Show RICE u JUST JUST how good I asked a well v known fight conditioner willJo will Jo Joy Joo Louis and Billy Conn be after the war is over and they are back at the theold theold theold old trade O 0 K he said if they are not held in the army too long I understand understand understand under under- stand Louis is up around pounds now and Conn weighs But given en time I feel sure 5 f that Louis can get back to or i x pounds and that Conn can make which would be a amore amore i more useful weight in the heavyweight group Both have been giving boxing Grantland Rice exhibitions at various various various vari vari- ous camps also acting as boxing instructors now and then and this should help to check any big slump in form Louis has always been a hard worker Before entering army service service service ice his average road work was about five miles a day He isn't young in a fighting way but he isn't too old He is still younger than Jim Corbett Corbett Corbett Cor- Cor bett was in his famous comeback against Jim J Jeffries younger than Fitzsimmons was when h he stopped Corbett at Carson City Conn will have little trouble getting getting getting get get- ting down to pounds He can get even ven lower He is much younger than Louis and is still short of his prime Conn at or even pounds can still be fast fast and and be a much harder puncher It is a sure thing that the first defense Louis makes of his title will be against Conn Each has had about the same war handicap so far as ring training training training train train- ing is concerned There are reports about that Louis and Conn will be asked to put on a war charity fight some sometime sometime sometime time later This would be completely completely completely com com- unfair to Louis who has already given war and navy relief relief relief re re- re- re lief two free contests Louis still owes the government over in th the way of income taxes and the problem he faces now is paying this back Even if he received received received re re- re- re for his first fight after the war he would be lucky to keep of this amount with new taxes piled on It would take four Cour major fights to get him nearly even Washington could hardly afford afford af af- ford Cord to ask Louis for another charity show after throwing away at least for the Red Cross or army and navy relief by refusing to let Army and Navy football teams meet in Philadelphia or New York We still feel this insane switch to Annapolis before some spectators spectators spectators spec spec- will be changed later on We have had some odd and bewildering curves thrown at us from Washington Washing Washing- ton but nothing quite as baffling as the present location of the next Navy Army-Navy game Putting on WI Weight eight It has been a matter of 17 years now since Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey met in their second battle in Chicago Since that date Tunney has added 25 pounds and Dempsey ha has packed on 20 They are both now around the same weight at or units of displacement I have seen both recently and the two of them look to be as physically fit as men of their age can hope to be Both are many years older than Louis and Louis Louts Loutsis is many pounds heavier than either Big Gate Promised Mike Jacobs Jacob's mouth begins to water and his teeth make an extra clatter when he thinks of the next Louis-Conn Louis collision If fought today or in the near future with over in loose change floating around it would wreck all past receipts by at least a million or more It might easily be a show if Mike could get getaway getaway getaway away with the prices he could get from a scat on down This Thus would be all right with the government and the state for both would get plenty This may seem to be an extravagant extravagant extravagant gant estimate but how many believed believed believed be be- a while back that the three New York tracks would shove through the windows in 1944 with a similar amount passing passing passing pass pass- ing through the hands of the bookmakers bookmakers bookmakers book book- makers This latter of course is a n guess But the amount is still a healthy hunk of change The surest bet on the calendar after the war is that the Louis-Conn Louis party will be one of the biggest sporting and financial shows ever known Remember ber Gerhardt The UThe greatest natural athlete 1 I ever saw says Maj Lou Beard was a West Pointer by the name of Charley Gerhardt You may have heard of him lately He was the major general who first broke through at Saint Lo in France Gerhardt had played little baseball baseball baseball base base- ball when he came to West Point but in a few months he was one of the greatest infielders we ever had He had played no football at all but shoved into the quarterback spot he was an outstanding star |