The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-02-14
BY JACK GUENTHER
UNITED Press Staff Correspondent

New York, February IA. - CUP
- If I were blessed with a talent
for reading minds and isn't 1t a
pity that I'm not - I'd be willing
to bet my last pound of sugar
against a comis valentine that Pri-
vate Joseph Louis Barrow of the
United States Army spent the bet
ter part of an hour last night being
thoroughly ashamed of his ability as
prizefighter.
Don't get me wrong. 1t wasn't
anything Private Barrow did that
brought on the embarrassment
which I assume he felt. His ap-
pearance in Madison Square Garden
was that of a spectator, not par
ticipant. He simply mitted the
crowd, bowed modestly and shook
hands with an easy show of grace.
Remember?
No, it wasn't anything he did
1t was something that he didn't do.
Namely, it was that he didn't knock
Billy Conn clear over the right field
fence at the Polo Grounds in the
first round of the fight that warm
June evening last year instead of
being forced to dilly-dally around
for some 38 minutes before he could
step in and make the kill.
For last night old Joe sat five
rows from ringside while Conn
sweated, grunted, bicycled, clinched
and paved feebly to a victory over
the worlds middleweight champion
Tony Yale of Gary, Ind, a man
whom he out-weighed by almost Is
pounds, out-sped from the opening
gong and out-ranged by several
inches in every direction.
Conn won by decided margin of
points, but in doing it he was I'M
able to knock his smaller opponent
down, was clipped square on the
chin and stopped in his tracks at
least three times. and went back to
his dressing quarters with chorus
of boos buzzing in his handsome
ears. AS the worlds foremost heavy
weight contender, he was plaster
Of Paris bust
A few days ago said there never
was a reason for this fight, and last
night my opinion was confirmed by
the parties of the first and second
parts themselves. Conn was dull,
gun-shy in the later rounds and as
full OF fight as a sofa cushion. Yale
was willing, rugged and unable To
get close enough to his opponent To
do real harm.
The first round was fancy and in
the second the customers were tell
ing Conn to go bacl; to Hollywood
and make another picture. The third
round Zale won by a big margin
and the fourth and fifth went to
Conn because he was bigger and he
spent most of his time leaning on
Zale'S shoulders. In the seventh
Conn had everything to himself
except punch.
Didn't Have 1t
He hit zale with jabs, uppercuts,
crosses and hooks. He hit him on
the chin, on the head, on the ears
and in the belly. He could have his
him with is stool or wit his man
ayers bucket and it wouldn't have
made nay difference. Whatever it
takes to knock Yale down, Conn
didn't have Before the round ended
he had been staggered himself.
Conn was slower than good news
In the eighth. He went to work
again in the next round and 1t was
a repeat performance of the seventh
except that this time Yale.
smacked over the hardest blow he
landed all night and he took all the
steam out of bigger Billy for the
ensuing minutes. The fans started
to boo then and they were booing
at the end.
OF course, Conn was at disad-
vantage here because in this fight
he was the big boy-nOt the fair
haired lad who had walked in
against Louis and walked out again
with . grin on his cocky face. As
well, he hadn't fought often since
last June and his timing was poor.
But the best you could say Of the