The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-07-08
CONN'S PUNCH
 GAN BE BUILT,
 SAYS KILBANE
Hitting Power Depends on Stance, Insists Old
 Timer

Cleveland, O, July 8. (UP)-I Johnny Kilbane, Ohio state senator and one of the boxing rings irnmor- tals, believes that Billy Conn can acquire a knockout punch.
 The former featherweight cham pion of the world insists that Conn, a notoriously light hitter, can be taught to swat down the heavy weights.
 Any boxer can be taught to hit hard," Kilbane said. "Yes, I can teach any boxer to hit. could teach Conn to hit. The kid must be pret- ty good fighter with one hand, but yon eed two hands in the ring. I now"
 Kilbane, the dancing Irishman of another generation, moved his feet and squared of.
 Look, it's all in your feet. That's how you get power to hit. When your feet are right, you can shoot 8 pnch six inches and knock @ man cold"
 Says Punch Is Acquired
 Kilbane, critic of the boxing ad- nlistration in Ohio, says, it's "a lot of bunk" that a fighter is either born with knockout punch or isn't.
 Listen" ne said, when I first started to box, I was one of those fancy boxers. I went to New York for fight and the critics gave me the heave. Called me parlor tap per. Chased me right out of town back to Cleveland"
 Kilbane returned to the Cleveland gymnasium from where he started and learned how to hit.."
 Jimmy Dun was managing me-" he said land he taught me how to set my feet for punch. That's the real secret setting your feet. Now there are several ways of doing that. Take Jack Dempsey, for in- instance. He was a fine pncher but he had to have his feet lined up about foot apart. That's how he got his leverage. Well, Tunney wouldn't let him get set like that. Every time Dempsey would try to line up his feet, Tunney would jab or hook him back hbalance. Once Tunney didn't get Jack soon enough and you know what happened in that seventh round at Chicago"
 Kilbane outlined his method of teaching Conn how to get set and hit for knockout punch.
 Short Blows Stressed
 "1e could be taught. He could be taught that the only way to punch with your right hand is straight out from the body. Then you need to punch or!y four or five or six inches. ou'll drop anybody you hit 1 with one of those punches. And you should be able to knock a man out with a short left hook as well as with right hand. Now Conn, for example, carries his left arm out a little from the body. Then when he hooks, he has to raise the elbow. That destroys much of his punching power and gives an open ing for your opponents right hand" !"
 He said that he didn't believe that Conn had progressed too far as a boxer not to be taught how to de- vediop arfgth arfgthaofg arfgtht velop a dynamite punch.
 Leonard'S Punch Cited
 "Take Benny Leonard. Benny couldn't hit hard at all when he started out. He was 8 toe boxer and hard to hit. But he began to work with his feet and pretty soon he got SO he could get his feet into the proper position and hit very hard, He piled up a lot of knockouts later on because he learned how to hit"
 The senator struck his best ora- torical pose, cleared his throat and concluded:
 "The idea in this hitting is to learn how to punch without anchor ing your feet. Schmeling could not hit hard unless he got set for a punch. And there were many others. ou know why? Because they weren't punching straight out from their bodies.
 "I'd like to work with that Conn for a while, I'll teach him how to hit, you can bet on that. I can teach anybody how to hit. Just get him to shoot those punches when his feet are right. He would have knocked out Louis with any gind of punch at all"