The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-12-02

that this percentage will be raised draStically by the draft of l8 and l9-year. old boys.
 Under the circumstances, our talent soon will be so depleted that boxing clubs in the state may be forced to close for lack of worth while matches. Accordingly l shall recommend immediate legislation to lower the age limit to Is years
 The persert law forbids anyone ufl- der Ia from participating In a pro- feSslonal bout. Boys of l8 are limit ed to siX-round matches; Those Of l9 to eight rounds; Of 20 to 10 rounds, and only those of 21 or over may engage in longer fights, includ- ing l5.round title eliminations and championship matches.
 Those provisions were sponsored years ago by the late William Null doom, physical culture specialist who believed 1t harmful for lads under l8 to box professionally.
 Disagreed
 phelan never agreed with the Null doom theory. He believes 1t often is more harmful for youths to box i'll amateur bouts, without proper instruction, training or supervision, than in the pro engagements. He regards as particularly harmful the practice Of having a boy fight two bouts q night in amateur journeys.
 He has crusaded against "bootleg" boxing. in which wildcat clubs = operating under the camouflage of amateurism = pay youngsters small sums for fighting. At most of the booteg joints the boxers enter the ring without physical examinations, without competent handlers and with no assurance that they will not be mismatched against far superior opponents.
 Phelan knows, moreover, that if a boy of 16 wants to make money tossing leather, he will do 1t one way or another. The New York Commission has had plenty of ex- perience with youngsters of IS or less who come to the fistic fathers With parents or guardians and falsi- fy their ages. Many of the prom inent boxers operating today boosted their years when they first obtained licenses from the commission. Some- times the deceptions are discovered later, but usually they are not.
 We'll known fighters who started their professional careers at I6 or younger include Lou Ambers. Ray Robinson. Marty Servo. Young Stribling, Abe Attell, Young Corbett, Tony Canzoneri, Joe Cans, Benny Leonard, Sammy Mandell, Jimmy Wilde, Kid Chocolate, Georges Car pentier. Johnny Coulon. Johnny Dundee, Jack Britton, Terry Nc Govern, Battling Nelson. Kid Will Hams. Frankie Genaro and Jimmy Slattery.
 We agree with Commissioner Phel- an that lowering the age limit to l6 would be an excellent wartime step to help professional boxing. just as the inclusion Of freshmen in varsity competition was helpful to football during the past season. But when the war is over, the age init cer- tainy shoud be lifted back to Is. Tn our opinion the average i6-year- old hasn't the body" to compete with more matured men in his own weight division. Most of them haven't ha dtime to deveop the "washboard" muscles in the abdo- men to protect vital organs against body smashes. nor the neck muscles to absorb the shock of head blows. There are exceptions of course.
 Moreover, the plentiful Notifications at the l8-age limit. indicate that the same age lies will be told at the l6-age- limit, leaving the door open for money-hungry managers and ignorant parents to send boys ot l3 and l4 into the professional ring, thus inviting fatalities or lasting in- juries. The exceptions. Ike Canzon- eri, chocolate and Genaro. would survive. but the average kid would be In serious danger.