WORLD TITLE FIGHT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 246, 16 October 1937, Page 4

WORLD TITLE FIGHT

SCHMELING’S WAIT GLAD TO MAKE CONCESSIONS CHANCE TO REGAIN CROWN It is costing Max Schmeling two years of waiting and perhaps 100,000 dollars in cash to get his long-sought chance to regain the world heavyweight boxing championship, in the return match with Joe Louis that is now definitely set for next June. “But it’s worth it,” smiled the black-haired German before he boarded the North German Lloyd liner Bremen on September 5 on his way home. “I do not mind making concessions so long as I am sure I will have the chance to win back the title. I am a business man, too, but the money is secondary in this case. I have confidence in Mike Jacobs. I do not think I will get what you call the run-around any more. I think I can beat Louis again. I do not mind waiting another year.” Schmeling will ge: the short end of a 40-20 percentage split with Louis lor next year’s return bout, which figures to net a million dollars. The German

stands to make around 200,000 dollars. He could have had the match on a basis of a 300,000-dollar guarantee of a 30-30 split if he had signed with Jacobs prior to the James J. Brad-dock-Louis title bout last June. At that time Schmeling preferred to go through with the legal shadow-boxing instituted by Madison Square Garden. The fight probably will be held in the Yankee Stadium, the third week of June, but promoter Jacobs will not make any decision until he has given detailed thought to the possibilities of Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium or Chicago’s Soldier Field as sites. It was in the Yankee Stdium, a year ago last June, that Schmeling flattened Louis in 12 rounds and precipitated one of the most prolonged heavyweight controversies in history. Schmeling and Louis both expect to have so-called “tune-up” bouts before they meet again. The German said he probably would fight once in Germany and perhaps return to the United States for an indoor bout at Madison Square Garden under Jacob’s direction. He has no special opponents in mind. Under the contract he signed on Friday, Max is barred from meeting Braddock, Tommy Farr, Bob Pastor and the Baer brothers, Max and Buduy. Louis’ title will be at stake any time he enters the ring, but this risk will ba minimised in any fight the negro undertakes in the interim. The champion may appear next in Detroit, his home town, but will not fight there or elsewhere until next year. What will Schmeling's chances be in a return match with Louis? Will the two-year interval be to the advantage of the negro champion, who is ten years younger, or has Joe already begun to fade? Will the memory of last year’s knock-out haunt Louis? Many critics believe Louis has already passed his peak, lost confidence and will not last much longer as titleholder. They consider his inability to do anything more than out-jab Farias the tip-off. Rated off his first title defence, Louis, they insist, will be easy for Schmeling. “That’s where the argument begins. Louis has already demonstrated it’s not safe to rate him off his previous fights. His weaknesses have become apparent, but the fact remains he car-

ries the hardest punch, in either hand, of any heivyweight in the business. His failure to put away opponents like Pastor and Farr doesn’t prove he’s a soft touch. Fighting five to a dozen times a year, the negro has whipped 1 every opponent except Schmeling.