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Walcott, Charles Set for Rematch] Heavyweight Title At Stake Thursday Early Odds Fayor Challenger On Decision Outcome,Champ If Battle Ends in Knockout By JOHN GAUDIOSI United Press Sports Writer PHILADELPHIA, Pa., May 31.— Heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles meet here in a title bout for the fourth time next Thursday and it could have gotten monotonous except for a left hook delivered by Walcott one hot night in Pittsburgh last July. The off-the-hip punch, one of the most celebrated uncorked in a ring, knocked out Charles and gave Walcott the title at the age of 37, when fighting for the average boxer is just a memory. It also made this, their next meeting, a natural. The public is buying the bout to see whether the lightning in Walcott s muscular left arm will strike again, or whether Charles has solved the riddle of the left hook and will become the first heavyweight in ring history to regain his title. The odds-makers have established Charles as a 12 to 5 favorite on a decision outcome, and Walcott a 6 to 5 favorite in the event of a knock-out. Awaiting the victor is a "Golden Gate" bout with Rocky Marciano or the winner of a proposed Marciano-Harry Kid Matthews fight. The 3 0-y earmold Charles, winding up four weeks of heavy training at Pleasantville, I N. J., said he wont be gunshy in the return 15 -rounder with Walcott at huge Municipal Stadium. Nor has he devised a special defense for the sweeping Walcott left hook since, in the words of his co-manager, the voluble Jake Mintz, "Joe has a good right hand, too." Charles said the seventh-round kayo he suffered at the hands of Walcott after twice outpointing him resulted in part from his own carelessness. Ducked Into Punch "I ducked into the punch," the Cincinnati cobra said. "My guard wasnt up. It was no freak or lucky punch. As for myself, I couldnt get started." j Charles doesnt plan to be overly cautious because of demise in the previous bout. "You cant win any fight being careful," he said. The 38-year-old Walcott, idle since he won the title while his opponent scored triumphs over Joey Maxim, Rex Layne and Joe Kahut, is confident his secret "change in style" will give him another kayo victory. "He was lucky to last until the seventh," said Joe as he wrapped up a serious three-week grind at Bader field in Atlantic City, the same quarters where Jack Dempsey trained for the Georges. Carpentier fight in the 20s. v Trainer Dan Plorio said the Walcott camp first spotted Charles* weakness against a left hook in their second bout in Detroit, and he announced publicly that Walcott would bank on the same punch in their fourth setto, apparently giving away a trade secret. However, with Keen Mintz in Charles corner and equally-sharp manager Felix Bocchicchio calling the shots for Walcott, a surprise, or even a double surprise, may be in store. The gold-toothed Charles is down to 192 pounds after reporting for training at 204. He said the weight is heavier than usual, but that it gives him added strength. At any rate, he does not expect to be less than 190 at weigh-in time. He scaled 182 at Pittsburgh. Walcott is hovering around 195, which he has fixed as his goal. This would be just one pound more than the 194 he weighed; in the previous encounter. i Promoter Herman Taylor predicts a crowd of 35,000 will attend the fight. With tickets ranging from to 0 each, he estimates the gate at 50,000, with each fighter getting 30 per cent of all receipts. The fight will be televised on home screens on a nationwide basis except for a blackout of Philadelphia and a radius of 75 miles. It will be broadcast on a nationwide radio hookup with the Philadelphia area again blacked out.
