Bleeding, groggy, and completely punchdrunk from the terrific pasting Art Lasky had delivered to him, Steve Hamas, the self-styled Nittany lion, staggered to his corner last Friday night as the bell marked the end of the tenth and last round.
Art Lasky, the Jewish youngster from Minneapolis and more recently California, walked to his corner as cool as a cucumber and as steady as a calendar. He was still feeling chipper and fresher than any daisy we’ve seen plucked.
A crowd of 12,000 was on its feet shouting, yelling and stamping as a result of the last round. It had been Hamas’ fighting heart that kept him from sprawling on the floor as he weathered the pummelings of Lasky’s left jabs and right hooks. Both men had stood in the middle of the ring and traded blow for blow with Hamas weakening under the terrible punishment he received. And now, the crowd was expectantly awaiting the decision.
Joe Humphries stepped to the center of the resined ring and bellowed through the microphone, “The Judges have disagreed.”… A howl of protest greeted his announcement. Humphries raised his hands and the crowd, including the dollar boys way up in the rafters, was silenced. He continued, “The referee has awarded the fight to Hamas.”
Bedlam broke loose. The crowd jeered the decision with the usual gusto and relish that greets a typical Garden verdict. It was completely unsatisfactory because the better man had been robbed of a victory.
Art Lasky heard the news without the slightest apparent emotion. He congratulated Hamas as the latter’s manager was pouring bucketfuls of water over the head of the Penn State Pride to bring him out of his trance.
Lasky then climbed through the ropes and walked down the aisle to his dressing room with head high and shoulders back. Not a trace of the despair and anguish which he must have felt on his face.
The crowd, whether they had come as rooters of Steve Hamas or not, hailed this splendid demonstration of good sportsmanship with a burst of cheers that shook the Garden arena.
LOST BY UNINTENTIONAL PUNCH
In the fourth round Lasky’s glove unintentionally side-swiped Hamas’ face in a backward slap. This, my friends, was the referee’s reason for awarding the fight to Hamas. Otherwise he said he would have voted for Lasky but the latter had infringed upon the rules and lost that round which, had it lasted thirty seconds longer would have seen Frank Merriwell Hamas biting the resin.
Then again, it claimed that the victor’s superior boxing in the early stages of the fight offset the late drive of Lasky. Hamas outboxed Lasky in the first two rounds but Art toyed with his rival as a cat with a mouse after that.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH OF ‘FIGHTING JEW’
Lasky is no stranger to readers of this column. He has figured prominently on this page and because he is an up and coming fighter he will be featured here time and again. However, we feel that it would be for the best for boxing fans to brush up a bit on the Lasky background.
Art is an orthodox Jew. At present he is a resident of Los Angeles. He lives with his mother and sister and a younger brother, Eli. He is investing his ring earnings in a string of gas stations. He is twenty-five years old and first saw the light of day at Grassville, Minn. Stands six feet two and one half inches. Fighting weight, 128 pounds. His parents emigrated from Russia in 1904 after a progrom in their town.
Did not train during the high holidays. Originally he worked as a farm hand on a Minnesota potato farm. It was brother Maurice who induced him to go into the fight business after Art walloped the daylights out of him in one of those friendly kid bouts.
Lasky has had forty-five bouts, scoring thirty-three knockouts. He has never been knocked off his feet either in the gym or in the ring. Wears a size fourteen shoe, the same size as Carnera but the brogans are not as large in width as Primo’s. “Mine are canoes and Carnera’s are rowboats, explains Art.
Lasky fought his first battle on May 21, 1930 at Waterloo, Iowa. He knocked out Percy Campbell in two rounds. “Funny Napoleon was stopped at Waterloo by Wellington,” interrupted brother Maurice, who as had some schooling, “and Art began his victorious career at Waterloo.”
It was Lasky who practically ended the fistic trail of “leaping Lena’s” keed brudder, King Levinsky.
ASKS RETURN BOUT WITH HAMAS
General John J. Phelan, maestro of that most august body known as the State Boxing Commission, has advised that while nothing can be done about the decision that was awarded to Steve Hamas on Friday the commission would consider Lasky’s protest against Hamas’s being accepted as recognized challenger for the heavyweight title.
Maurice Lasky and Gig Rooney, co-pilots of the Jewish fighter, appeared before the commission yesterday afternoon armed with movies and photographs of the particular round in question—the fourth. The stills, especially, showed the disputed blow from the moment Lasky started swinging to the follow through. At no time did the backhand slap strike Hamas’s head.
“When we saw it was no go as far as the decision was concerned,” said Art yesterday, “we made a protest against Steve Hamas being accepted on the strength of his decision over me as No. 1 challenger for the title.”
Your sports scribe asked him what argument had so impressed Phelan and the boy from the West Coast replied: “It was our contention that any contest fought for the purpose of establishing a contender for the heavyweight crown should be over the fifteen-round route. Otherwise how could the commission be satisfied that a prospective challenger could go that distance? We had signed for the Hamas match on the condition that the fight should be over the championship distance.”
If the New York Boxing Commission backed him up and Hamas still displayed no interest in a return match, what then?
“Then I stand ready to fight Max Schmeling or any one the Garden nominates to fight me for the right to the bout with Baer next Summer.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
