Show SPEAKING OF SPORTS by ROBERT mcshane mcshan released by wintom newspaper Nw papi union T HE fact that there is no worthy opponent for heavyweight champion joe louis hardly can be listed under the heading of news the dearth of outstanding candidates for bowings box ings greatest title is no recent development and the situation is not improving cosing boxing is staggering and reeling from the repeated beatings be it has baa taken during the past three years particularly in the heavyweight ranks promoters have attempted to foist upon the public matches which are nothing more than exhibitions and poor ones at that prize fight fans consistently have been subjected to a diet of second raters and has beens the mere tact fact that several of these individuals gave the champion a chance to demonstrate his prowess help matters fans pay to see a contest not a shadow boxing demonstration only two candidates for heavyweight honors are worthy of the be name one is pat comiskey a glum young Irishman who is being brought into the top brackets too quickly the other contender is billy conn a light heavyweight whose ambition may overcome his lack of weight questionable victory conn has been the subject of many a heated debate his recent 13 round victory over bob pastor in madison square garden did little to enlarge his stature it was far from a clean cut victa victory 7 w which aich conn achieved over the onetime one time N Y U football player the punch that sent pastor down and out a left to the body was just another of the numerous low blows which billy landed throughout the fight in the first place the fight was an attempt by mike jacobs to make out of the pound conn a second gene tunney however conn will never have tunnels Tun size or weight nor will he acquire genes determination and singular adherence to purpose conn did have a good left which he used with telling effect in addition he was faster on his feet and 4 lip 1 al kia BILLY CONN had considerably more stamina but those factors alone are not enough louis would have little difficulty with conn the pittsburgh youth likely could keep out of the champs reach during the early rounds but sooner or later that dynamite laden right would bomb billy to the canvas comiskey on the other hand has plenty ol of wild eyed backers but even those fans readily admit that he lacks sufficient seasoning before his bis recent departure from the preliminary ranks young patrick knocked out 25 of the 29 opponents whom he faced looking 17 at the field he is little better than a novice at the moment being so new to big time competition but he has a whale impossible of a punch something almost impossible to develop given another year of 0 experience pat well may be louis most formidable foe As for the rest of the field the less said the better lou nova is attempting a comeback under the I 1 guiding hand of manager ray carlin his star faded into obscurity when he took a brutal beating from tony galento in philadelphia a year ago the perennial max baer still weaves around the outer triage fringe ol of eligible contenders but no one knows better than promoter jacobs that a baer louis fight would have an all the drawing power of a republican rally in deepest dixie the tans fans would stay away in droves few champions have so far outclassed their contemporaries as joe louis certainly no one can be greatly excited over the prospect of 0 louis meeting any of the abovementioned fighters sport shorts THE HE national pro football league is now a a year industry according to league headquarters which places at that figure the cost of operation stanley coveleskie the old Cle cleveland velard and washington now operates a gasoline station at south bend ind doc sutherland thinks its easier to tool fool pros with trick football plays than collegians because experienced rien iced players are more likely to watch for more orthodox moves instead of new plays |