BIG BOXING TITLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 215, 11 September 1929, Page 17

BIG BOXING TITLE.

TOMMY LOUGHRAN'S CLAIM.

POSSIBLE BOUT WITH SHARKEY,

Last week cable advice was received from New York:' that Tommy "Loughran had : surrendered his light-heavy boxing title, and was getting into shape to meet Jack Sharkey, having made a condition of his release of the light-heavy title that his bout with Sharkey should carry with it a declaration that the winner was the world's heavy-weight

champion. Writing in July on the heavy-weight situation, Tommy stated: — "I don't intend to go through the strain of getting down to 1751b again. However, I have sis months' grace before the necessity of defending the championship arises. As I have beaten every contender by wide margins, there is no need bothering about anyone in the class.

"I am leaving for Wildwood, N.J., for a vacation. A month's rest down there will do me a world of good. I would like to swing into action again about September 15, and keep the pressure on until I have won the heavy-weight championship. "There's been a lot of talk about my entering a blacksmith shop to build myself up to 1901b. I think some misunderstanding has arisen about this. I don't intend going in the shop to the exclusion of everything else, but it will be part of my training programme. Swinging a sledge will build up my shoulders, arms and back muscles, and give me greater hitting power. At this stage of the game it isn't likely to make me muscle-bound, ae it would if I had started years ago. "Nothing pleased me more than a recent remark by William Muldoon, of the New York State Boxing Commission, concerning my standing among the big fellows. He pointed out that my record was far superior to either Sharkey's or Schmeling's, and that I deserved every consideration in getting proper matches. _ , "I have been going steadily ahead, while during the last couple of years Sharkey drew with Heeney, lost to Risko and won from Stribling by a far narrower margin than I did. That should establish our respective standings."