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Slants on Sports

July 16, 1934
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The art of “modified murder,” as our old friend, the late Bill McGeehan of the Herald Tribune called the fight game, is booming. There are big doings along murderers’ row. The cauli flower market reached new peaks of popularity with the last two important bouts and its stock is still soaring upward to the stratosphere regions.

Barney Ross will swing into action soon for two championship battles. These words carry good news to boxing fans the country over. It means that the question of Irish, Italian or Jewish supremacy in the resined arena may be settled for 1934. For the Jewish lad from Chicago, lightweight and welterweight king of the world, has signed to meet Poison Jimmy McLarnin the night of September 6 in the Madison Square Garden Bowl. Sixty days after this tussle he has been ordered by that august and sedate (pronounced outof-date) body known as the boxing commish to fight a third battle against the scrappy Italian, the popular Tony Canzoneri, in defense of his lightweight laurels.

WHAT A PROGRAM, BUT WHAT A MAN!

After the first Canzoneri-Ross battle when Barney, a comparatively unknown scrapper, handed Tony a terrific pasting and took the Italian’s crown away, cries of fake, fluke and fumph were heard in every pool room and bowling alley in all way stations and whistle stops of the nation. Barney gave Tony a second fight and proved conclusively that everything fake meant everything jake and the boxing boys were satisfied.

Likewise with McLarnin the Irish “keened” all over the sidewalks of New York, claiming that “their Jimmy wus robbed.” The Jewish fans were adamant and shouted “Barney by a mile.” So did the sportswriters around town with the exception of fight judge O’Rourke, who still believes that Jimmy won eleven out of the fifteen rounds. This fight will really settle who is the better man.

When Barney meets McLarnin for the second time in defense of his newly-acquired welterweight crown he will have to be near 140 pounds. McLarnin, according to contract, will tip the beams at 147. Which means that the champ is giving away a chunk of weight that will prove a huge barrier to success. Barney can do this and still win. He spotted the Vancouver Irishman five pounds in their last tussle and kept on top all through. The fight against Jimmy even at this great weight disadvantage seems the easiest part of the program.

The difficulty lies in the fact that he will have to shake off five pounds of fighting edge, energy, and pep to reach the lightweight limit of 135 in order to defend his other crown against Canzoneri. The latter, as we all know, is nobody’s “pun#hie.” to a fighter in the pink of condition, and Ross will be in top form after he has met McLarnin September 6, the loss of a pound means the ability to last another round or to keep on his feet when the going starts getting hot and tough. He has but two months to prepare for the lightweight scrap after the welter tussle. This is the thorny side of a man’s holding two pugilistic crowns at one time.

WE PREDICT A ROSS VICTORY OVER MCLARNIN SEPT. 6

We’d like to go on record and say right here and now that as a result of the last McLarnin-Ross fight we think Barney is due to win again. However, two weeks before the fight we’ll make our prediction officially. At this stage of the game, before either of the two boys begin training, we have only the last meeting as a basis of conjecture. Mind you, we know that Jimmy is a grand fighter, that he has dynamite in his right hand. We also are acquainted with the fact that he is known as “Poison Jimmy” the first and second times around. Yet we heard this same story before the bout.

But because we feel that Barney is a better fighter, a smarter boxer, with greater ring finesse and polish than his opponent we predict a victory for the Jewish lad.

THE BOXING CONTEST

We will give two ringside tickets to the Barney Ross-Jimmy McLarnin fight to the person sending in the best letter, in one hundred words, on “The Greatest Jewish Prizefighter of All Time.” The contest still has two weeks to run, so be sure to get your letters in as soon as possible. Also, clip the heading of this column, “Slants on Sports,” and send it in to your sports commentator.

There will also be seven other prizes, to boxing matches and wrestling bouts, to the winners of the contest.

THE SPORTING CALENDAR FORT HAMILTON POST—WRESTLING TOMORROW NIGHT

The feature wrestling exhibition at Fort Hamilton Tuesday evening will bring into action George Hagen, champ of the U. S. Marines a few years ago, and Mike Romano, idol of the Italian fans.

Others on the card will be Hans Steinke, the German Oak, at grips with Joe Komar, and Gene Bruce tackling Vocluso and Zelezniak opposing Emil Stevens.

We get to like this club more and more with every visit to the Post. Sergeant Cowan is the perfect host. Try this club, you’ll enjoy it.

CONEY ISLAND VELODROME—BOXING TOMORROW NIGHT

Pete De Grasse meets Jerry Mazza, the Brooklyn hell-cat, in the eight-round semi-final at the Velodrome. The main bout offers Joe Rossi, of the East Side, and the Coco Kid, the New Haven flash. The winner will be pitted against Tony Falco at the Velodrome in the near futur.

NEW YORK COLISEUM—WRESTLING

Dick Shikat, former world’s champion, will meet Mehmet You-soff, the terrible Turk, in the feature finish event at the Open Air Stadium, Starlight Park, next Tuesday evening.

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