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Show V J 1GAMIAND 1 " TIT'HATEVER happens, one way i ' or another, the ring party of the year will take place in Chicago, with Tony Zale and Rocky Graziano at the head of the receiving line. These two gave the big party oi 1946, last summer in New York. They turned in one i V""T ' 0f the greatest ring shows of all time, and you can turn 1 s I the clock back to Abel and Cain or I f ' f David and Goliath. I Few appreciate I w the number of " 4 ereat fighters who j have figured in , $ past middleweight fy.ss,. .j? championships. The n nnri list is one of the R. Graziano , , .... . most brilliant in boxing history. It includes Jack Dempsey, the nonpareil, from 1883 to 1895. After that we find such names as Bob Fitzsimmons, Tommy Tom-my Ryan, Kid McCoy, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Stanley Ketchel, : Billy Papke, Frank Klaus, Harry i Greb, Tiger Flowers and Mickey Walker. Here you find many of the three-starred three-starred names of ring history, ; These men have written chapters that never will be forgotten by those who follow the leather throwers. throw-ers. Dempsey Fitzsimmons " McCoy Ketchel Greb Walker Walk-er ; slip us six greater names from the roped-in sector of sport. No one can yet class Zale or Graziano with the six leaders we have named. We doubt that either belongs with these six masters, although al-though Dempsey is well beyond oui lay and time. But the old-timers ol other years have told us he belongs around the top. Certainly no one can argue the worth of Fitzsim mons, McCoy, Ketchel, Greb and Walker. They also could handle heavyweights, especially Ruby Robert, one of the great fighters ol , all time, a boxer and terrific , puncher with middleweight legs and a heavyweight body, still a great fighter at the age of 45. Best Since Walker We doubt very much that Zale or ! Graziano would have any great ' amount of luck against those men tioned above. But the two, Zale and Graziano, are a big Improvement over those who have come along since the Toy Bulldog, meaning Mickey Walker, traded his boxing gloves for an artist's brush, Zale and Graziano proved this part of the argument in a meeting ! that had even more action than the stars of the past ever turned In. Melodrama may not mean skill oi class. But it happens to be something some-thing the public likes to see, when it is ably handled. In 1939, the middleweight stew included a weird mixture undei the names of Solly Kreiger, Al Hos-tak Hos-tak and Ceferino Garcia. They wen merely flllers-in. In 1940, Zale arrived as thi NBA crown holder. Tony has beer wearing the middleweight crowr ever since, including a long wai lapse from 1941 up through 1945. j While Zale was in war service i young, hard punching roughneck b'3 the name of Graziano came along ' like a Midwestern tornado. Grazl ano was blessed with one great rinf 1 asset. He could punch. He was sever any too smart and he wai never much of a boxer. He wai j never particular about observinj any rules, as he proved in his meet ' ing with Marty Servo, whom h) 1 fouled and almost wrecked, j In a. way Graziano was somethinj j a softened-up ring needed. He wa; rough, tough, a braggart, but afte; all a fighter and a puncher. He wa; also a crowd pleaser, and a valu able entry at the gate. Rocky had built up a bigger par of his reputation at wrecking oppo 1 nents who were badly outweighed I He wasn't so hot when It came t ! a matter of pound for pound. Tony Can Take It In his meeting with Zale the chal lenger did about everything, excep remove Zale's headpiece. When saw Rocky nail Zale with a ful right to the jaw, saw Tony gi through the bottom rope, appar ently bleeding at every open pon around the head in one of the earl; rounds, the fight seemed to be over But Zale got up and kept cominj on. The defending champion con tinued to take a terrific beating His eyes seemed glazed and hi knees were wobbling. Here wa about as game an exhibition as any one ever had seen in the ring. Zale was dazed and dizzy. He hat taken the heaviest artillery Graal ano could throw. And then sud denly, after a body attack, it wa Graziano who crumpled to the floo and took the count. This closed out one of the mos dramatic meetings the ring eve has seen, looking back to the day of Jem Mace or John Lawrenc Sullivan. Zale, a first-class boxer, sui prised one by inability to keep hi chin and features away fron Rocky's right hand. But Zale sui prised one even more by his ur believable ability to soak up all thi punishment and still have noug! left for a body knockout |