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Joe Louis Makes One of Speediest Jumps Up Pugilistic Ladder in History _Jl. Ju_

JUST m BOXER TEN MONTHS AGO

Punch Big Asset of Negro

Held Within Step of Baer Challenger.

*:» a Staff Correspondent of The Star.

Detroit. April 24—Although

he will not be old enough to vote until May 13 and has yet to have his first

•have, Joe Louis, the Detroit Negro, stands within calling distance of the heavyweight boxing championship.

Few men in pugilistic history have climbed as fast as Louis. Ten months

ago he was a $50 fighter, working in the smaller clubs of Chicago and De- troit against nondescript opponents. Today he is matched to fight Prtmo Camera for 15 per cent of receipts that conservative box office experts estimate at a quarter of a million dol- lar*.

Ten months ago he was a nobody 1n the rating charts. Today he is. conceivably, only one fight removed from qualification as the leading challenger of Max Baer. If Baer should defeat James J. Braddock and

Louis should beat Camera in June

engagements in New York, the two winners would make the kind of a match promoters are dreaming of when they mention the return of the million-dollar gate.

Punch is the thing that has car- ried Louis to the front. He can hit with crippling force with either hand, as witness a record of 14 knockouts in 18 professional starts.

"Natural-born Fighter."

BOXING followers have tried to

analyze the source of the ter- rific hitting power that has left

such seasoned campaigners as Stan- ley Poreda. Lee Ramage, Charlie Mas- sera and Red Barry in the resin dust. Muscular network in his shoulders, leg leverage, w'rist snap have all been cited.

Jack Blackburn, a Negro battler of 25 years ago who has been in Louis’ corner in each of his professional con- tests, sifted the evidence and came up with this answer:

"He’s just a natural-born fighter." Probably no other explanation can

account so well for the rapid ascent of this unemotional Negro boy from obscurity to the top flight of heavy- weights. He has disposed of men of far greater experience than himself: he has ignored ring styles, outboxing the boxers and outslugging the slug- gers: he has outmaneuvered the adroit ring masters, like Ramage. and excelled in-fighters, like Massera, at their own specialty. In short, Louis has completely dominated the oppo- sition in his undefeated march trr recognition, which came slowly but Is now no longer denied.

Great As an Amateur.

LOUIS’ punch was evidenced in an amateur career in which he had 54 fights, winning 43 by knock-

outs. 7 by decisions and losing 4 by decisions. He climaxed his amateur activity by taking the “champion of champions'’ title in the Chicago Golden Gloves tournament of 1934. and decided that the time had come io fight for something more substan- tial than cups and medals.

Going to John Roxborough. a De- troit Negro politician, Louis asked him to become his manager. Roxborough demurred. Aside from that of a spectator he had no interest in the fight business, but Louis was insistent and Roxborough finally relented. The first thing he did was to form a partnership with Julian Black, a Chicago Negro, and to hire Blackburn as trainer.

Blackburn, who had handled Sammy Mandell, Bud Taylor and other ranking rlngmen, was placed in com- plete charge of Louis’ training. The arrangement still holds. Roxborough and Black sign for the matches and Blackburn sees that the fighter is in shape.

It isn’t a particularly hard job, for Louis trains diligently and hasn’t de- veloped—not yet, at least—habits of intemperance that handicap many fighters, suddenly lifted from poverty I io prosperity.

First Pro Bout Last .Inly.

L, OUIS’ first professional engage- j ment took place on July 4. 19M. J at Bacon's Field, Chicago, a

small club operated by George Traf- >on, a former Notre Dame athlete. Louis’ opponent was Jack Kracken, whom the Detroiter knocked out with * right cross to the jaw in the first round.

After stopping Willie Davies and Larry Udell hi his next two bouts, Louis was matched with Jack Kranz, a Gary, Ind., steel worker, at Marl- sold Gardens. Chicago. Kranz be- came the first man to go the limit with Iouis. Their meeting lasted the scheduled eight rounds, with Louis taking the referee’s decision.

Knockouts over Buck Everett and Alex Borchuk followed before Louis was pitted against Adolph Wiater of Green Bay, Wis., in a Chicago ring. Touls still calls Wiater the “toughest guy I have met.” Wiater doubled up Louis with a right to the short ribs, and still was trying for a more tell- ing punch when the bell clanged an end to the tenth and last round. Louis received the referee’s award on the strength of a knockdown in the first round.

After Louis had increased his knockout list at the expense of Art Sykes and Jack O'Dowd, his handlers decided he was ready for more ad- vanced company. He was matched with Stanley Poreda. the New jersey veteran, over the protest of many ring-wise observers. They believed Poreda too experienced to fall prey >o Louts’ lashing attack, but the Negro proved them wrong. He stop- ped Poreda in the first round.

Finally Catches Ramage.

MASSERA was knocked out in the third and Louis moved to his first bout in the so-called “big

rime.” He met Ramage. a sterling de- fensive boxer, in the Chicago Stadium. Ramage kept away from Louis for

seven rounds, .Tabbing and back-ped- aling. Louis caught up with him in the eighth, and, after Ramage had been floored four times, a towel was thrown in from his comer.

The victory over Ramage definitely established Louis as a heavyweight threat. Since then he has beaten Patsy Perroni, Hans Birkie, Ramage again, Red Barry, Natie Brown, Ray Lazer. I and Biff Bennett, the latter as recently j as last Monday, in one minute and 15 | seconds of the first round.

Four of his 19 opponents have been! on their feet at the finish—Kranz.1 Waiter, Perroni and Brown. Louis had | each of them on the floor, but could not keep them there. In each case, his margin of superiority was unques- tioned and the decision in his favor unchallenged.

Louis was born in Montgomery, Ala., May 13, 1914. After the death of his father, when Joe was a small boy, his mother moved to Detroit. He attended school here and started fighting in the amateur tournaments of the city.

Now on Exhibition Tour.

LOUIS now is on an exhibition tour. He will have no engagements of importance until he faces Cax-

nera in the Yankee Stadium, June 25. What does he think of his chances

against the big Italian? “I think I’ll knock him out in less

than five rounds,” said Louis. Explaining that he never had seen

Camera in action, Louis said he was basing his opinion on the motion pic- tures of the Camera-Baer bout.

“I don’t think the pictures were faked,” he grinned, ‘‘and Camera surely gives you plenty to hit.” {Copyright. 1935. by North American

Newspaper Alliance. Inc.)

> --

The Wolf at Londos’ Door

CHIEF LITTLE WOLF. Navajo Indian wrestler, who gained overnight fame (and some fortune) when Jim Londos refused to go through with a match with Wolf and drew suspensions in California and New York as a result. Called the most sensational grappler in the game. Wolf is expected to play a prominent part in outdoor grappling this Summer, both locally and nationally. He debtiis at the Washington Auditorium tomorrow, facing Gino Garibaldi.

I I

FROM THE PRESS BOX

Little Wolf Wont Divulge "Death Trap” Secret Until He Gets Jim Londos' Title

_BY JOHN t *nnwrw

THEY say that money doesn't

mean a thing to The brave Navajo wrestler, Little Wolf. He gets a piece of wampum

after every match, but he takes it

| only because he hates to argue. Little Wolf can earn *100, put it away in a safe place, and forget all about it for as much as two minutes at a time. His real motive in wiestling is

| to bring the title back to his people, j The story goes that when Little

Wolf was a young warrior the chief of his tribe took him aside and gave him a fight talk.

"Listen to me. Little Wolf,” he said "Proceed," said the young man.

Chief Imparts Information. “I have a couple of pieces of In-

formation for you," said the chief, j “In the first place, our brothers In the East once sold the Island of Man- hattan for *24 in merchandise. They tell me that the value of the island has more than doubled since then. If this is true, I want you to see what you can do about recovering the land or getting a better price. Under- stand?”

“Check and double check.” aaid Little Wolf, who is a great Amos ’n’ Andy fan.

He also likes the Mills Broth- ers and Waring’s Pennsylvan- ians.

"All right,” said the chief. "Now for the second point. The wrestling champion of our country is a Greek. There's no other way of describing him. I want you to go out and get that title. Your family possesses the secret, of the Indian death trap. It's been handed down from father to son for generation. Do you know It?”

“No.” admitted Little Wolf, “hot its lying around the house somewhere.”

Get. it.” said the chief, "and go out 1 and win.”

Little Wolf moved East and studied the Island of Manhattan at, leisure. He decided that his Eastern brothers.

when they sold it for $24 net, had been dumb like foxes.

In re Manhattan Island." he wired home to the chief, "would estimate present value at $13.85 including in- habitants. Am now concentrating on Londos.”

Many people have had a chance to see the secret of the Indian death trap by this time, but It still remains a secret. Little Wolf, having used it with success on a number of the good white boys in this section, plans to trr.p Jim Londos and hustle back to his tribe with the title. In other words, the Indian death trap is the biggest thing in wrestling right now.

He Won't Divulge Secret. I tried to coax the secret from

Little Wolf, but he held firm. "Exclusive stuff," apologized the

young warrior. "Wait till after the Londos match, when I am champion Then I will explain the whole thing in about 2.500 words.”

Unable to wait, I went up to circus headquarters in the hope of wresting a clue from one of the Indian per- formers in the Wild West division. I spotted a couple of distinguished Sioux whom I knew by sight, Sitting Bull, jr., and Long Time Sleep.

“Hey, Chickpaw,” I said in Sitting Bull, jr., that being Sioux for “Hello, my very good friend."

There was no answer for five min- untes. so I tried again. This time the silence lasted 10 minutes. Hien Long Time Sleep removed a tooth- pick from his mouth and spoke.

“The son of Sitting Bull is deal and dumb,” he said.

“Oh,” said your correspondent. “Well, do you know the secret of the Indian death trap as practiced by the prominent Navajo, Little Wolf?”

“Nope,” said Long Time Sleep. That's as far as I've been able to

get yet. The death trap as practiced by Little Wolf remains a secret. It looks like a glorified scissors hold with extra pressure on the throat, of the victim, but there must be more to It than that.

Anyway, you know now why Little Wolf is pursuing Londos and why he is so indifferent to money that he sometimes throws it away a dime at a time. There will be no more data on this inspired aboriginal until he hands it out himself. t Copyright. 1035. by North American

Newspaper Alliance, Inc.)

FOUR LEFT AT FENCING

Decisive Triumphs Mark Matches in National Event.

NEW YORK, April 24 Leo Nunes, veteran New York A. C. fencer; Norman C. Armitage, defend- ing champion; Dr. John Huffman, former champion, and Peter Bruder of Salle D’Armes Vince survived the semi-final rounds of the national sa- ber individual championships on the strips of the N. Y. A. C. here.

All four contestants gained the final in decisive manner, Nunes los- ing only one bout during the evening, Armitage and Huffman losing no bouts at all and Bruder bowing only to Huffman.

LITTLE WOLF SEEN AS A MAT THRILLER

Grappler, Who Will Appear Here Tomorrow, Hated Far Above

Imported Challengers.

A PREDICTION that Chief Little

Wolf will prove the most sensa- tional and popular rassling star

to invade the Washington Auditorium since he began promoting half a dozen years ago today was made by Promoter Joe Turner, who will sic the sawed- off Indian on Glno Garibaldi tomor- row.

Turner, who scouted the Redskin before signing to bring him here, rates the chunky challenger to Jim Londoe’ title claims as a far more sensational performer than any of the long, line of importations, which began with Ferenc Holuban, the neckless Hun- garian and included Sergle Kalmikoff, Leo Pinetzki, and, more recently, Danno O’Mahoney.

Little Wolf, who began his mat career seven years ago as Ben Tenario and lost so many matches that he considered forsaking the game, bears a strong physical resemblance to the man who is accused of “running out’’ on him last February, Londos.

The Indian stands only 5 feet 6 inches, but weighs 210 pounds and is said to be one of the strongest hefties in the game. He can point to vic- tories over Dick Shikat, Gus Sonnen- berg, Man Mountain Dean, George Zaharias, Ray Steele, Sammy Stein, Jim McMillan, Ernie Dusek, Joe Sa- voldi and virtually every other ranking rassler in the country. His recent win over Shikat in 14 minutes is considered his best performance.

GIBBONS VS. DUKELSKY. ST. PAUL, April 24 UP).—Jack Gib-

bons, St. Paul, and Solly Dukelsky, Chicago, middlewelghts, have signed for a 10-round bout here May 2.

i

Mat Matches

By the Auocleted Preu. INDIANAPOLIS—Jim Londos, 303,

St. Louis, defeated Chief Ohewchki, 241, Ardmore, Okla., straight falls.

ST. PAUL.—Cliff Olson, Baudette, Minn., won from Lou Plummer, South Bend, Ind., on a foul.

NEW HAVEN, Conn.—Steve Passat, 180. Hartford, defeated Johnny Iovanna, 175, Boston, two falls to one.

ALBANY, N. Y.—Chief Little Wolf, 220, Colorado, defeated Rube Wright, 230, Texas, straight falls.

PORTLAND, Me.—Jack Bums, 178, Chicago, threw Chuck Montana, 175, Detroit, 26:49.

SAN FRANCISCO.—Jim Browning, 235, Verona, Mo., defeated Man Mountain Dean, 317, Norcross, Ga, 10:00; Nick Lutze, 210, Venice, Calif., beat Dr. Freddie Meyers, 209, New York, 32:00; Casey Kazanjian, 205, Stanford, and Bob Russell, 212, Bos- ton, drew, 30:00.

SPOKANE, Wash.—Earl McCready, 243, Montreal, won over Ted Cox, 225, Lodi, Calif., when latter disqualified; Jack Washburn, 245, Boston, de- feated Jules Strongbow, 280, Ponca City, Okla., in straight falls.

SAN DIEGO, Calif.—Vincent Lopez, 216, Idaho, pinned Pat Fraley, 214, Boston, two out of three falls.

BUSY IN THREE EVENTS Solons Playing Hand Ball, Volley

Ball, Paddle Tennis. Interesting tourneys in hand ball,

paddle tennis and vclley ball are in progress in the House of Representa- tives gymnasium under direction of Pete Henderson, who is in charge.

Representative Matthew J. Merrit of New York is a favorite in hand ball. In paddle tennis more than a dozen Representatives are competing and the volley ball competition has attract- ed nine.

Louis Still Shy Favor of N. B. A.

PROVIDENCE, R. I., April 24 OP). —Joe Louie, Detroit Negro heavyweight, will get “due

recognition from the National Boxing Association as soon as we feel he has earned It,” Edward C. Foster, president of the N. B. A., said in answer to criticism directed at him by various Midwestern Joe Louis boosters.

“I never have seen Louis per- form,” Poster said. “So far as I can learn he has engaged in some 20 professional fights. He will re- ceive recognition, and as my Western critics term it, ‘ballyhoo,’ from the N. B. A. when and If we feel he has earned It. We don’t feel that he has earned It yet

Fights Last Night By the Associated Press.

CLEVELAND.—Paul Pirrone, 158, Cleveland, knocked out Benny Levine, 157, Newark (1). Henry P&lmieri, 178, Cleveland, knocked out Billy Treeste, 172, Chicago (3). Hilliard Fann, 159, Cleveland, outpointed Joe Spiegel, 152, Uniontown, Pa. (6). Car- men Barth. 163, Cleveland, outpointed Chuck Heffner, 162, Denver (6).

SEATTLE, Wash.—Freddie Steele. 156’,4, Tacoma, Wash., knocked out Sammy O’Dell, 15434, Akron, Ohio «>.

STOCKTON. Calif.—Charley Retz- laff, 200, Duluth, Minn., knocked out Jack Roper, 198, Hollywood, Calif. (1); Barney Durant, 121, Pittsburgh, outpointed Jimmy Cordova, 120, Stockton.

LOS ANGELES.—Oscar Rankin, 166, Los Angeles, outpointed Milford “Swede” Berglund, 162 (10); Fred- die Main. 142. Long Beach, Calif., outpointed Glen Lee, 145, Edison, Nebr.

Wyman Entry Only Double Victor at Fort Myer as

Indoor Season Ends.

THE curtain was rung down on

the Capital's Indoor horse show season at Port Myer’s new riding hall last night with an

interesting program that attracted a gallery of some 300 spectators.

Lieut. W. G. Wyman s Easter Morn was the only double winner of the evening, talcing blue ribbons in both the road hack pairs and green or qualified hunters’ classes, but was given a close contest for individual honors by the mounts of Fenton Fade- ley and Capt, J. T. Duke.

Fadeley's Hunger Marcher, a 6-year- old chestnut thoroughbred, well-known In both the show ring and hunt field, won the open jumping class and rap- tured second place in the division for green or qualified hunters.

Stable Ties for Second.

OLD GOLD and Sandy, both shown by Capt. Duke, tied for second in the open class over a regu-

lation course, and the latter took the blue in the open class, shown over modified international jumps.

Mrs. Forrest P. Sherman, wife of Lieut. Comdr. Sherman, U. S. N., was paired with Lieut. Wyman in the road hack pairs class that drew one of the largest entry lists of the show.

It was announced that Fort Myer's outdoor show season wUl be inaug- urated on May 30 with an all-day meet

in the ring near Memorial Bridge. Proceeds will go to the Army Relief Society.

Results:

Diclf 'Llas*' for enlisted men. £?iU«teia an