Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-07-19
Interest Heightened
By Minis Addition
To Card al Stadium
By Bill Fuchs

bruising brawl between Jimmy
Cooper and Gene Smith Tuesday
night at Griffith Stadium and.
with Middleweights Holly Minis
and Tex Newly going in another
hereunder. probably the biggest
boxing crowd in this area in re-
cent years will attend.
Vince Mcmahon is going so far
as to predict a record crowd, but
then, Mcmahon is the promoter
and the prediction is no doubt
based on hope. One thing is GER
tain, however: Unless the entire
areas boxing fans have had their
interest killed by some of the
rubbish recently offered on tele-
vision, a good crowd will be on
hand.
The Smith Cooper bout will
be broadcast over WTOP, be-
ginning at 10 pm.
The third of a series and by
far the most important, the
Smith-Cooper battle rates spe-
cial attention in itself. The two
Negro featherweightS have
shaped peculiarly different Ca
reerS from almost identical be-
ginnlngS and Tuesday night meet
at the crossroads.
Smith Had Many Fans.
Just a little more than a year
ago, young Smith was the idol
of many. He won 81 straight
fights. % by knockouts, before
losing decision to Glen Flan-
agan. He lost a split decision to
Corky Gonzales last April. Then,
on June 2, he met Cooper, whom
he had knocked out in 1851 and
whom he regarded as stepping
stone back to the top. But
Cooper knocked out Smith in the
sixth round of a fight that had
the fans talking to themselves.
While the 22-year-old Smith
Shot to the top at dizzy pace,
helped undoubtedly by ambitious
television producers, Cooper was
struggling. He's Is now and
never was able to build up a
f1ashy record to compare with
that Of his hometown rival. Also
Cooper never has had the chance
to show himself to a nationwide
televiSion audience.
Almost forgotten now is that
August night in 1949 when
Cooper beat Manuel Ortiz, then
the bantamweight champion OF
the world. Ortiz seemed almost
as delighted about the loss as
though he had won, for he had
visions of a $4,000 gate in
rematch on the West Coast. The
Mexican told Cooper: None of
those Mexicans will believe you
can beat me. Well make lots of
money"
Cooper Said to be Improved.
Nothing was ever done about
1t. Cooper has made a little
money in the last year. He had
a nice gate in December in Ha-
vana where he knocked out Pup
py Garcia for the Cuban feath-
erweight title. He's won five
fights since then. four by knock
outs. According to Billy Ed
wards, his new manager and
A'ainer, Cooper is a better fight
er than ever. He's more mature
now and hits harder"
Both boys started out in Wash
ington boys clubs and both made
names in the amateur ranks be-
fore turning pro. But by the
time Smith had his first pro
fight Cooper had been boxing
professionally for two years.
Cooper has won 33 fights, lost Is
and drew four. He has knocked
out II opponents and has been
knocked out six times. Smith
has won "a of 81, but he's
dropped his last two, the split
decision to Gonzalez and the
knockout loss to Cooper.
Minis is almost the forgotten
man of boxing. His past record
has justified better opponents
and bigger purses, but the real
good middleweights shy away
from him. They know he beat
the highly regarded Johnny
Bratton twice. They also know
that he beat Sugar Ray Robin
son in the opinion of many
people who witnessed that fight
in Miami, April. 1851. Robinson
was given a split decision.
Eldridge (TommV Thompson.
the former Marine and Golden
Glove battler, takes on Eddie
Smith of Philadelphia in a light
heavyweight match over five
rounds. Sipio Lotion. highly re-
garded light heavy from York,
Pa, meets Randy Brevard of
Washington in another five
rounder, while two other bouts
will flll out the card.