Pompton Lake, June 26.
Joe Louis, world heavyweight champion, ended training for the seventh defence of his title today no more disturbed than a grave stone over to tumbling odds, indicating the betting public's fading confidence in his ability to crush Tony Galento, the burly beer-drinking, cigar-smoking bartender from New Jersey, Wednesday night at New York, Louis looked stale during training last week, according to two expert ringside observers. Bettina, who is recognized as the light-heavyweight champion in New York, said, "Louis looked awful slow. His reactions were'sluggish. He was off his timing. I think I could have knocked him out myself last week."
Grippo also criticized Louis, saying "Louis was out of shape. I have watched him train over twenty times and have never heard him grunt before, It is always a bad sign when a man grunts at a heavy bag."
Julian Black, manager and trainer of Louis, however, said that Louis was just taking things easy when Grippo watched him last week.
Referring to reports that Referee Arthur Donovan has decided to allow Louis and Galento to make a rough fight out of it, Black said, "that will be just fine, The rougher the better. Joe can take good care of himself under any- conditions. Remember what happened to Camera when he tried to get rough?"
Rough Bout Foreseen The New Jersey Boxing Commissioner, Abe Greene, believed that "this was almost sure to be one of the roughest bouts in heavyweight championship history, I do not see how any boxing commission or reforce can prevent it once Galento gets into the ring, He has the habit of taking his own rules."
The gate was not expected to be much more than US$300,000 despite the comic-opera boxing career of Galento, which attained a new pin-nade of absurdity when his manager, Joe Jacobs, charged Louis with using a "gimmick," a light steel dumbell, against Max Schmeling last June. Then New York Boxing Commissioner General John J. Phelan invaded Galento's Asbury Park training camp and ordered "Two-Ton' Tony to shift his training quarters to Madame Bey's camp at Summit, N.J.
When Commissioner Phelan learned of the charges by Jacobs, he almost split his girdle as he grabbed Jacobs and shook his finger under his nose, shouting, "You had better retract those charges or else—"Gentlemen of the Press, I am foleed to detract a salten statement T made. saying no more that Louis heeling with a ginumick because if I do it will lose me seconds' license so I am taking buck everything but I kin still think wot I want, and I think Louis hit him with a gimmick."—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.