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j i j ! ! j | j I ..;•and. r,i,,ii Mm -J Marciano, Walcott Battle Tonight Champion Is Strong Favorite To Retain Heavyweight Title TV Blackout in Chicago, * Milwaukee Areas; Radio To Carry Bout Nationally By BARNEY NAGLER Staff Correspondent Rocky Marciano, the bull in a china shop, will be let loose once again in the Chicago Stadium store tonight and experts on the frailty of antiques believe hell once again shatter that wonderful specimen of antiquity, Jersey Joe Walcott. In full view of some 14,000 shoppers, and j in the electronic presence of millions of TV customers on the NBC party line, Marciano i will take on Walcott in defense of the proposition that they never can be glued j together once they have been shattered. The 15 -rounder, first defense of the ! heavyweight championship which Marciano won last September 23, in Philadelphia, by knocking out Walcott in the 13th round with just one right to the jaw, is a postponed version of the event originally sched- ! uled for April 10. Marciano came down with a nose injury some five weeks ago, forcing the delay until tonight. The postponement hasnt helped the sale of tickets for the bout. The Inter- j national Boxing Clubs boss, Jim Norris, | said yesterday that he still expects a gate in excess of 50,000, although there was only j I 65,000 in the till. The prospect of seeing history made in the event Walcott becomes the first heavyweight champion in history to regain his crown hasnt lured the fans. Resistance against the 0 bite for ringside pews cast a pall over the promotion. Norris had hoped to sell 10,000 seats at 0 a copy. Half have been pushed through the ticket wicket. Expect Price Slash Obviously, the 0 tickets unsold by noon today will be slashed in price, a la the late Mike Jacobs, with the hope this will help the IBC out of its wilderness, Marciano is a strong favorite to repeat over Walcott. The price varies, with pro-Walcott supporters shopping for a "buy." so to speak. The books are reluctant to lay too long a price, in view of the fact that there has developed, in the past few days, a propaganda-nurtured theory that Marciano is overtrained. He has been working for this fight since late January. He boxed a total of 255 rounds in his training camp at Holland, Mich., whence he came here Wednesday to to go into seclusion in a South Side retreat. Seemingly overlooked is the fact that Walcott, at 39, is an old man, and has trained like one. He worked less than half the total of sparring rounds put in by Marciano, perhaps to conserve energy for the put-up-or-shut-up thing itself. Whether this will enable him to withstand Marciano s assault through 15 rounds is the question at hand. This department thinks not. Marciano, who came through the adversity of a first-round knockdown, bad body attack, and difficulty with his sight in the first bout, should be able to win quicker this time, say at 2:04 of the seventh. The champion has the advantage of relative youth, better legs and more punch. He cant box with Walcott, being in fact a crude competitor who has depended on power to win all of his 43 fights as a pro, 38 by knockouts. Walcott may elude him for a half a dozen rounds, but Marciano ROCKY MARCIANO isnt easily discouraged. Hell pour it on when the issue is joined and put his man down and out. Marciano will have the disadvantage in weight, about 186 to 197, but this isnt a decisive factor among heavyweights. It will be a bloody, punch-splattered bout, as was the first one. Whether it will be worth 0 a head isnt guaranteed, but those who see it on television will get their times worth. The championship scrap will be televised nationally over the NBC network except in the Chicago-Milwaukee areas, which will be blacked out. The ABC radio chain will also carry it but without any territorial restrictions. Both will go on the air at 9:00 p. m. CDT. No matter how it is sliced, Walcott has won all the preliminary skirmishes. For one, his manager, Felix Bocchicchio, exacted a fine financial deal. Walcott has been guaranteed 50,000, come a sellout or low water, against all receipts. Marciano is down for 30 per cent of the net gate receipts, expected to be about 00,000 and the radio-TV and 3-D film rights. Inasmuch as the radio-TV rights have brought 00,000 Marciano is assured of at at least 0,000, but he still is 60,000 short of the guarantee to Walcott. This must come from the gate receipts and the film. He can only lose his title, of course, but the IBC stands to lose money on all this. The financial skirmish is not the only one lost by Marciano. On the propaganda level he has been beaten as well. Bocchicchio has been highly successful in conveying the impression that Marciano fouled Walcott in Philadelphia by butting the ; aged competitor. He has iterated and reiterated this notion and it is apparent that the referee will watch Marcianos movements carefully tonight. It wont matter. The referee, who will be t chosen from among four to be "briefed" by the Illinois Athletic Commission, will be 1 under strict surveillance by the solons. Livingston Osborne, chairman of the board, has insisted: "Our officials in Illinois know . what to look for. They know what to look for." There will be no eight-second knockdown . rule in force. The bout will be fought with six-ounce gloves and only the referee or : the commission physician will have the authority to stop the fight. Marciano and Walcott will weigh in at • the Chicago Stadium at noon today. Both t did some roadwork yesterday, but neither • was permitted to talk to visitors.
