THE IRON MAN

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 26, 30 July 1931, Page 20

THE IRON MAN

MAX SOHMELING

DEFEAT OF STRIBLIN6

WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP

When he' won the heavyweight boxing championship of the world while lying on his, back in the.ring claiming a foul against Jack Sharkey, Max Schmeling, the big German boxer, came in for much caustic comment from American sporting writers. Schmelliug's subsequent trip to Europe and his seeming fear to meet anyone for his championship when he came back to America added fuel to tho lire of criticism.

Schmeling, however, the first man other than an American to hold the coveted crown since Jack Johnson was defeated by.' Jess . Willard, had his revenge when heknocked out Young Stribling at Cleveland, Ohio, early this month. The bout was for.the championship, and the German proved convincingly that he is the greatest boxer in the world at the present time.

SENSATIONAL FINISH. "It. was one of the most sensational finishes seen in a heavyweight championship bout for many years," writes the wellknown American sporting expert, Robert Edgren, in the "San Francisco Chronicle." "From the beginning of the sixth round, when Joe Jacobs. ,cent Max out with the warning: 'You've . got to fight—it looks bad,' it was Schmeling's fight all the way except in spots here and there. "In the mere matter of landing blows Stribling. scored well enough, but his hardest and most perfectly placed smashes on chiu and body had no effect at all on the man of iron from Germany. Nothing seemed to hurt Max. He was hit blows enough to knock put a dozen ordinary men, and iris knees never shook. He was socked on the point of the chin with vicious uppercuts, and he grinned. The grin increased as the fight went on.

"The finish in. the, fifteenth round followed a desperate attempt by Stribling, from the tenth round on, not only to stay on his feet but to win with one last furious blow. The Georgian's gameness will never be' questioned. He gave everything he had but life itself, and.it was not enough. "For four rounds Stribling had been barely lasting through to a desperate finish. He was so tired that he missed many blows, but now and then he gathered for a furious effort and sent his gloves whizzing to the mark with a force that brought yells from the crowd." ■

NOT ALL SCHMELING. After describing in detail the last few rounds with the dramatic finish when the referee stopped the iight twenty seconds before the final gong in the fifteenth round, the' Writer goes on:— "Only' twenty seconds to go, Willie Stribling, who had fought 292 fights and knocked out 127 men, had been knocked out himself for the first time in his life. He stood there and you, could see this thought struggling through his dazed mind. ,He turned and held out his hand to the champioD. "It was not all Schmeling, even if he did move'forward through round after round, crouching like a. big cat about to leap. Stribling, while his strength lasted, put his mark on the iron champion. STRIBLING STAGGERS GERMAN IN .. THIRD. "He drove Stribling back with hard right-hand smashes on the jaw. He.folr lowed like a big cat. . Stribling was forc-ed-to back away continually, but he backed away fighting. In the seventh Stnbhng was bleeding from nose and mouth, and his eyes were rimmed in blood smeared there by Schmeling's gloves. Still he was fighting steadily. • , "It was in the eighth round that t&e tide of the fight definitely turned. Stribling began''to look tired. His legs were as good as ever, but- arms were weak. EVhmelinf was much stronger. Although the-boy from Georgia fought with desperation, he was forced to take more and more punishment. Schmeling had.learned Low to block nearly all of Stribling s blows. He kept his right glove high and picked them off. GEORGIAN RALLIES. In the last half-minute of that round Sti-iblins cut loose with a wild, reckless rally, rocking Schmeling with rights and smashes on the jaw. The crowd, hoping in spite of all-that one of these blows might-make an American champion, rose to its feet and shook the stands with wild yells.-And Stribling took the ninth round. But it was his last time to be in front. In the tenth he was punched badly, cut and bruised, his mouth out of shape, his eyes glinting blue through lakes of red. He was very tired, and looked weak There was nothing in his punch to hold Sehmeling back. Now and again he held for a moment to let go when Blake ordered a break. He pushed Schmeling into the ropes, and tried to tie his hands. Fairly falling against him in weakness. CHAMPION LAUGHS. The- champion laughed when Stribling's gloves landed on him. There was no hurt in.;them now. Mas was fresher in each round, and more eager. He tried furiously for a knockout. The only wonder was that Stribling stayed on his feet. Stribling was-missing through sheer weak ness, falling forward out of position, clutching to' stop the blows that came flailing back at him. It will.take a tough man to beat this German champion. There isn't a man in sight at this time who can do the trick. He may not be great in the training quarters, but he is great in a fight. In the first round Stribling was a master boxer. He made Schmeling miss, and he jabbed and hooked and upper-cut him. Near the end of the round he partly closed Max's left eye with a wicked right hook. Stribling had the first, the second, and third rounds with a big lead. In the third he staggered Max with a. ripping right .on the jaw, and outboxed him all-the way. The fourth was even and desperately fought. There was no holding, no wrestling, no stalling. The fifth was hard fought and even. Stribling hit Max with everything, and it didn't do a bit of good. The man of iron ate punishment. He took it with a smile. Sometimes the innilfi looked a bit theatrical. But perhaps it was real, still Stribling had taken a big lead and was holding it. Then in the sixth Schmeling really began to It was a good fight, and as a spectacle the best since Rickard's time. SCHMELING JUBILANT. Schmeling .declared he was not hurt ones during the fight, and that in the first round stuck his own thumb in his left eye. "Several times Stribling hit me low, Schmeling said, "but I was well protected, and was not hurt. He is a trickish fighter and a good fighter,1 and hard to beat. I kept right on going, and knew I would win. "After the fourth round I could see that I was gaining, and I kept trying for a knock-out in eveiy round, taking some chances ■to do it," Schmeling exclaimed. "'After the sixth round I. knew that 1 bad him weakening. I.was;just as fresh at the end as when I started, and could have fought fifteen rounds more. I waE strong all the time, and just as strong at tho finish as when I began." "WASN'T IN THE CARDS." W. L. Stribling, the beaten challenger, Kuessed "it just wasn't in the cards foi me to win." Stribling gave credit to Schmeling foi a clean victory, but said it was an injustice for the fight to have been stopped with only fourteen ■ seconds to go. "Schmeling fought a fair fight; a clean fight," said Stribling in his dressing-room. It was a blow, in the eleventh round that- beat Ir-i, Stribling thought. "Schmelin^ hit me a peculiar blow higfc on the head to my left side," Striblinj said. After that ha knew he was beaten "If Schmeling's body blows hurt me,' he added, "I didn't feel them." He fel "all right" in the dressing-room, and hi; handlers said he wasn't much hurt it <pite of Schmeling's sharp and damngin; attack to his head. "Pa" Stribling, father and manager o the contender, also asserted that it wai unfair that the fight was stopped, bu agreed that there was no doubt of the re Milt. JUther, lie crttiwcrl Schnioling fo: not. winning by a knock-out. - after tin ' tenth.