MCCREADY IN WORLD CLASS

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 160, 10 July 1939, Page 5

M C CREADY IN WORLD CLASS

BOUT WITH R. STEELE MISSED

REGRET EXPRESSED BY A CRITIC IN AUSTRALIA

CANADIAN’S MANAGER WOULD LIKE BOUT WITH J. LONDOS

Wrestling enthu— ..» who favour straight, all-in wrestling without the admixture of clowning and frills that go with spectacular bouts so dear to the hearts of female fans, missed out on a worthwhile bout when Earl McCready, champion of the British Empire, sailed for New Zealand, writes A. H. Ahearne, in the Sydney Referee He slipped into Sydney, watched the match at Sydney Stadium, but issued no challenges. McCready refused all offers of engagements. His arrival and departure were not chronicled in the daily Press. Outside Ray Steele, it is doubtful if any wrestler in Australia could hold his own with the Empire champion. Steele ri the most scientific wrestler among those campaigning in Australia at the moment. A clash between him and the young Canadian star would have been the outstanding attraction in the 1939 wrestling season. There’s no doubt about McCready’s status m the wrestling world. After a distinguished amateur career during which he won the Canadian championship four years in succession and the British Empire Games championship, he turned professional. When he stepped off the boat in Sydney he had completed a world tour during which he defeated the best wrestlers in New Zealand, Canada, England, and South Africa. Twelve months after he turned professional he wrestled Dick Shikat, one of the world’s outstanding wrestlers, to a draw at Madison Square Garden, New York. After touring the U.S.A. meeting allcomers he returned to Canada and won the British Empire title from Jack Taylor. In Canada he teamed up with Walter Miller and under his direction toured Australia and New Zealand. He defeated the best wrestlers In both countries. Then on to England where he defeated claimants to his Empire crown. At that lime Richstoff, three times winner of the Olympic wrestling title, was campaigning as a professional in England with the famous Jack Sherry. Walter Miller posted a challenge on behalf of McCready to Richstoff. Accompanying the challenge went a side bet of 15,000 dollars. When the challenge wa» not accepted. Miller, with fifteen thousand dollars in notes In hi 3 hand, called on Sherry. “Why has your wrestler not accepted McCready’s challenge?” queried Miller. “Because Richstoff wants none of him,’* replied Sherry. Placing the 15,000 dollars on the table, Miller said: “The same challenge, and the same side bet goes for you. Jack.” White with rage, Sherry refused Miller’s taunting challenge. From England Miller and McCready went to South Africa where the great Dutch wrestler. Van der Walt ruled the roost. McCready’s Quick Win. When McCready and Van der Walt

wrestled at the Wanderers’ Ground, i Johannesburg, partisan feeling was at fever heat. Police and mlliiarymen were enlisted to keep the crowd of 15,000 in order. However, McCready crashed the big Dutchman to the canvas twice inside 23 minutes of wrestling. Stunned by the crashing defeat of their idol, the crowd were mute. The silence of a tomb enveloped them for minutes after the match had ended. McCready, keyed up to expect a riot If he defeated the Dutchman, admits that the unexpected and dramatic silence chilled hiis heart as he stood in the centre ot the ring. The Canadian is 6tt. ljin. high, and weighs in the vicinity of 17 stone. He bears practically no marks of his profession, though he was severely injured lon a couple of occasions. He is a modest, unassuming individual and speaks interestingly from a wealth of experience born of extensive travel in many lands. Like Ray Steele, the purity of his wrestling skill shines through the showmanship, nowadays a part and parcel of the wrestling game.

McCready is fast for a big man, destructive in the ring, and a vvondertul defensive wrestler. His wife and small daughter travel with him wherever he goes. McCready is managed by Walter Miller, who, in his prime, was one of the toughest wrestlers in the world. During his career Walter held world championship in four divisions. He’s confident he can make his young protege a world champion. He is willing to stake five thousand dollars for McCready against the present world champion, Jim Londos, under any conditions, rounds, or to a finish.

Miller was a Champion. In his day Mill, was recognised as a dangerous foem-n. Added to his amazing strength and skill, he had a cold, deadly ferocity in the ring. To-day he is a man of strong personality, but there’s something of the cold, deadly menace of his ring days behind Miller’s backing of the Canadian. He himself feared no man on °arth, and he fears no man for his young protege. I believe he would risk every penny of his considerable fortune on a bout between McCready and any wrestler in the world. McCready and Steele met in the ring in 1932 and wrestled a draw. I asked McCready what he thought of Ray as a wrestler. “He’s as clever as sin, as powerful as an enraged tiger, and as slippery as an eel,” he replied. Had McCready and Steel been fighters the fans would have howled for a clash between them. But the politics of wrestling and the tides of tangled international affairs, are beyond the understanding of simple people like you and me.