The White Falcon - 01.04.1944, Side 6

Wartime Boxing Screwy,
But How It Pays!
If you don’t think American
wartime boxing is screwy, try
this one. Bummy Davis coldcocks
Bob Montgomery in 63 seconds
of the first. A week or so later
Montgomery hands Beau Jack a
solid thrashing to take the Beau’s
lightweight title. A week or so
after that, Jack climbs into the
ring, takes the Davis left hook
that kayoed Montgomery, then
goes on to win every round. To
top it off, that last fight set a
financial record for the puny
pugilists by drawing $132,823,
and it wasn’t even a title fight,
but a lightweight against a welt-
erweight.
•
Dud DeGroot finally did sign
as coach of the Redskins after
many denials by George Preston
Marshall, the football king of the
Capital. The figure wasn’t an-
nounced, but was supposed to
be somewhere around $20,000 . .
.. That Mike Gabark whom the
Yankees recently signed as a
catcher is the younger brother
of the two Gabarks already op-
erating as receivers in the maj-
ors. The Yanks, incidentally, are
starting the season with Pat Col-
lins, up from Kansas City, and
the said rookie Gabark as their
only catchers after finishing last
year with baseball’s best set of
receivers in Dickey, Hemsley and
little Ziggy Sears. Sears and
Dickey are now members of the
Armed Forces and Hemsley is
going to stay on his farm.
•
Lt. Buddy Lewis, one-time
Washington Senator third-base-
man, was one of the first glider-
towing pilots to land deep in the
Burma jungles in the recent air-
borne trap that the Allies threw
in behind the Japs.....George
Mikan of DePaul showed specta-
tors the difference between a
real goaltender and just some
lug who just grew tall. Mikan
timed his occasional leaps to per-
fection in stopping the few shots
that looked like certain scores
while letting those in doubt go
right on their way. The others
spent the evening leaping wildly
at any basketward toss ....
Johnny Pesky, the Red Sox hot-
shot infielder, is transferring
from Bainbridge Naval to Atlanta
for gunnery officer training.
Johnny will wind up as an En-
sign if all goes well.
•
Connie Mack and Bobo New-
som have been having long talks
about salary without Newsom
ever inking a contract. Right
after one of their debates in
which Newsom failed to sign,
Mack announced that his open-
ing day pitcher would be none
other than Bobo himself ....
With a lot of schools still wond-
ering where to get football play-
ers now that the training pro-
grams have been cut down, the
Fighting Irish of Notre Dame
called their first spring practice
and had 133 candidates out for
the squad.
•
Pfc. Bryan “Bitzy” Grant, the
former Davis Cupper, is now a
newscaster on a New Guinea
radio station .... In the opener
of the Madison Square Garden
basketball tournament, defend-
ing champ, St. John’s, dumped
favored Bowling Green out of
the picture, 44-40. The victori-
ous Redmen completely outfoxed
the Falcons. Instead of running
and shooting, they played a
steady short game, drawing the
defenses out, then sending some-
one in for layup shots after
they faked 6-foot-ll Don Often
out from under the basket.
"ONt HELLUVA WIND OUTSIDE, FELLAS—
IBC Boxing Team Concludes Tour
Of England With Great Record
A gallant little band of boxers wearing the spangles of the IBC had plenty of reason to feel
proud this week as they turned their eyes once more toward “The Rock” after hanging up a
record of eleven victories against any and all comers in a tour of England conducted by the
athletic department of the American Red Cross.
The IBC mittmen, who made
a clean sweep of six bouts in
their first night of action in Lon-
don, were held to a 3-3 tie five
nights later and were shaded three
decisions to two in their final
match against a squad of Engin-
eer scrappers.
Two of the lads from Iceland
came through the action with
perfect records. S/Sgt. Frankie
Albano, IBC heavyweight king,
and Pvt. Andy Riccardi, heavy,
accounted for six of the 11
wins.
The three winners in the sec-
ond night’s battles at Rainbow
Corner in London were Albano,
Riccardi, and Pfc. Bill Romano.
Albano, a stocky and clever New
Yorker, easily outpointed Pfc.
Don Crowton of Seattle, Wash.,
Romano did right by his home
town of New Orleans when he
put the kayo tag on Pfc. Emanuel
Cisneros of Denver, Colo., in 1:38
of the second, and Chester Pa.’s
Riccardi used a looping right to
the face to good advantage in
besting Pvt. Ralph Hallinger of
Cleveland, Ohio.
Pvt. Jim Karjanis, IBC light-
heavy champ, ran into plenty of
trouble in his second start and
lost on a TKO in the second to
Pvt. Tony Pontarella after being
floored for a no-count in the
first. Cpl. Bill McDonald, 138
pound IBC-man from Brooklyn,
was outclassed in losing a three
round decision to Sgt. Tony Ton-
ore, a clever sharpshooter from
Newark, N.J., and Pvt. Bill Roach,
another 138-pound IBC slinger,
lost on a TKO to Pvt. Herb Brin-
ing in the second when referee
Steve Hamas stepped in and call-
ed a halt because of a cut over
Roach’s eye.
In their final night in British
rings Albano and Riccardi ac-
counted for Iceland’s two wins.
The former outpointed Sgt. Bill
Russe, 190-pounder from Cleve-
land, and the tough Riccardi car-
ried too much dynamite for 180-
pound Pvt. Bob Lewis of Wilkes
Barre, Pa.
Romano lost via the kayo route
in the third round of a torrid
bout with Bill Brannick, 136-
pounder from Pittsfield, Mass.;
S/Sgt. Frankie Albano
Bill Karjanis was decisioned by
Pvt. Joe Johnson of Flemington,
Ala., and Cpl. Bill McDonald lost
to Pvt. Carleton Carlyle of Balti-
more.
Tommy Bell
Scores 26th Kayo
Tommy Bell, Ohio colored
welter, who has fattened his to-
tal victory streak to 37 straight
victories, scored his 26th kayo
when he blasted a knockout over
Maxie Berger of Montreal in 2:27
seconds of the first round of a
scheduled ten-rounder.
Dusky Tommy dumped Berger,
but he would have been able to
continue except that he sprain-
ed his right ankle in falling. Berg-
er’s handlers had to carry him
to his dressing room after he was
counted out. A rematch is prob-
able due to Berger’s injury.
Filly Keeps Fading,
Gets New Owner
Alamo Belle, a filly who ran
a slow race at Bay Meadows track
in San Mateo, Calif., had one
owner before the race started
and had a new one before it
ended.
John Gregory Jr. watched his
Alamo Belle lose her lead and
heard Frank Burley, rival owner,
ask if the horse was for sale.
As Alamo Belle continued to fall
back, Gregory said, “Right now
I’ll take $750.” Just as she passed
the 16th pole, Burley offered $500.
“Sold,” returned Gregory. Alamo
Belle came home a strong sev-
enth.
Spud Chandler
Gets His Notice
The latest “casualty” on the
baseball front is Joe McCarthy’s
headache. Spurgeon “Spud”
Chandler, right-handed hurler of
the New York Yankees, and the
American League’s most valuable
player last year, has been order-
ed to report for induction at Roy-
ston, Ga., April 14, having already
been accepted for limited service.
Chandler won 20 and lost four
games during 1943 and had a 1.64
earned run average, making this
the leagues lowest since the days
of Walter Johnson.
Although Chandler is Marse
Joe’s biggest loss, the Yankee
boss is confronted with two more
head pains as a result of losing
outfielder Johnny Lindell, who
takes his pre-induction exam
April 5 and shortstop Frankie
Crosetti’s attitude of refusing to
sign on the dotted line, unless
he gets a better offer.
Two Knockouts,
Plenty Action
At Fieldhouse
Two knockouts and an exhibi-
tion bout between British George
Pull, RAF welterweight, and
Thorsteinn Gislason, Icelandic
147-pounder, highlighted the And-
rews’ Fieldhouse boxing show
last Saturday night.
The kayos came when Charles
Cassia, 137, R.N., put away Sid
Phipps, 142, R.N., in 1:35 seconds
of the first round and Horace
Stevens, 144, R.N., stopped Denny
Morgan, 146, R.N., in 1:40 seconds
of round three.
George Pull, veteran British
boxer, and Thorsteinn Gislason,
welterweight from the Gisla Club
in Reykjavik, gave the fans a
fancy boxing demonstration in
an exhibition which was the first
of its kind from the standpoint
of matching local leather artists
with either American or British
mitt pushers.
In adddition to this feature,
there were two bouts with the
popular paperweights crossing
gloves. Kristinn Gunnarsson, 103,
defeated Fridrik GuSnason, 95,
and Marteinn Bjorgvinsson, 100,
took the decision from Bjorn
Jonsson at 102.
Following the nimble paper-
weights came a battle between
Edmond Loney, 126, RAF, and
William Channing, 126, R.N-,
which proved to be the best of
the night. Loney had the crowd
on their feet more than once with
his furious rushing and in-fight'
ing tactics. Although both
these 126-pounders hit the
canvas, Loney got the nod, main-
ly because of his aggressiveness.
In the other bouts, S/Sgt. Jim-
my South, 176, Sulphur Springs,
Tex., won in three rounds from
Les Evans, 165, RAF; Pvt. Sal
Mercurio, 142, Boston, Mass., bet-
tered William Koch, 143, RAF;
Cliff Brown, 150, RAF, defeated
George Baker, 147, R.N.; Philip
Calladina, 147, R.N., beat Des-
mond Jarrett, 146, RAF; and
middleweight Johnny Biggs
fought a three round exhibtion
with Thomas Bostock, 166.
Mioland To Be
Retired From Track
Another great race horse has
breasted the tape for the last
time. Mioland, one of turfdom’s
top handicap runners, has broken
down and will be retired. The
seven-year-old black Oregon-
bred horse won 18 out of 50
starts, accumulating $244,270 for
his owner, Charles Howard, who
paid $15,000 for him.
Mioland broke down while ih
training at Charleston, S.C., for
the recent Widener handicap at
Hialeah. He will be shipped to
Howard’s farm in California.