Evening star., 1959-06-30
WIN, LOSE OR
DRAW ,, FRANCIS ,7Auu
And lingo Will Do 1t Again
By FRANCIS STANN

ON THE RADIO from the ring, later in the dressing
and periodically from wherever he may be- Gus
DAmato is claiming his Floyd Patterson will become
the first ex- heavyweight champion to regain his title He
must think Ingemar JohanSSon is going to retire
Patterson was 5-to-l favorite the Swede last
week This understandable Nobody in this country
had lingo fight. They him train and shud-
dered. Moreover, everybody knew DAmato had okayed
Johannson as an opponent. Gus never had made mis-
take in the past when to protecting his boy lone
Of the great all-time champions"
The next time Johansson figures to be 5-to-l over
Patterson If they within go days the viking may be
heavier favore Fighters don't always bounce back after
the kind of beating Patterson took But matter how
high he bounces, Floyd won't beat Johansson.
1 The North Carolina-born Negro, than
oyerStufed light-heavy proved and for all at Yam
bee Stadium that he doesn't handle punch too well He
Ups too easily What's more, there is consider
able doubt to whether Patterson could outpoint
Johansson it, perchance, lingo couldn't connect Is
rounds
( WHEN THE AMATEUR, Pete Rademacher put him
down their San Francisco fasco it taken Ser
ously because Patterson up in hurry causing
to call it slip. Ditto in the fight with Roy Harris, the
pro- at Los Angeles 1t follows they weren't slips
At all. but legitimate knockdowns by inferior puncherS.
JohansSon is not an inferior puncher but superior
one What's more he is awkwardly fast and agile and
forward and backward with surprising speed In the second
round Patterson thought he could land to the Swedes
big body and he did paste him a couple Of times. But
when he doing it, Patterson leaving that chin
Of purest Steuben exposed,
1t may be significant that not far has Patter
son. himself shown the slightest eagerness for return
match. DAmato has been making the noises When he
finally is pressed Floyd undoubtedly will express conf
dence in his ability to turn the tables What he really feels
may be something else.
Since 10:45 pm last Friday Patterson has had ample
time to think back what happened to him when he
was jumped by real hitter BY his own admission, Floyd
doesn't remember going down second time, nor third
fourth fifth sixth and seventh Presumably he will have
seen the movies before the tentative return in September
II he does Patterson must know that he fortunate
young Only JohanSSons first right hand punch in the
third round block buster All the others thrown
from odd angles half misses In his ouofthis
world shape Patterson might have suffered broken neck
or jaw If lingo had landed cleanly again
4 AMONG OTHER THINGS Johansson's victory meant
that the promoter in the traditional will be with
at least for fght-the rematch This would be
young (39 Bill Rosensohn the neophyte with an Ivy
League background who took 1000 loss this snafued
promotion but who the lucky holder of contract with
Johansson.
have been finished, kaput. He had fallen out with
DAmato who aspeS to be boxings Little Caesar He did
not figure in the TV radio and movie rights He needed
and didn't quite get $5O0O0O at the gate to break even
& With Rosensohn out of the way, DAmato, the way we
heard it, ready to team with Irving Kahn OF Tele-
PrompTer restyle the whole fight racket. The pro-
foers as we have known them-Tex Rckard Mike Jacobs
Jim Norrs-woud be extinct.
Oh there would be beard" for the record,
but he would limited to his cut-say 10 per cent Of
the gate which longer is primary consideration The
challenger of Patterson if Floyd remained champion
feportedy would be held 20 per cent leaving 10 per
cent to be up between TV closed circuit and the
DAmato interests
Z WITH ROSENSOHN UNEXPECTEDLY in the saddle,
however the JohanSson Patterson remach will be staged
the old-fashoned way but there neutrals who
tend that later the big heavyweight fights will
be erchandised strictly through theaer closed circuit
~.
At the wegh-in ceremony the original date OF the
Ingo-Floyd brawl Tommy Loughan touched the sub
feet as he watched the rain from windown the Commo-
dore Hotel in New York Tommy who has no interests in
the business end of the game, said:
How much simpler it would be to hold this fight in
this ballroom studio The day is coming, you know,
when the promoter will be very minor character.
Here man." continued the old light-heavy champ,
referring to Rosensohn who has to draw half million
when the rain allows the show to go he's lucky he II
break even Chances he'll lose money He's worked and
worried for months-and for nothing.
with 50 million coming from theater TV for the next
bonafde attraction they afford to kiss of the $500000
or so theyd take at the gate Practically all Of 1t is
nense anyway They can eliminate that part of future
promotions entirely and deal with millions through closed
circuit Tv alone No weather Worries nothing. Only
profit"