The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1948. THE LOUIS-WALCOTT FIGHT

Wanganui Chronicle, 29 June 1948, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, JUNE 29, 1948. THE LOUIS-WALCOTT FIGHT

IN the last contest of his remarkable career Joe Lcuis, the * “Browij Bomber,” carried the sluggish fight to the eleventh round before he registered the Bit that floored his opponent, Walcott. The tremendous crowd that had waited over two postponements to see this contest were naturally keyed up to a pitch of great expectations: nothing but slaughter would have oeen deemed to be a sufficient reward for so much long drawn-out suspejisg, The Brown Bomber was, however, at the end of his career and notwithstanding his strenuous training he knew that time was telling against him. To be a pugilist, particularly in the United States of America, it is necessary for the contestant to be in the highest plane of physical efficiency. This state' cannot be sustained over a number of years. The wear and tear of pugilism is tremendous and, despite the appearances of fitness and the claim that the boxers make a speedy recovery, the cumulative effect of many fights imposes t, severe strain upon the human frame. Louis has been fortunate in arriving at his victories by a short route and this no doubt has permitted of his staying in the championship class for a long time; but even with these quick victories to his credit the mere passing of the years gradually unfitted him to remain in the ring. It is the intention of Louis to retire and, significantly enough, to enter polities. What does this decision portend in American national life?

It is to be noted that the one-time slave population and the resultant present day socially segregated population is providing the United States with its leading athletes. Negro proficiency, however, is not restricted to athletic, fields; these people are making progress all along the line. It is not to be expected that the coloured people of the United States will continue to advance in athletics and business and jlso in the professions and at the same time be content to remain m their present inferior position. The morale of the American negro population has been growing since Jack Johnson won the world heavyweight title from Tommy Burns in a memorable contest in Sydney; but that has only been the spectacular side of the negro advance.. Booker T. Washington, the founder of the Tuskegee University, was of greater importance in the American scene than all of the American negro athletes put together. The man who penned “From Slavery Up” pointed the path along which his people piust tread if they would come to their full estate And he prepared the way for that upward movement. He also started something in American political life of which the end is not yet to be seen. What Joe Louis, retired heavyweight boxing champion of the world, will contribute to that increasingly important, factor is also not yet‘revealed, but one thing is certain: If Louis has been more than a boxer during his years as a pugilist he will be a personality in polities not to be denied.