Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-06-20

& ~. "a WaTo yeaTnlnB con-
A@'sa a. = sisted largely of two
Grantland Rice elemental details.
One was food-and
the other was sleep.
Steak, chicken or both together
filed part Of his daydreams. After
that came the deep desire for sleep
or repOse. This combination seemed
to be pointing directly at increasing
weight. Many believed that within
FIVE years. time Louis would be In
the puffy neighborhood Of 225 pounds
or more.
Yet when Louis faced Buddy Baer
in Washington there he was again
within few ounces of 202.
In his II title defenses-in prac-
tically every fight he has known
from the start-Louis hasn't varied
his weight scale by rs much As two
pounds. In most instances he hasn't
been a pound away from his start
ing displacement.
The Weight Battle
Dempsey weighed 1873 pounds
when he slaughtered Jess Willard.
Against Gene Tunney seven years
later Jack was up to 1893 pounds.
Tunney, starting as a light heavy
weight, was always working to pack
on a few pounds until he came to
a mark between 185 and 100.
Jess Willard weighed 240 pounds
against Jack johnson in Havana
265 when he met Dempsey at Toledo.
The greatest weight shift I've
known belonged to Ace Hudkins,
who fought at l35 and then sky
rocketed after his ring career to rs
when he went in for horse racing.
But Louis goes marching along at
2O2, a number that is now his official
landmark. There isn't the slightest
change in his physical makeup after
seven years.
The answer to this is fairly sim
pie. Mike Jacobs and the Bonn oer's
managers have kept him too busy
for any accumulation to make any
Roadway.
In the last three years Louis has
spent the greater part OF his time
in some training camp. There Is
no other champion in ring history,
with the money Louis has collect
ed, who would have faced such
long grind.
Most fighters hate training-the
drudgery of camp life. Louis has
accepted the same without
souawk. And this has been the
main reason that he has kept his
weight in full control.
A Training Angle
A few days ago was talking with
one of our best known trainers and
condition builders.
1.-The biggest mistake any athlete
makes" he told me, lis getting out
of condition. BY that l mean well
out of condition. You can get SO
far out of condition in two weeks
that it might easily take two months
to repair the damage. 1t is so easy
to get out of shape and so difficult
to get back in again.
This Is one mistake Joe Louis has
never made. doubt II he has been
far away from first-class condition
since he first came along the road.
Against this method there was the
case of Jack Dempsey who was out
of the ring and away from action
three years between the Firpo and
the Tunney campaigns. Dempsey
fighting once or twice year during
that period, at least would have
been in far better physical shape
later on.
The Measure of Health
One of the greatest combined
coaches and trainers / ever knew
was Keene Fitzpatrick who gave
nearly so years of his life to condi-
tioninp before he retired.
After leaving Michigan, Keene
came to Princeton, where he trained
Tiger entries in football, track and
crew. He never missed a days
work in A consecutive years.
sWhen l was over 60 years old"
Fitzpatrick told me, II was in much
better physical shape than many Of
the young athletes returning to col
leee after a summers vacation. I
could actually outrun them. tired
far less than they did. Some Of
them returned to college far over
weight, facing long struggle to get
right again"