OCR Text |
Show Twenty-One-Year-Old Bill Conn Stages Great Surprise in Outpointing Apostoli By HARRY FERUl SON Unlteel Press Sports Editor NEW YORK, Jan. T (UP) They gave us one out of the story books In ths smoke and nolsa of Madison Square Garden last night and ws're passing it along today to prove that things turn out just, like Horatio Alger aald thsy would. Every etory has Its hero, so here's to 11-year-old Billy Conn of Pittsburgh, Pitts-burgh, a gangling boy who may be eating himself into a match with Joe' Louis a rollicking, honest Irishman who scorns ths odds fate lays against success, a guy who grins when he's hurt and who comes out in ths end the winner! He came out that way last night against Fred Apostoli sfter 10 bruising bruis-ing rounds and even though no bos- Ing title was at stake, It's been a long, long time since the wise, tough fight crowd in the Garden has come to its feet, screaming like foghorns, slapping strangers on ths back and yelling. "The kid did it, the kid did it." Get the picture. Apostoli, recognised recog-nised aa middlsweight champion In New York state, was a 11 to t favorite. fa-vorite. He punches hard with both hands. He's crafty. Hs knows all ths tricks of gouging and butting. He's getting the big cut of the gate. He's confident, a little contemptuous. contemptu-ous. He's out to do a quick Job. First Appesnac. And over In the other corner Is Billy Conn, Hs's 11 years old and still growing. Evsn if hs wins and people laugh when they think ' about It he can't claim the middleweight middle-weight title because he's more than ssvsn pounds over the limit. His Isgs are thin and his shoulders are narrow. Hs's whits and gangling, six feet tall and too ehia-to eland up under the bulling and beating that Apostoli can hand out. They say hs can't punch. He's making his first appearance in the big time. Why, he doesn't even wear a mouthpiece mouth-piece and, brother, when Apostoli clouts him on ths chin Conn's going go-ing to find he has bitten off his own tongue.' So there they are and It's the old, old story. David against Goliath, Go-liath, the Oeeeks at Thermopylae, Horatlus on tho bridge and all the rest ef history's short ender whs stood np against the adda and beat tnenu Ths bell clangs In a sad sort of way almost a dirgs for Billy Conn. Apostoli rushes out, cocks his dynamite dyna-mite right and slams Billy Just ovsr the left eye. The knees that hold the long thin lege up buckle for a moment and Billy reels into his own corner. Then, like lightning in a summer sky, thsrs goes Billy's left a tab, stab, stab into Apoatoll's scowl. Thsrs were about 10,200 persons in the Garden and Billy won 10,000 of them in thoss few seconds He won ths ladies because he has a Hollywood profile and curly hair and for the rest of ths fight you could hear contralto and alto voices pleading through the roar "Kill him, Billy; kill him." Be won old time boxers because they liked the way hie left landrd ea Apoatoll's faoa before Fred could get la a counter punch. It would be nice to ssy that Billy won svsry round, but hs didn't Hs knsw he was in for a tough" fight bscauss Apostoli kspt crowding and slugging, driving him back. to the ropea and making him apit red strsama on tha whia canvaa. But ths kid hung on and bop-bop-bop want his story book left and the points piled up. So, they came to the tenth and last round and it waa so close that this one waa going to -be the pay-off. Slugging Fulton Apostoli knows it snd hs comes out slugging. Thsn Billy drops his fancy atuff, planta his heel, firmly, sticks out his Irish chin and alugs it out Tha bell rings, but they don't hear it and who could In all that yelling? . Then the announcer collects the judges' votes, stsps to ths micro-phons micro-phons and "Ths winner, Conn." It hurt your ears the way they yelled, but through It all you could hear a red faced gent in tha fifth row shouting, "I lost 60 bucks and am I glad." |