The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-05-09
CHALLENGER IS 9TO5F FAvORTTE
 OVER OvERL|N
College Boxer Must Defend Title Against Abrams If
 He Wins !
nv yACK CIjDDY

New York, May e-(UP) = That ancient adage = "string with the champion l"--haS been tossed int6 the water bucket for tonights mids dleweight title fight at Madison Square Garden, and challenger Billy soose is favored ct o-6 to wreSt the crown from veteran Ken Overlin.
 eooSe, former pre-snedical student at Penn state, Is favored despite his exposure to 6 college education. Which gives him the unique diStiilc. ton of being the first collegiate challenger in pugilistic history on the long end of the betting for any professional title scrap.
 There are two major reasons for this unusual situation: (1) slender, dark-hiared Billy stands out as the most brilliant challenger Tn any ot the current divisions, and (2) Over- lin, the former sailor man, is c phy- sical question mark because Of his ripe age: 3l years.
 Soose already has been tabbed "uncrowned king" of the middle. weights because of his nonstitle vlc- tories last summer over Overlin, who is recognized as champion in New York and affiliated states and Tony ale of Chicago, the National Boxing Association's king. More. over, he is Tdiing string of II il. straight wins, including tr!umphs over Tami Maurieilo and Ernie Vigh, two outstanding contenderss The betting price would Do longer than o-6 were 1t not for reports that Soose is out-growing the 100.pound division and has been having diffis culties paring down to the weight.
 Question Mark
 Meanwhile Cverlirr-veteran Of la years In the ring and l6O battles-. Is regarded with uncertainty aS ha comes up for his third defense of tho title which he won from Cefer. Inc Garcia last May %.
 Piayboy Overlir, bridegroom for Q second time, made both title de. lenses against young Steve Belioise, who almost knocked out the chan- pion in their first tilo but was url- impressive in the second, on Dec. l3. Since then Conga Ken has had six non title bouts, in one of which he WAS held to . i0-round draw by washed-up Paulie Walker on xeb. 10.
 There Is 6 robust suspicion in cauliflower canyon that OverlinS legs are gone. He tired badly In hls first fight with Soose last summer at Scranton, Pa, although the de- clsion should have gone to the champion on c round-by.round basis. And no has been fatlgued In some of his later engagements. In soose, he b facing c Blow.Startlng opponent who !s only 23 years old and who has plenty of stamina, al- though Goose will be attempting tho iB.round route for the first time.
 Both are excellent boxers, two of the ssnartest in the ring, but the challenger has dynamite iil his right hand, while OveTiin H powder- puff puncher.
 if Soose wins tonight, hc will be the second collegiate fighter lii ring history to win . crown. Joey Arch- ibaid was the first, but he was afl iinderdog in the betting in both of his featherweight title fights with Mike Beiloise and Leo Kodak.
 Abrams Next?
 However. victory tonight will not wrap Up the title definitely for soose. He Is contracted to make . return title defense within 90 days against Overlin or Overlins stable. mate, deorgie Abrams. If Overlin A beaten badly, he B expected to re. tire and let Abrams try to recaptvre the crown.
 Both will scale just under the I00. pound limit tonight. Promoter Mike Jacobs expects . crowd of about i2,- GOO and c gross gate of @40,000. Overlin receives the lions share of the next gate: 47h per cent. The challenger gets only i2h. The bout will be broadcast over the NBC Blue Network ct 10 ?. m. (EDT).