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Show McLemore Says McLarnin Won't Fight Again for Any Purse 45vY By HENRY McLEMORE United Pratt Sport. Writer HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 28 Jimmy McLsrnln's got enough and had enough. He Isn't fighting any more. There lent a promoter with a big enough bankroll to entice the former welterweight champion .back Into the ranks of the fighting fight-ing men. The one-time "bsby-fsce killer" has fallen for two baby faces his wife's snd thst of his dsughter, Ellen Kathleen. Golf and gardening have got him, too, and around the Lakeside Country club he is better known as "Squire McLarnin" than "Champ." He would rather fuss sround his garden at home, take Ellen Kathleen Kath-leen for a walk, or play s dollar Nassau with s couple of pels, thsn get S40.000 tor sticking a left hand in somebody's face or knocking them stiff with a right to the Jaw. I saw Jimmy todsy snd asked him about the offer he had received re-ceived from Promoter Mike Jacobs Ja-cobs to fight the winner of the Henry Armstrong-Ceferlno Garcia Gar-cia bout In New York later In the year. He didn't answer right away, because he had a big putt coming up against Johnny lisr-tan) lisr-tan) Welsmuller. He holed It for a 75 and his grin when he took two dollars from Johnny wss wider thsn any, I ever saw him put on after winning In a ring. For a moment I expected him to execute the famous cartwheel he always did after winning a fight. 'There Isn't sny oiler I could get that would make me change my mind," he ssld. "I told you s couple of years ago I was finished fin-ished with fighting, snd I meant it. Llssen I had more thsn my shsre of thst business." "I weighed Just 62 pounds when I hsd my first fight," he ssid. "I wasn't even a paperweight. I was sn smsteur then, but I stsrted fighting for a living when I was 14 and had just 18 years of It. Unless Un-less you've been a fighter you Jimmy MeLarnln . . . Once hailed th hardest puncher, pound for pound. In the world, this former fighter scoffs at proposal to match him with winner win-ner at Armstrong-Oarcla bout. can't possibly understand what a long, long time that. is. Starting at 62 pounds, I kept fighting right until I weighed 145. In my time I climbed a hundred times or more Into the ring sgainst fellows who didn't have but one aim to knock my head off." ' McLarnln'a fights weren't setups, set-ups, either. Sitting there In the club we figured out that he fought no fewer than 13 champions of the world st oneHlme or another. There were Joe Glick, Sammy Mandell. Bud Taylor, Barney Ross, Tony Csmonerl, Al Singer, Lou Ambers, Fidel LaBarba, Young Jack Thompson, Jsckie Fields and Lou Brouilllard, to name a few. And there was a fair country hitter hit-ter by the name of Billy Petrolle, too. |