NEGRO BOXER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22224, 26 September 1935, Page 11

NEGRO BOXER

DECISIVE VICTORY MER KNOCKED OUT LOUIS' SUPERIORITY WINS IN FOURTH ROUND By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (deceived September 25, 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK. Sept. 24 The negro boxer Joe Louis at the Yankee Stadium to-day knocked out the former heavy-weight champion Max Baer in the fourth round of a contest scheduled for 15 rounds. There were 90,000 spectators.

Louis weighed 14st. 3ilb. and Baer 15st. The referee was Mr. Arthur Donovan and the judges Messrs. George Lecron and Charles Lynch. At the opening gong both men came out of their corners slowly. They sparred cautiously for a few seconds, Louis finally landing a hard left hook to the jaw. Then he struck Baer's chin with two hard lefts and a right and continued landing blows to win the round easily. In the second round Louis continued a hard attack and instead of attempting to counter his rushes Baer started to hold his opponent and during the round failed to land a single effective blow. By this time it was apparent that the negro was completely superior to Baer and it was only a question of how long the latter could remain standing. Baer Takes Severe Punishment In the third round Baer resorted to his familiar crouching position and tried desperately to reach the negro's chin, but his best efforts apparently failed to hurt his opponent. In the last minute Louis made a two-fisted attack and forced Baer to the ropes. Then with a right to the jaw he dropped him for the count of nine.

Baer rose to his feet shaky and immediately went down again under a left hook to the jaw. He was saved by the bell at the count of four. At the bell for the fourth round Louis started a concentrated attack on Baer's face and head. He swung drive after drive with both fists as Baer retreated, scarcely able to defend himself.

Finally Baer worked himself into a clinch and in the break reached Louis with a light back-hand blow. Louis again planted powerful blows to the jaw and this time when Baer tried to clinch Louis sent his head back with a straight left and then dropped Baer to the floor with a right to the head. Loser's Collapse Ends Bout

The former champion took the count of 10 on one knee, Louis winning on the knock-out at the end of 2m 50s of the fourth round. It was a clean knock-out. Baer sank like a tree falling and utterly collapsed in a sitting position quite dazed. He managed to gain a kneeling position in a futile effort to rise and muttered a feeble protest as Mr. Donovan tQld him the bout was over. Although Louis was favourite, the ease with which he defeated Baer drew loud praise from the boxing experts representing the newspapers. They practically unanimously agree that the negro inevitably will become heavyweight champion and thus be the first of his race to win that distinction since Jack Johnson.

It is pointed out that in his ring career Louis has registered the quickest success since Jeffries, who won the championship after 17 bouts. Louis has boxed 25 times professionally in the past 14 months without defeat and has scored 21 knock-outs. This is the first time in Baer's career that he has been knocked out.

Joe Louis, who is 6ft. lin. in height, was born on May 13, 1914, at Montgomery, Alabama. His success and rise to fame in the boxing ring have been meteoric. A little over a year ago he was a State amateur heavyweight champion. He started his professional career by knocking out Joe Kracken in the first round of a bout in Chicago on July 4, 1934. On June 25 this year he defeated Primo Camera, former world's champion, on a technical knock-out. Last month he scored a first round technical knock-out against "King" Levinsky, the man who stopped Dempsey when the latter tried to recover his lost position. Louis' victory over the ex-champion Max Baer, who seems to have been outclassed, places the negro boxer right in line for a title bout with James J. Braddock, the present holder of the world's heavy-weight championship.