Salt Lake Telegram | 1940-02-14 | Page 26 | Benny Leonard Says Paychek Will Beat Joe Louis in Title Bout

Benny Leonard Says Paychek Will Beat Joe Louis in Title Bout By WINTHROP LYMAN DES MOINES, Iowa, Feb. 14 (UP) Benny Leonard, retired re-tired undefeated king of lightweights, climbed out on a limb today and predicted that Johnny Paychek will dethrone Jo .Louis as heavyweight champion when they meet in New York ( : J Bmmj Lhums Taia ! , mer king of the llghtwelghta, and ranked aa n of the greatest great-est boxers af all time. Insists Johnny Paychek will defeat Jo Louis when they meet la a heavyweight title bout swat spring. next April. ' Leonard has more than passing Interest In the forthcoming fight because he will train Paycheck. Right now, the former lightweight light-weight champion Is training the Des Moines golden gloves, team. Louis Makes Mistake "Louis made his first mistake in boxing when he agreed to risk his title against Paychek," Leonard Leon-ard said. "I know what I'm talking about because I trained Johnny for his second bout with Maurice Strickland Strick-land last summer and lived with him for three weeks. I boxed with him, did road work with him and taught him how to throw his right hand. And I'm not whistling past a graveyard when I say that Paychek Pay-chek can really punch with his right." - - Leonard Insisted that Louis was slowing up. The champion's showing show-ing against Arturo Godoy fur-, nlshes ample proof ot that, he said. "I've always contended that It would take a boxed like Paychek to beat Louis," Leonard said. "Johnny has one of the best left hands In the business and will be able to jab Louis whenever he wants to. Another factor Is that Louis can be hit with a right hand. Max Schmeling proved that, and Paychek throws a shorter right than Schmeling. Payehek Is Ready "I thought Paychek would need another year of fighting before he would be ready for a shot at the title. But I've changed my mind. He's ready right now." Paychek, who has won 33 of his last 34 bouts, did much of his fighting in Des Moines before Harold Stelnman took over his management from Pinkie George. The one battle he lost was a decision de-cision to Strickland in their first meeting here. In the second encounter, en-counter, Paychek won a newspaper news-paper decision. Leonard, in a long distance conversation con-versation with Steinman yester-1 yester-1 day, agreed to train Paychek for : the Louis fight. He plans to leave for New York Marish 1 and take Paychek to a training camp in the country for intensive preparation.