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Show 7HES anyone mentions "gam- j , ble" in connection with the va- j rious Joe Louis ring enterprises, the I responding answer is likely to be in the nature of a hoarse guffaw. The Bomber Is usually a 1-10 shot, or even shorter, which leans more In the sure thing dirsttion than any gamble. Yet the gamble is still there In this uncertain world. The Louis crown Is worth around j $3,000.000 as long as Louis wears it. In his last start against Abe Simon 1 in the Detroit show f, "- :J the champion raked I a in trifle under 5 " . 'M $20,000. So he was tj j gambling a $3,000. W ; A 000 title against a x:. A $20,000 collection. V'? with the odds .at VA'JV- 1-150, a price few ffjA would care to offer ff$ in any form of com- &aLl petition. Grantland Rice No one rated Simon Si-mon with a chance to whip Louis. But in taking numerous whacks and smashes at Abe's granite chin, suppose sup-pose Louis had cracked one or both pawsT This can happen to any puncher at any given moment. Both Demp-sey Demp-sey and Louis carried iron fists into action, where more than a few good fighters have been harried or wrecked by brittle hands. When you are leveling against a Simon Jaw, hooked to 255 pounds oi human flesh and bone, only a pair of tough hands can stand the test. Fighting Hands Jim Corbett once told me that In his earlier days he was a good puncher. "I decided to go out for boxing," he said, "for two reasons. One was the speed I had in my legs. The other was to save my hands." Gene Tunney had early hand trouble, trou-ble, one of the reasons he concentrated concen-trated on boxing in FfPV place of the knock-' knock-' &Mi - out wallop. tpU', In his second start ; : against Jim Jef-"C Jef-"C fries, Bob Fitzsim- fjtfrtfwv! mons might have WM, won y he hadn., 'VjKjH-"' smashed both hands t-5 bne Tney were f'v,t J shattered down to C m &M the lower knuckles. Gene Tunney More an a few rather important fights have been lost by broken hands. Louis is one of the few fighters on record who can punch equally hard with both hands. This explains more than 80 per cent of his effectiveness. effec-tiveness. If either fin should crack up his assaulting powers would be cut down heavily. Both Tom Gibbons and Gene Tunney Tun-ney knew the way to keep on guard against Dempscy's blasting left hook. Jack's right was nothing like the Louis right. So when Louis is swinging away with any two-handed attack he is always taking a double risk against a concrete head or cement chin. He confessed to a pair of sore hands after the Simon party. Another Angle It is also a matter of judgment as to how long anyone can keep at razoredge working as often as the : Bomber does. No Siti!r-Ui other heavyweight II smuInJ. 4 champion ever took K - j i any such gamble. jg,.1li,J Fortunately for jrJ m Louis, he hasn't the I 4 Jh type of imagination VT"' ,Ji that keeps him Jf keyed up. i V But long training gxAl periods can remove " a big part of the JoeLouU keenness that follows fol-lows long resting spans. There is a touch of drudgery to training that most fighters either dread or dislike Intensely. Mickey Walker and Benny Ben-ny Leonard, two of the best, were always below par in their training. The wonder Is that Louis, with all the cash he hat piled op, is still willing to face the grind. He will have practically no recess from now until late September this campaign on top of 15 defensive stands. It is easy to understand Mike Ja- cobs' big rush. The answer is the draft. Both Louis and Billy Conn are not o many strides away, and the odds against their going to an army camp will be considerably lower before the summer is over. Draft numbers that were once in the tree-tops have now fallen to the lower limbs. And they are falling faster every week. No one knows this better than Mike and those handling the destinies desti-nies of most of the leading challengers. chal-lengers. Time, tide and the draft wait for no one and beyond early summer the shore line of all sport is thick with fogs and gathering mists. As the matter now stands Jacobs has arranged four starts for Louis in the next six months May, June, July and September. This will leave Louis facing his twentieth defense of the main crown if he sups safely safe-ly through them all If there is someone some-one around for him to fight. |
