OCR Text |
Show You can imagine a tidal wave, with the white surf crashing down. You can imagine a hurricane, in the heart of a shattered town. You can imagine an earthquake, as the' reeling earth is spun. But can you imagine Joe Louis with four grenades and a gun? J?OR the moment there is the chance that Soldiers Two -might even provide snappier reading than Kipling's "Soldiers Three." Soldiers Two are Private Joe Louis and Private Billy Conn, who this next summer will give some war relief fund more financial aid than any other pair in sport could hope to furnish, in or out of uniform. A second Louis-Conn outdoor show should be good for at least a $600,000 gate, the largest take any single war fund will approach this season. It is the one major natural left. The Second Visit In the ring at Madison Square Garden recently, the contrast between be-tween slender, alert Billy Conn and the pachydermic Abe Simon was startling. Simon was facing his second Louis visit, while Conn's second trip was on ahead. Conn and Simin were 80 pounds apart in weight and a Privates Billy Conn and Joe Louis world apart in speed and skill. The contrast was a case of the rapier and the falling redwood. How Conn will make out in his second visit is something you'll be hearing about through many weeks ahead until Conn and Louis supply the answer. Whatever happens then, it will be a much more active evening eve-ning than Simon could offer. There will be 80 pounds less target and far greater elusiveness in front of the Louis barrage. And a far better fighter. Early Debating In the course of the next two or three months army life and army food will add several pounds to the present weight of both men. At least, it usually does, except in the case of the overfat. Conn can stand additional weight better than Louis can. Joe looked physically perfect at 207, so far as hand speed and power go. His mistakes mis-takes were due to an overeagerness that upset part of his timing. Just how much speed he will lose at 212 or 215 is a guess that belongs to the future. Conn could stand an extra five or six pounds, without speed cost. Appearing Ap-pearing for a minute or so in the ring just before last Friday's fight, Private Bill in his uniform looked to be thinner than half a toothpick. Conn still believes- the best punch he landed in his first Louis fight was the blow that cost him the scrap. ' "When I nailed Joe near the end of the twelfth round," he said again, "I knew I had hurt him. I knew he was tired. It was the best punch I had planted in the fight. Right there is where I made my mistake. I decided to get tough instead of getting smart. I honestly thought I could knock him out." These are merely some of the angles that will come up when the two famous army privates meet again. Poiver vs. Speed Hard punchers always have had their main trouble tangling up wilh speed or better boxing skill. You may recall the fact that in their 20 rounds Jack Dempsey could win only something like two rounds against Gene Tunney. Jack had 35 rounds in which to draw a bead on Tunney and Tom Gibbons with only one knockdown. And Harry Greb was a green mamba against the big fellows, as long as he had two eyes. Joe Louis had far more trouble with Billy Conn than he ever had against the mammoths and the mastodons. It took him 21 rounds, or thereabouts, to leave Bob Pastor flattened in the pleasant meadows. There is no intention here to suggest sug-gest this far in advance that Conn has an even chance to win. But there are at least the possibilities of another big-time thriller, especially when it is private soldier against private soldier for the largest relief re-lief gate any single contest has. yet offered. Louis and Conn are sure to be sports major party for 1942 first, as a spectacle; seconcif as the more important contribution to the general gen-eral good of a much tougher and a much bigger game the matter of needed relief. |