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Show Others Surpass U. S. In Boxing By PETE FRITCHIE The hard fact of life for U.S. boxing enthusiasts is that both Russia and East Germany Ger-many have now surpassed us in this sport in which the U.S. was for ' many years dominant. AN EAST German team recently came to the U.S. and handily licked the U.S. amateur ama-teur team. The Russians have been beating us, most of the time, in recent years. The U.S. alibi is that the Communists are pros, but this isn't exactly true. What the Communists have going for them, and what they profit by, is a state sports program on a very lavish scale. ATHLETES ARE encouraged en-couraged and facilities provided, and the best possi-. , ble instruction offered, by the state. Sport is considered one part of the government's function. The results have been very improive in a number of Communist countries, most notably Russia and East Germany. Ger-many. EAST GERMANY, a country with only 18 million citizens, is now besting U.S. amateur teams in various sports. They were about on a par, overall, counting all sports, in the last Olympics. Russian athletes, of course, earned more medals than competitors from any other country. ALL OF which shows what broad government backing of athletic training for all can accomplish. |