Evening star., 1950-07-24
Boudreau Predicts Pennant for His Red-Hot Tribe
Pep Heavy Favorite,
but Bell Thinks He
Can Win Tonight
By GEORGE Huber

Featherweight Champion Willie
Pep Is heavy choice to whip
Bobby Bell Of Youngstown, Ohio.
in tonight's 10-round, non-title
fight at Grifiith Stadium, but Bell,
with the rashness of youth. talks
confidently of an upset. Bell was
Pep's sparring partner on one oc-
casion and thinks he saw enough
then to warrant confidence in his
ability to become the third man
to beat Pep.
This is the fight originally set
for two weeks ago, but which mad
to be put back when Pep got
married instead Of coming to
Washington. For that he drew
suspensions from the District Box
ing Commission and the National
Boxing Association. 1t was q
contrite Pep who arrived here late
last week, apologizing for all the
trouble he'd caused and promising
to make up for it with his showing
in the ring tonight.
Pep Senior by Six Years.
Pep at 27 is six years older than
Bell, but boxing critics figure that
the champions class and condition
will overbalance any difference in
ages. Except for a brief spell late
in 1948 and early in 1949, Pep has
ruled the 126-pound division since
winning the title from Chalky
Wright in 1912. During the lapse
Sandy Saddler was on top. having
beaten Pep in in October Of 194S,
Pep got back at Saddler In Feb
! ruary the next year. and since has
taken Is in q row.
Only one other man has beaten
Willie, Lightweight Sammy Angott
J in a non-title scrap In 1943. Pep
fought one draw. with Jimmy
McAllister in Baltimore in 1945.
They met again and Pep scored q
two-round knockout. The Hartford
scrapper has won 147 of $50 pro-
fessional fights.
Superb condition and world Of
natural ability keep Pep on top.
He can fight any style. He can
box with the best. He can take q
pounding without f1inching, but
there aren't many who can get
close enough to hit him effectively.
He is rough-and- tumble slugger
who can be tough with the tough
est. He's a hard hitter for little
man, particularly with a left hook.
Pep Always Ready.
One thing that's kept the cham.
Ipion on top is his conditioning pro-
gram. His daily program even
when he doesn't have a fight COM
ing up includes roadwork In the
early morning and a busy after
noon In the gym.
Despite that, Bell is full Of
confidence for tonight's scrap.
The bolo-punching Negro has one
big upset to his credit here, hav-
:: ing outpointed the favored Charley
Titone at Uline Arena last Mo-
vember. Bell, too, is in top condi.
ton, having had plenty of train
ing before the original July 10
date plus the extra two weeks
of work.
Bell expects to make q Standup
fight against the champion, and
plans to increase the tempo az
the fight progresses.
The 8-round semifeature also
brings out featherweights, with
, Red Gaddis against Gene Smith.
both Of Washington. Smith is q
rising, hard-hitting youngster who
has won II pro bouts, eight by
knockoutS, while GaddiS is a vet
eran who offers him q good trial,
Two f1ve-rounders put Sam Kel-
sey against Van Hook, light
weights, and Leon Daughtry
against Andy Nathan, welters,
The 8:45 o'clock four-round OPEN
er sends Battling Moore against
Paul Minor. heavyweights. There
will be no television or radio
broadcast.