounds of the fight
and we sat back wondering when
the end would be. But then, after
Louis slowed down and seemed to
weary of the fight while Conn came
on and on and on, faster, bolder
and bolder, we caught ourselves
wondering If this were true, if the
title really was changing hands.
Distance Hurt Conn, Too.
1t simply didn't seem possible that
the honey-faced kid could spot the
champ Is pounds and kick him
around like a browbeaten sparring
partner. You figured Louis should
be able to step in and give Conn
both barrels whenever he wanted
to, but the panied, bewildered ex-
preston on his usually dead pan
indicated he wanted to do just that,
but couldn't. At the end of the 18th
Conn had the title sewed up tight
You couldn't have pried it loose
from him with crowbar, but Louis
did, and with the customary instru-
mentS.
We thought 25 pounds and Is
rounds were too much for Conn and
these Ultimately proved to be his
undoing. At IL rounds he was
master of a stale Louis; over that
Joe was still champion. The weight
handicap, which Blackburn sale
Louis didn't use to his best advan.
tage, finally exacted its toll of frai
Billy. He had courage, skill and 6
stinging, If not a killing, punch
He lacked weight.
Beyond doubt, fatigue beat Conr
as much as his Irish boldness anc
eagerness to establish his superi
ority and If he doesn't put on somt
beef between now and their mex
fight we doubt If he'll fare any
bottoV IN that nto