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Show ylfay"y 'y Trt"'U 'y yy yry ilyr yyTnyniy y Hy ay ryry mypyi iyi lor Sports Information t fake Call 237-200- 1 I eelion C Spirts Mirror t I i I sX- ; Salt Lake City, Utah Saturday Morning June Sp o t" 1 lor Kecordvd 5 Call Local 23 Champ Stops Rival in 13th At first glance, you nught assume he was stioll around garbed appropriately for a the city, but Kazuyoshi Kurnori is a peaceful man. despite his warlike equipment. Most of the time, this former resident of Japan is a cook at the Benihana of Tokyo Restaurant, but during his spare time hes a devotee of the sport of ht LAS VEGAS. Nev i.P' Larry Holmes knocked down Gerry Cooney in the second round, almost knocked him out of the ring m the sixth and battered him into submission m the 13th to ictam the Win Id Boxing Council heavyweight championship lridax night It the 1.5th. Holmes landed nine straight right hands to Cooney then an uppercut Then he landed several mole shots to the head as Cooney reeled back to the ropes and began to fall, keeping himself Irom going completely down when he caught a strand oi the rojH's Then referee Mills Lane stopped it as Cooneys Kendo. Kendo, which really is fencing with a bamboo rod, claims to be more than 1,000 years old and Kurnori claims there are five million practitioners o( the martial art in his native country, M. Umemoto of Denver, who is the Mountain The concept of Kendo stresses tiaining and building as human character, hard mental and physical practice, the development of high spirits and energy, the respect of manners, the practice of and love of country and mankind trainer, Victor Valle, jumped into the ring It was a light ih.it had everything drama and ixiwer throughout In the ninth round, after a hard right to the head by Holmes. Cooney landed a hard punch that bent the champion over Lane then stopped the bout for about a minute to give the champion time to recover and deducted two points from the challenger lame, who warned Cooney several times ioi punching low, deducted another point in the 11th round I I A I I I y 5 i t Lon! Time Ago Kendo traces its history back to the 8th century when annual contests in the Butoku-De- n (Hall of Martial Virtue) were held in Kyoto. In its beginnings. Kendo was fought with real weaons. between rival schools. But over the last 200 years, the sport has developed a training armor and a bamboo practice sword (shinai). It is the moral and spiritual aspect of swordsmanship stressed in the education of the samurai (warrior). The prime purpose of the competition is not to win, although this is desired, but to further understanding and sportsmanship. It is this aspect of Kendo, Kurnori explained, which makes this more absorbing than other fighting sports. The fundamental basic training stresses. To ask may be moment's shame; but not to ask and shame. " Kurnori remain ignorant is a added He will be giving demonstrations Wednesday night and Sunday afternoon at the Buddhist Church in Salt Lake. life-lon- i g Larry Holmes smashes a right across challenger Gerry Coon ey's nose second round a blow which sent Cooney to the in Good Rights After Holmes landed several good right hands including two before the bell ending the 12th. the champion, who has risen to the occasion so many times m an unbeaten career, ended it at 252 of the 13th For a brief moment in the second, it looked as it Cooney would be the victim of an early knockout. After a jab and an overhand right to the jaw by Holmes, Cixiney fell to his knee and then fell over He quickly got up and took a mandatory.eight count But the Cooney rallied in the third and fourth rounds, scoring well to the body and shaking Holmes with a hook in the fourth. Holmes, who opened a cut over Cooneys left eye and a cut on his nose, scored with three good rights in the fifth, then almost ended it m the and a good next round In the sixth. Holmes landed a right-lef- t that hail the challenger wobbly and as he went backwards after more punches, he almost fell through the ropes But the Cooney fought back in the tmal 3o seconds "Igirry Holmes wants to win this fight even more than when he won the championship." said Holmes trainer. Eddie Futch Uses Skill And Holmes certainly fought that way . using all the skills he built in a career that started m 1973 and included stmts as sparring partner with Joe Fraziei and Muhammad All A typical opjionent is one that hits and doesnt move well. said Futch Holmes hit and he moved well although he got caught several times by body punches "I'm not a big bag hanging from a chain, Holmes I will fight Cooney like lie is said before the fight King Kong " Associated Press laserphotos canvas for the first time in his career. Holmes won fight. Undercard: Its Berbick, power-punchin- Tillis, Gomez LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) Canadian Trevor Berbick battered Greg Page with body blows and scored a unanimous decision over the previously undefeated heavyweight contender Friday night on the undercard of the Gerry Cooney-LarrHolmes World Boxing Council heavyweight championship match. Berbick stalked Page throughout the fight, twice knocking out his opponents mouthpiece after softening him up with lefts and rights to the midsection. Berbick, who defeated Muhammad All in his last fight in December, stunned Page in the second round. He backed him into a comer and had him sagging on the ropes before Page escaped Short Right In the sixth round, a short right to the midsection in the opening seconds put Page on the ropes again and had him reeling. In the 10th, Berbick, who weighed 218, knocked out Pages mouthpiece again. Page, who weighed 221 V2, lost for the first time in 19 professional bouts. Berbick is Page is the United States Boxing Association champion, although his title was not on the line Friday, and was ranked No. 3 by the WBC, one notch ahead of Berbick The Canadian had lost a bid for the WBC title when he was outpointed by Holmes April 11, 1981. That fight title defenses to go the was the only one of Holmes distance In other preliminaries, Wilfredo Gomez of Puerto Rica retained his WBC championship by knocking out Juan Antonio Lopez of Mexico in 1 02 of the 10th round, and James Quick" decision over Tillis scored a unanimous veteran Eamie Shavers. Knocked Down Gomez knocked down Lopez with a right to the head in the first round, then knocked him out in the 10th to make his 15th successful defense of his championship. Lopez, who had been knocked out in the seventh round of a title bid against Gomez four years ago. dropped in a heap from a right to the ribs. He jumped up and started toward Gomez but referee Davey Pearl had already counted 10 and the fight was over at 1 .02 of the 10th The champion from Puerto Rico appeared on the verge of a quick victory, but after the knockdown in the first he got a tough battle from the Mexican challenger although he dominated the action. Gomez used his greater hand speed to score well to the head and body, especially with left hooks Lopez fought back gamely but just didn't have the champions firepower. pound Gomez, who weighed 12134, under the class limit, suffered a cut over his left eye apparently from a butt near the end of the third round Lopez. 121. was cut over the left eye in the sixth AH Knockouts Gomez now has scored all 30 of his career victories by knockout. He suffered a draw in his pro debut and his only loss was when he was knocked out in the eighth round bv Salvador Sanchez in a bid for the WBC featherweight title Aug 21, 1981 Since being knocked out by Gomez April 8. 1978. Lopez had scored nine straight knockouts until Friday. His record is Lopez, who was ranked No 4 by the WBC, got his second title chance as a substitute for Roberto Rubaldinoof Mexico, who became ill last week y Soim'thinjr About Hoawwrijjhts Steve Luhm brought back memories of my first heavyweight championship fight the other mornfrom the ing. It was June 22, 1937 that I University of Iowa to Chicago and wangled a press pass (as a college editor) to see Jimmy Braddock attempt to defend his heavyweight championship against a young Joe Louis. Braddock was the Cinderella Man, who had come off the relief roles to beat Max Baer for the championship in 1935. He also was of Irish ancestry and I learned early in life never to let your heart rule your head in wagering on athletic events. Louis knocked my idol out in the eighth hitch-hike- d I ! 2,1 by States BudoKan. I 7-20- 12. 1982 country "The sport combines physical and mental tuiining, he explains, and his teacher is Harry ) Scores tltn iImIIU late-nig- I 2ri h nn e John Mooiicy i t , J yr -y-y round. The fight was held in Comiskey Park, home of the WTiite Sox and I swear the auxilliary press box, where the writers from the smaller papers were seated, was in the center field bleachers. This was long before television with its close ups on the ring and the replays and the urchins in the neighborhood sold field glasses so the public in the bleachers could see the fight "better. Actually, the glasses had no magnifying power, but by then it was too late. But imagine a ring, 400 or so feet away, and you creatures battling on a have a view of two ant-lik- e white postage stamp. That was my first view of a title fight. Even Friday night, there were fans in the outer reaches of that Las Vegas stadium who didn't have much better views of the fight. But such is the lure of the heavyweights that millions of people will pay many millions of dollars just to see two men slug it out in the most primitive of sports. Like some 5,000 people paid $25 each to see the fight on the Salt Palace screens Observation Ward Boxing is the one sport which starts out as and continues the overtime pressure every punch. "sudden-deat- h face That's Larry Holmes' glove, Gerry Cooneys disfigured Friday night. And, that's how Holmes fought Cooney, with respect for the challenger's power that had knocked out 22 opjKments m 25 fights But this time it was the (Cfoot-Cooney who couldn't go the distance and, moments after the bout was stopped, he said over the public address system from center ring, Im sorry. I'm sorry He was crying It was Coonevs first fight in 13 months and the first time he had ever gone more than eight rounds and the challenger from Huntington. N Y appeared tired after the 12th round Many boxing observers had given Cooney a big chance of winning after Holmes was knocked down by a single punch by Renaldo Snipes in the seventh round of his previous defense Nov. 7. 19S1 Holmes go up from that punch and stopped Snipes Hot Night On this hot night m this desert gambling den t crowd of 32,300 in an outdoor liefore a stadium. Holmes never appeared m danger of going down and he was not marked He showed once again he could take a heck of a wallop The majority of the crowd seemed to lie rooting for Cooney There has been a racial undertone to ever since it was announced Cooney and his managers said they thought Holmes might lx a racist but the champion scoffed a1 those charges However, he freely admitted that In thought Cooney made his way quickly up Ixixing'-laddbecause he is white The last white heavyweight champion was Ingemar Johansson of Sweden, who knocked out Floyd Patterson on June 2f. 19.59, and lost the title back on June 29 19(i(i. to Patterson Holmes 7 won bout on TKO in the 13th. 1 1 ht : near-sellou- thi-fig- ht er Larry Holmes duels with Cooney also was the glamour boy m tills light was cm the front of Sxrts Illustrated while Holmes w,i- - on the underfold heavyweight title match. mes retained his title by TKO Gerry Hol-Coone- y: exchanges punches in one-quart- Palace Fans See Show heat rocket nosing after the exhaust pipes of a jet fighter Cooney was guiic- - and lus right wasn't as bad as had (icon rejxirted But here was a fighter who could demolish opixments witfi his left, and he couldn't get the big punt h home because his opponent followed the elementary rules of boxing, of going away from an opiMinents power. Later in the fight after Holmes apparently figured he had taken charge, he quit circling and fought square away, and that provided a e couple of rounds of great lunching Cooney established himself as a man to watch in the future, after he has paid his clues and fought several times against opiKinents with contrasting styles, fighters he can beat but who will teal h him something He showed guts coinage and stamina, show mg very well in the round when he was stung by a smashing right hand and kept on top of the champion Iiii'si ape mol i sci lolls damage By John Mooney Tribune SHirts Editor Tlie official verdict gave the fight to Larry Holmes in the 13th round, but the champion won the fight by establishing his game jilan as early as the second round 50-K- Kazuyoshi Kurnori wears protective uniform used in ancient Japanese sport of Kendo Tillis recovered from the only knockdown of the fight in the ninth round to xiund Shavers in the 10th and had the jourr yman on the ropes at the final Ixdl Shavers suffered a cut over his right eye and was troubled by the injury for the final two rounds 11c tagged Tillis with an overhand right midway through the ninth round, decking lum Then Shavers swarmed in. but Tillis hung on to survive the round Tlie bout was marred by several exchanges altei the bell, and Shavers twice staggered Tillis that way in the second and fourth rounds Shavers also had the third round taken awav bv icterce Joey Curtis because of a foul g The crowd of some 5.000 in the Salt Palace was but at the end even the partisans had to admit the lietter man had won. but that for $25. the public had seen a helluv'a fight on tlie dosed circuit As the veteran Angelo Dundee had said in Friday morning's Sixirts Mirror. Holmes started out circling to his left, which nullified Cooney's hook Then, in the second round Holmes sneaked a gixxi right over a Cixmey left hook, jnd the challenger went down In less than six minutes Holmes had nullified Cooneys best punch while letting the Irishman know the Holmes' right hand was dangerous and could follow the trail of a left hand lead like a Time magazine came out with a emu that Vatured Cooney and Sylvester Stallone who gained faim as the movie fighter "Rocky Smciai times before the fight Holmes said If I wi'i they II say he couldn t fight Holmes had suffered through a massive public itv i ampaien and the media attention focused on C'oonev had dnv on him to uni h.u acterisi ie hi s of ai.gei steamy night in the Nevada desert took that anger out on Cnonev turning his face into a bloody mask Vnd on a hot Holm' might sound angry and night have an attitudi but who cares " said Ho mes i want to compliment tierry Cooney I think he's a gieat figlitei A don t on all think he has anything to tx ashamed nl should give him a round of applause Once again I ve done it again It stem hke lot of y ou liav e the hav e to continue to prove my self don't have' to w rung idea of w ho I have to prove it to didn't light H ov e it to you hav e to pi ov e to my sell tills fight for the Ibac ks or the vv lutes or the Spanish I fought It for my family and bur the people who luv e I sec no supHirted me We aie all God's children I 1 1 1 1 color Im riot ptejudieed When I sec Gerry Cooney I see a human tcine who is trving to take my head olf and I'm tiying to this ligli! Ioi my sell am! ny pioteit myself I fought lan't he what you family and people I in sol r li in a .lot I m sorry I ( an t lie Muhammad Louis oi a Leon .Spinks But I wasn't lio-- t, to he tho-- e w as mni to lie I ,ai rv Holmes 1 eieet I ! 5 4 4k kk 4k 4 0k. 0k 4k 4k 00 0k & 44 0 40 0, J0 J0 J4 40 & L 40 0k 40. J0 4k 00 00 0k 0k J0 00 4k J0 4k 40 00k J0k 00 40 4k. 40 40k |