Show 0 FIVE NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED I IN 1926 WITHOUT A SINGLE K Judges Referee Determine Five Ring Titles t tunney Latzo Mandell Delaney Morgan i. i Gain Crowns CroWDs During Year i j i By Robert Edgren n The rho year 1926 saw the most ai amazing shUt In ring championshIps champion champion- ships In all the history ot of a sport th has just gone through Its most c season sason fn the tl 6 past twelve e months five tive cl l s iO-s were dethroned five new I made without a single J ino f iut Five worlds world's champion champion- sW titles passed on the verdict ot of I Iu c u ge and referee Incidentally m more re moneY was paid for these five tf offerings than ever has been paid tor real fights ts that ended as as' asri ri 1 bouts bouts' should end set set- punch that makes ot- ot I guessing unnecessary When 1926 ended there were only tko vo hod holdover ver champions left lett fr from m tile year before and both were in Iii inv w v ight classes that have been r cognized c- c in the as official only past few years Two Tw perhaps Classes three are without champions whose claims to the honors are recognized beyond the limits of a state o 01 a few tew states There is no real featherweight or bantamweight champion There is really no worlds world's lIghtweight lightweight lIght lIght- weight champion although Mandell is called lightweight champion Inthis in inthis this country because he another boxer who had a a champ But the most startling thing In this title business is the passing tf ot heavyweight light heavyweight middleweight welterweight and lightweight titles without a a knock knock- without out evex a knockdown Boxing commercialized to the limit seems to have become as gentle as asping ping pong as innocuous as puss in inthe the corner as meek mild bland docile and pacific as one ot of those domino championship meets the New York Athletic club holds every winter In the little back room on the fourth floor L LACKED PUNCH Gene Tunney tool took the worlds world's heavyweight championship from J Jack ck Dempsey in the Philadelphia stadium under the eyes ot of spectators tors who had paid in nearly tw two million dollars at the gate Dempsey when he was Dempsey i iw w Wasa sQ real champion fit to be c compared com com- m- m pared with any ot of the timers old like Sullivan and Fitzsimmons and jeffries That night in Philadelphia Philadel- Philadel phia there was only a trace ot of the theold theold old Dempsey Jack still atm had hiS fighting heart He carried the sight fight steadily to Tunney who Js is purely 21 L defensive tighter fighter and a good Pot For some reason I lacked some part ot of his sp sped d' d dand and punch so that instead l shing Tunney oft off in a couple as the Dempsey Dempsy who Willard at Toledo might h edone he led blows without his usual suaI accuracy and snap and speed d took a counter punching brough ten rounds that beat him de' de decisively There was no question question- the tact fact that Dempsey was b beaten baten aten In the last two rounds he see and even then he had strength enough to weather Tunney's Tunney's Tun- Tun ney's blows and finish without so much as a quivering ot of the knees without a letup in his blind rushes that he sun still hoping against hope by blind luck land a knockout knockout knock knock- out blow and win a fight hopelessly I Tunney with Dempsey unable to see his blows coming couldn't finish tin fin ish his man and had to be satisfied with winning the worlds world's heavyweight heavy heavy- w weight championship for the first time i IA ring history on a mere mere de de- a ision-a ten round decision at that NOT DECISIVE The Delaney win over Berlenbach was was much less much decisIve less c complete but the decision that gave S the light heavyweight title was earned Berlenbach had grown ten or or so beyond th the class weight limit He had to train that extra weight ot off He had to take oft two or three pounds the day ot of the weighing In Perhaps this weakened him He carrIed the fight to Delaney steadilY ran intO int many hard punches del delivered vered a few that hurt and then began to blow up As r I remember the tight fight Berlenbach Berlenbach Berlen- Berlen bach looked a sure winner In the eighth round when some ot of his heavy body smashes sent Delaney r reeling about the ring in evident dIstress But Delaney is a masterly boxer He stalled a little recovered back hard Berlenbach must have shot his bolt trying to S with a knockout In his one onee e round for tor he weakened weaken d became slower lost his punch In the last co ecu ecu- 1 e ot of rounds Berlenbach was stagS stag stag- S j ipg g and lunging wildly and Dc- Dc laney y was knocking his head off ott pl master mast r ot of the fighting as tar far as It went S Tunney might have knocked out Dempsey In two rounds more because be- be cause Dempsey couldn't see to defend de- de fend himself Delaney might have knocked out Berlenbach in another round I because he had Paul reeling S and ana weak and Delaney Is a real realS' realS S' S fighter with a guaranteed k o. o But what might have Deen S doesn't go Into the record books THREE WAYS THREE Flowers Harry winning the middleweight He gave Marry a r return match some time later ater and andS S this affair his lead was ever more decisive But he never came within S ot of knocking Greb out He S 1 ver ver had Greb rocking He simply Greb and that's all there was s to it Then Flowers fought l Walker In Chicago ten rounds rounds' to a decision and he blew the champion Mickey dropped Flowers for tor about three sec and he fought furiously but there were times when it looked as ifS it if S l jowers would more than even the count and when It was over the decision transferring the middle middle- title to Mickey was appl ap- ap pl ded by one half hal ot of the crowd and loudly booed bY the other and there was all sorts of over it an I commission investigations and squabbles and rumors and sq squawks of various kinds It would have been much more satisfactory It if Mickey had socked Tiger or Tiger had socked Mickey for tor a ten second count After Atter the fight it came out that Flowers would have received it if h hed he'd d woO won and received d as loser the larger sum beIng being be- be Ing presumably posted as a guarantee guarantee guar guar- antee that Walker would give 1 low Flow Flowers lowers ers a return match within ninety days Later Kearns said Walker could have a return match on one condition and only one He must must provide to be paid Mickey as Mickey's end It doesn't look likely at this that Walker will will- risk his title without putting a chain and padlock and on it WELTERWEIGHT STRUGGLE Latzo beat Mickey Walker taking tal- tal ing the referees referee's and won the the worlds world's welterweight that Mickey had been sporting ever since he won It on points from the aged Sack Jack Britton Theres no doubt that Latzo earned the decision Walker Valker was in a slump for a year ear or 01 so and some somes s say y it was be ause MIckey became a 11 favorite in ij Kearns Kearns' social set after Kearns signed on as manager and some say it was was because Mickey had grown big bg and couldn't get near near the welterweight limit without weakenIng himself himsel Walker lost to Latzo who Is a good tive fighter and a a tough bird for anyone to mix with and then he went on and was be beaten ten into a pugilistic by Joe Dundee of the Baltimore same Joe Dundee who was recently knocked kicking and counted out In a bout wIth a novIce from up in the northwestern northwest northwest- em ern woods In fact Mickey was evidently all through as a welterweight welterweight welter welter- weight and until he won from Flowers most ot of the fight fans who saw saV him massacred by thought he was all through as a fighter Joe Dundee by the way is going to get another chance with Eddie Roberts the boy vho v knocked him out in a round in San Francisco They are t tO fight at Madison Square Garden in New York January January Janu- Janu ary 14 It If Roberts can knock the tough ra s 's rapper ou out t again hell he'll put sonic some life into the welterweight welterweight welter welter- weight division He to have that rare thing In these days days-a genuine knockout p punch SYNTHETIC AFFAIR In Iii 1925 the lightweight championship champion champion- ship went from jimmy Goodrich to Rocky Kansas on a round fifteen decisIon Goodrich was a New NewYork NewYork York state commission champion having won a tournament h held ld in New York which the commission modestly presented t to the public as its Idea o of the way to make a the worlds ch champion to shoes of Benny Leonard retired Of course it would have been Justas just justas' justas as as' as logical to name mime as worlds champIon the winner ot of a tournament tournament tour tour- held In El Paso Texas or Juneau Alaska but h was vas va's York worlds champion in New state and he lost the title to Rocky Kansas in Buffalo h made Rocky the champ so to speak Rocky Kansas lost this somewhat synthetic championship t tO Sammy randell Mandell in 1926 in hi the fashiOnable way through a referees referee's decision Sammy Is a neat cleve clever boxer and anda a dandy baseball and basketball player and he RockY easily Probably h he cOuldn't have knocked Rocky out it hed he'd had the whole year 1926 to dd It in Benny Leonard was a regular champion and Benny used to flatten flatten flat flat- ten them But the latest trIo of lightweight champions haven't a knockout punch between them Rocky Kansas knocked out somebody somebody some some- body in 1921 and a couple ot of unknown unknown un- un known hams in 1925 and hadn't been knocked ut himself In years ot of fighting except by Benny Leonard Leon LeoO- ard in 1922 and Luis Vincentin In 1924 Goodrich won about one on fight in with a knockout and Mandell l about one in sixteen Boxing as often as these young gentlemen gentlemen gen gen- did it would be odd If they couldn't find tind enough easy marks during any anyone one year to keep up that average MORGAN FIGHTER The junior lightweight title is owned by a real fighter a boy who boxes and knows how to hit Tod Morgan knocked out Ballerino In Inthe inthe the tenth round ot of a a. western fight and It was a real knockout noth Ing technical about it Morgan fought well this past year and is isa isa a champion and likely to last another year or or two or be dangerous among the lightweights if he grows a little bigger Morgan I always tights fights lIe He is one ot of those rare birds who never play safe Fidel LaBarba flyweight chain chain- pion now matched against Elky Clark of England Is another holdover holdover hold hold- over champion from the year be- be tore fore A very good tighter fighter when Inthe in inthe the mood and a good wrestler and sprinter when engaged In the modera modern mod mod- era ern champions champion's pastime of taking no risks with the title Johnny Dundee was the last genuine featherweight champion Johnny retired and lately tried to toI reclaim his title on the ground tha that I he thought his synthetic successors were a joke He was right at that Kid Kaplan commission champion champion cham pion retired because he grew too heavy peavy tried to tight fight among th the lightweights and was knocked out almost before he was fairly started The bantam class once boasting such great champions as Terry McGovern McGovern Mc- Mc Govern and George Dixon both feather teather titleholders too Is on the rocks as tar far as having a ch m- m pion is concerned There are some good bantams though and this year may develop one who looks like a champion Copyright 1927 by The Bell BelI Syndicate Inc |