PETERSON AND FOORD

Greymouth Evening Star, 6 October 1936, Page 9

PETERSON AND FOORD

FUTURE PROSPECTS DISCUSSED

Jack Petersen is not retiring from the ring. He made that quite plain at Leicester yesterday before leaving for hits home in Cardiff after his defeat by Ben Foord, the South African, uii Monday night (wrote Harold Lewis, in the London “Daily Telegraph, ’ on on August 18). . „ “I hope to tight for my titles again, he told mo, “just as I did after defeat by Harvey in December. 1933.’ Petersen will be 25 in September, and is quite young enough to start again. But this time I do not think his return will be successful. He was beaten on Monday for much the same reason that he lost his fight to- Harvey in 1933 —he was careless and over-confident, stepping within reach of a dangerous opponent without any semblance of guard. Petersen boxed badly as regards tactics. and he had a poor sense of distance, missing with his punches ctcn when his opponent stood still—as he did for most of the first two rounds. A doctor who was at the fight told me later that in his view, and from what he could see of the wound across the eyebrow, Petersen should not box for at least six months, and that he might conceivably be advised never to enter tho ring again, lest some permanent. injury to his sight is done.

. The cuts of the mouth were not so serious as they appeared at the time, and when he left Leicester. Petersen showed no sign of the fight except the plaster over his eye. He has earned between £uo,ooo and £60,000 in Rss than live years as a professional boxer, and has saved a considerable proportion of bis gains. But. if he can secure adequate treatment for his eyebrow scars it seems absurd to urge him to retire. Wc have but tt small handful of heavyweights in this country, and, though it may seem discourteous to Foord, it is no credit to us that our premier boxing title is now held by a man from overseas. Foord will soon be fighting again. The small fracture in his right hanu has not been fully diagnosed, but l have good reason for stating that it s an injury of a very minor character I can vouch that he was able to shake hands firmly with only a little pain an hour after the fight. . After examination by a specialist vesterday, Foord said. “My hand, I understand. will be healed in wedjs ; and then I shall be ready Ncrnbd He has had two otters to fi s ht Maltei N’emel the German, who twice beat Petersen. One, as I disclosed yesterdav, is from Amsterdam, and the other from Wembley. Foord and his manager are willing to tackle the German but they arc also anxious to have the fight in London. The Dutch promoter would like to bold the light on September 29 on a percentage basis. Wembley have offered a guaranteed sum. What this sum is has not been disclosed, but it certainly does not approach the size of Petersen’s recent purses, though it would be easily Foord’s biggest purse,

and.l believe the Wembley offer will bo taken.

IS FOORD BOX-OFFICE DRAW?

His total purse for his Leicester victory was, I understand, roughly £l.OOO. of ‘which £750 was guaranteed. The fight was a financial success, the crowd numbering 18.200. The two big questions regarding Foord arc: Is he a “box-office” draw? And will be improve? Promoters are inclined to be sceptical of the first. They remember sonic poor exhibitions a year or two ago, when I 1 oord, merely a. floundering giaut. was beaten by second-raters and worse. I admit I am somewhat sceptical of the second query. Foord has learnt defence and has schooled himself to restrain his temper, which used to lead him into those wild, sprawling attacks. But he still does nut. look a boxer. He stands cramped on flat feet, and it must have been a matter for amazement for Petersen that, with such a stance. Foord managed to reach him with those tremendous punches. The South African is only 24, and he has so far managed to get the best possible out of his limited stock of boxing knowledge. He hits a mighty punch, and on Monday he wasted nothing. But to me he doe." not appear to have those essentials of class, footwork, lightness of step and poise, without which no boxer gets very far. I hope I am wrong, for Foord is of the right type.