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UlUUUlUCUIl liU ► _ On Second Thought By BARNEY NAGLER Ezzard Charles sweated in search of condition in a -recently bankrupt athletic club on the West Side. The monument UlUUUlUCUIl to liU muscles, complete with gymnasium and swimming pool, looks out on Garfield Park, complete with lake and trees, and Ed Van Every*, the happily retired fight writer, sat in a room overlooking the glen and said, "Its a nice quiet place here. Best training camp ever." "Nice and quiet, Barney Nogler right," agreed Ray Arcel, co-trainer of Charles. "I dont think Ezzards ever been in better shape for a fight." "It was funny the other night," Van Every said. "The shooting." "Oh, that," Arcel* recalled. "That was just one of them things." The visitor, who had just been let in on the peaceful aspect of training smack in the center of Chicago, asked about the shooting. "Some police had a gun fight with some hoodlums across the street," Van Every explained. "One of them get shot to death. A hoodlum, that is." "Otherwise its been quiet around here," Arcel interrupted. "You wouldnt believe it could be so nice training in the city." It always seems to be a contradiction of the craft that fist-fighters intent on tearing a fellow-man apart get in shape for the job in the most peaceful surroundings. The task of preparing the psychic for the brawl ahead apparently requires quiet. No disturbances, mind you, or the man on the prowl might be upset. Charles is a quiet man generally intent on improving the mind. While training for Joey Maxim and their meeting tonight in the Chicago Stadium, he spent most of his leisure time reading "Cyrano de Ber-gerac." , "Youd be surprised how intense he becomes about anything," Van Every explained. "I got tickets for him tcsee this Jose Ferrer in Cyrano. The poetry entranced him. He came back out here, bought the story of Cyrano and has been reading it." "How about the hypnotism?" Arcel suggested. , "You mean the mesmerism," Van Every said. "Never mind the big words," said Arcel. "I mean how he puts them fellows to sleep." "In the ring?" Van Every asked, smiling. "No, in real life." Arcel said. They both laughed. Charles skill as a hypnotist is halting. Last year, when he was training in the beet soup belt of New York for the whomping of Joe Louis, he saw a hypnotist perform. He was as intrigued by the hypnotist as by Cyrano. He has been wielding his power of persuasion ever since. "How he puts that Lloyd Gibson to sleep," Van Every said incredulously. "Like he could put Maxim to sleep tonight," Arcel said. "It wont be that easy," said Van Every. "Maxim dont stand still for being put to sleep." "Thats right," said Arcel, "but Ezz can do it if he presses a little bit. I wanna tell you something about Ezz. Hes about as good they come as champ. But he never seems to want to work harder winning a fight than he has to. No more, no less. But hes got the equipment to be a great champ. "Funny thing happened the other day. We were talking about Nova. Charles likes me to tell about Novas Yogi business and how he trained for the Baer fight at Oom the Omnipotents place near Nyack. Well, before Nova went up to Nyack for that fight he trained at the old Pioneer Gym in New York. % "Charles reminded me about that. He said he was in New York about that time, in 1939. He was just an 155-pouhder and his first manager, Bert Williams, brought him to New York to win gold and glory. So he put this kid, only 155 pounds, in there sparring with Red Burman, who was a big heavyweight. I never noticed Charles then, of course. But its a funny thing. Here I had 11 guys try to win from Louis and they got bounced. "But the kid Im going to have lick Louis, Ezzard, he trains in a ring not far from where Im working with Nova 11 years ago and I dont give him a tumble. Its a funny thhjg-. aintit?"- c itut , J
