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Murphy, LaMotta Promise Slugfest WednesdayGo May* ♦— Be Tight of Year Both Are Wade-In Sluggers; Winner Likely to Get Shot at Middle Crown in August By JACK CUDDY °r United Press Sports Writer is ■ NEW YORK, N. Y., June 23. — Light JJ heavyweights Bob Murphy and Jake La- ■ dig Motta are slated to meet at Yankee Sta- • hil hit dium Wednesday night in a 12 -round bout - Yc York Mi that may be "the fight of the year." ,. tied It promises torrid action because each is 5 j hit a wade-in slugger. And it has significance ; ia] because the winner apparently will get a 1 shot at the 175 -pound crown in August. f0- Champion Joey Maxim and manager : on on Jack Kearns will be scouting at the ring- • pi, side when southpaw Murphy of San Diego, sij Calif., and ex-middleweight ruler LaMotta 1 wj of New York square off. Promoter Jim Norris expects a crowd of f c at least 25,000 and a gate of close to 00,- a 000 for the first light-heavyweight main „ event staged in a Metropolitan ball park 1 s since July 18, 1929. That was when Tommy 7 y Loughran kept his title on a decision over 5 James J. Braddock at the stadium. j Red-haired Murphy, the rings most t popular current fighter, was favored at 8-5 3 g a today, not merely because of his own prowess but because of the mystery envel- " a oping LaMotta. Boxing men are uncertain whether Bronx K m •Jake suffered any permanent harm while g, lies losing his middleweight crown to Sugar I b Ray Robinson on a technical knockout at • tl: the Chicago, February 14. How much did that J -j St. Valentines massacre" take out of him? Was LaMotta Over the Hill? g eye They also wonder whether LaMotta was s g, "over the hill" when he fought Robinson, l # the or whether the task of paring down to the e T 160-pound limit actually weakened him. to LaMotta, approaching 30, will be making e Q] his first comeback attempt Wednesday y a] night. He also will be launching his campaign ~ for a shot at the light-heavyweight ■ ] diadem, now that he has deserted the e , middleweight division because of poundage e , trouble. Jake plans to scale about 172 on Wednes- ;" , day. That apparently should be the heaviest of his career. Whether he will be e . "sharp" and strong at 172, or over-stuffed ■ and slow is a question. Murphy, approaching 29 years and d weighing about 175 pounds, is a natural II light heavyweight who has been fighting so ;° regularly that theres little chance of any L ring-rust having accumulated on his sleek lk chassis. g While LaMotta contented himself with ■ c but one fight this year, ex-sailor Murphy [y E battled eight times. He won six by knock- c_ d outs. He lost a decision to Harry Matthews h at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2 -and he lost on a questionable sixth-round ld h foul to Joey Rindone at Boston, April 16. 6- f His knockout victims were Henry Brimm, n j Billy Brown, Dan Bucceroni, Joe Black- c" c wood, Cecil Hudson and Dan Nardico. In addition to Murphys apparent edge in In condition, he also may have an edge in in style. An upright southpaw, he prefers to to fight "inside" — at close quarters where he can smash his opponents chin with short, rt. » explosive left uppercuts. He is also a good short-hooker to body or head. LaMottas *_ slam-bang, wide-hooking attack may per- J mit Murphy to keep inside. ! Since each concentrates on banging his jj- opponent and pays little attention to de- j fense, the bout should be a pier 6 natural .ai j while it lasts. , Scheduled for 10:00 p. m. E.D.T., it will m J be neither broadcast nor televised to the he general public. However, the fight will be "piped" to television screens in 11 theatres .es * in the following eight cities: Baltimore, re Washington, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleve- re. ] land, Philadelphia, Albany, N. Y., and nj Richmond, Va.
