Show I Speaking of o Sports Sport Heavies I in Line I For Conn After Lesnevich Win By fly y HO ROBERT ERT McSHANE 1 14 II JE f-JE E NEVER hurt me But Dut I had the feeling I 1 never hurt hurl him either Its It's Billy Dilly Conn talking the shanty Irish kid who had just finished pummeling pum pum- meling out a round 15 decision over Gus Cus Lesnevich New Jersey light light- heavyweight challenger The bout was Conns Conn's second successful defense de tense of his title In those nurse few words Conn presented present present- ed his past pasi ring history and foretold foretold foretold fore fore- told his bis coming pugilistic career Too speedy and clever dever to get hurt hart by boxers boers id 14 his own class dass he lacks the wallop of a punishing fighter tighter Conn won the crown from Crom Mello Melio Bettina in a close dose Madison Square Garden fight A month later the handsome likeable Pittsburgh hopeful hope ful tut invaded the heavyweight ranks against Gus Dorazio at Philadelphia A little more than two months ago he made his first title defense against Betting In Pittsburgh Billy Dilly won both fights lie Ile is exceptionally clever and shifty and Is as game as any fighter fight fight- er in the ring today but he is conceded conceded con con- ceded very little chance of stepping a sa I I y dr b if t f Y CHAMPION BILLY CONN out of the light-heavyweight light ranks and winning the heavyweight title from Joe Louis the Louis the ultimate goal at which both Conn and his manager manager man man- ager alter Johnny Ra Ray are aiming There are two very good reasons why Conn Corns isn't expected to set the heavyweight world on Its ear To begin with Billy Isn't heavy beavy enough and and probably never will wID be to be-to to fight light Louis And he be never will be beable beable beable able to hit hard enough to stop Louis Tunney Did It It Is true that Gene Tunney outgrew outgrew outgrew out out- grew the light heavyweight ranks to whip Jack Dempsey but the cases are not parallel Tunney was a big bigman bigman Ills His chassis chassis chassis chas chas- man large was a sis which could carr carry pounds with ease Conn isn't built that way He lie Is small boned and It is doubtful that his best fighting weight will ever be more than pounds I Theres There's no question but that he could give big slow-moving slow heavyweights heavy I weights more than they could han ban die dle Tommy Loughran Longhran proved what a clever light heavyweight could do against more weighty opponents even though he was far from a heavy bitter hitter Dot But Joe Louis Is Just Justas as a. fast Just as clever dever Just as game as any light heavyweight and Is the deadliest puncher In the ring today It is likely that Billy will win his share shue of oC battles in the heavyweight division Boxing history is studded with the names of light-heavies light who could and did whip big slow-moving slow bums with no trouble at all aU It is only natural He is fast enough to cut a cumbersome opponent to rib rib- bons The fact that he cant can't deliver I a lethal blow wont won't keep him from Crom t picking up decisions here and there r Talent Mopped Up In his own weight class against I 1 Lesnevich who bo was the New York state stale athletic commissions commission's No 1 I contender Conn didn't take the brakes off oR his hi darting left Jab until the fourth round From then on 00 he looked good In the eleventh and thirteenth rounds he be had Lesnevich groggy hanging clinching and lean lean- Ing But ui he couldn't finish him lie He lacked larked a knockout punch By Dy winning the decision from Crom Les Les- Conn Just about mopped up all ail the suitable talent In his weight class That's why both he and Manager Man Man- ager alter Ray flay want to crack the heavy ranks and eventually meet Joe JoeLouis Louis The fact that he would woold be attacking attack ing lug a giant killer with a fly swatter elicits from his supporters supporter the remark remark remark re re- re- re mark that you fOU cant can't have every everl thing Giving away 20 0 pounds pound to a heavyweight heavy beavy- weight weicht as fast lut and dangerous as Louis Is II tantamount to handing an opponent a small ax after the opening open open- In lug ing bell sounds Its It's still lUll reasonably reasonably reason bly safe ufe to remark that a good rood big bigman bigman man can whip a good rood little man That's what Conn CODD Is la-a la a good little man It may well be that all aU th the concern con eon cern anent Cones Conn's proposed fight tight with Joe cuts Is futile He hasn't earned the right to fight the champ yet et Some heavyweight Bob heavyweight Bob Pastor Pastor Pas Pu- tor for Cor instance Instance may may change the complexion of things before the hopes of Conn and Johnny Ray are realized Sport SpOiL Shorts ART ART SCHILLIG smashing New NewYork York university end likes boa constrictors as pets He keeps two of oC the 20 foot 20 foot snakes In his home Inthe in inthe inthe the Bronx Gordon former Red Wing and Jack Crawford Crawford Craw ford Cord were the only men to play In all 64 Boston Doston Bruin games during their drive to the Stanley cup last year Lefty r 1 ODoul manager of the San Francisco I 11 1 Seals Is operating a tavern in the coast t. t aS a'S I city cit When Pitt beat Duke 14 to 13 4 s' s this season It was l I the first point one-point defeat for Cor a team t t V coached by Wallace Wade In his 21 years as a Coot football ball coach Lefty ODoul started 17 times as asa a 1 year two-year-old before he won a race Fritz Crisler never has been the winning coach In a Minnesota Minnesota- Michigan game His Minnesota teams team were defeated In 1930 and 1931 7 to 0 and 6 to 0 O. His Ills Michigan Michigan Michi Michl gan teams have lost 7 to 6 and 20 to 7 in fn the past two seasons In six games five Big Dig Ten and one against Southern California three University of Illinois players played more than minutes They were Fullback George Tackle Jim Reeder and Quarterback Ralph Ehni Cornell basketball ll squads including varsity Junior varsity and frosh trash will play 46 games this sea seaS season son Ten seniors in the Notre Dame lineup played their final game In the Southern Irish-Southern California tilt Tom lien Henrich rich of the Yankees keeps In condition durin during the winter b by playing hockey with an amateur team In Massillon Ohio his home hometown hometown town Paul Martinovich of the Detroit Lions missed only one point after touchdown in three years at College of the Pacific A. A L L. Statistics INTERESTING sidelights on the 1939 American league campaign were released recently by the leagues league's service bureau Statistics show that not one of the Chicago White While Sox pitchers succeeded succeed ed In chalking op up a win over each of the seven rival clubs In 10 sharp contrast was the work of Cleveland Cleveland's Cleveland's Cleve Cleve- lands land's Bob Dob Feller who won a majority majority majority ma ma- of his games against every rival club while chalking chaikin up his 24 victories Feller in fashioning the leagues league's best record won six straight from Detroit two from St. St Louis three out of five from Boston New York and Washington five out of seven from Crom Chicago and two out of three from Crom Philadelphia Ted Lyons finished with the best Sox percentage winning 14 U and losing losing los los- In ing six BIx He lie beat Washington four times In five games losing the other one on his bl own error Feller FeUer and Dutch Leonard of the Senators were for effectiveness effectiveness effectiveness against first division teams Each won 11 games and lost six Kindest to opponents were Washington Washington Wash Wash- ington pitchers Ken Chase and Joe Krakauskas Chase lost five to Cleveland and Krakauskas the same number to Detroit |