Arkansas State press., 1946-06-07
BY John M. Lee

to be busy at other chores beside
of making a neat package on the
Conn-Louis 60, got himself the
makings for another good and
profitable show in September
when Tami Mauriello slugged
British Empire heavyweight
champ Bruce Wodcock into a fifth
round slumber a week or so ago.
Wood cock had hardly rinsed the
the buzzers and the bells out of
his foggy brain before the wise
boys were talking about Sep
TENDER championship 60 between
the eonquerer of the game Eng
lishman and the winner of the
June battle.
Everybody seemed to take it
for granted that Jolting Joe will
be the man in command if and
when Uncle Mikes fall promo
ton deal comes off, but some of
the boys cans see Mauriello as
his opponent. Showing against
Woodcock, Mauriello was trotted
out with a surplus of fat around
the waist that bulged over and
made his trunks appear to be
moulded into his flesh. He wasn't
too fast, and here and there some
of the boys remarked that Big
Tami was reacting as rapidly
physically as his mental capacity
gave the orders. Be that as it
may, Meuriello won, and showed
plenty of power and punching
ability in SO doing.
While it is true that Woodcock,
for all his gameness, and his
apparent ability to outthink
Mauriello, lost primarily because
of his lack of experience, there
is no gainsaying the fact that
Tami won clean victory after
four rounds of pretty even fight
ing against an opponent who had
no intention of losing Mauriello
did stumble about like a big
guy who was tsrong and knew
it, but there has to be some re-
spect given to his ability to take
a salvo of sharp punches and
come back loaded for bear.
Some of the talk around Maur-
iello's dressing room after the
fight would lead you to believe
that Tami gave his best perform
ance against Woodcock because
he had reason to believe that he
was as close as any other heavy
to an invitation to take crack
/ When Woodcock shifted his at
tack and pelted away at the other
at the championship. Admitted
| ly, what Mauriello showed against
Woodcock is not enough to even
put Joe Louis in danger, but he
is apparently the man of the
moment so far as future con-
tenders for the crown are con-
cerned.
Assuming that Joe successfully
analyses Billy Conn's announced
strategy to confuse him by mix
ing up a lot of speed with some
pace changes, it is more than
an even bet that Joe will don the
gloves again in September to
bowl over betting Tami, who al
ready shows just a hint of be-
coming boastful Tami. Wood
cock left some doubt in the minds
of the spectators about the ad-
visibility of banging away at an
obvious target as the best means
of winning. Tami has got a
stomach that appears to need
only the slightest encouragement
to hang in beautifully draped
folds. From where we sat his
bread basket seemed to be the
spot OF attack, and Woodcock did
store away quite few blows
in that region, but tough Tami
never batted an eye.
legal sections of Mauriello's body,
TAM seemed to regard his oppon-
ent's blows as bothersome rain
drops as he came in to belt the
living bejcepers out of the Eng
lishman. Tami doesn't use too
much science in his attacks, and
seems to rely upon his power and
weight. He is a confident slug
ger, and did not drop his COM
posure for minute during the
first few rounds when Woodcock
made a monkey out of the boys
who make up the odds by show
ing class, speed, style, in fast
everything but enough experience.
Mauriello is the sort of fighter
who reacts to a singing blow by
getting angry. When he gets
angry he ploWs in to hit back