“Let Him Fight His Way Up”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 507, 9 November 1928, Page 6

“Let Him Fight His Way Up”

LECKIE’S VISIT TO U.S. VETERAN TRAINER SPEAKS OUT “All rot,” was the decisive observation of a much-travelled athletic trainer, Mr. Bob Sims, who visited THE SUN office while the Aorangi was berthed at Auckland, when told that it was proposed to set Johnny Leckie early for a bout for the world’s feather-weight title in America. “Let him fight his way up,” said the veteran. “He wants to get acclimatised tirst, and he will meet plenty of good boys In the States. The danger about going in right away for a world’s championship fight is that if he gets beaten he will have a mighty hard job to get back again, because there are so many good ’uns there already. “Now, there’s young Bert, Brown, a New Zealand boy. He went over there and fought his way up. When I saw him a few weeks ago, he had won 21 fights out of 23 and was good for fights all over the States and Canada. “OUR BOXERS TOO KIND” “Our boxers in Australia and New Zealand axe too kind. For instance, a man in the States assisting an opponent to rise would only get knocked for his pains. The American boxer is all out to win from start to finish. They go for action all the time and keep up a terrific pace right through. Most tights are six and tenround bouts, and the result is they can stand the pace.” Asked about the coming world’s heavy-weight series, Mr. Sims confined himself to the laconic remark: “Heeney has as good a chance as anyone.” Mr. Sims, who was an old Soccer player in Dunedin 20 years ago, has been associated with several worldfamous athletes and football teams as trainer. He was with Major C odsell in the States and Canada when the A ustralian was world’s sculling champion. Goodsell, he reports, is now settled down in Salt Lake City as coach to a college team of oarsmen. Ho is married to a San Francisco girl, and Mr. Sims considers there is little chance of him challenging again for the title. “I’m going back to Sydney,” lie remarked to a Sun man, “to have a look round the old place again, but I may ‘locate’ here later on. By the way, you can tell your readers that there is a chance of Bill Peedon, the Canadian Olympic cyclist, coming out to Australia or New Zealand next year.”