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On Second Thought Charles Answers Some Questions By BARNEY NAGLER MONTICELLO, N. Y., June 1. They said Ezzard Charles would be found in his room, one of 10 set off from a long corridor in campus of Kutschers, a retreat for tired mother and training fighters. Charles was there, relaxing with a copy of Life. He was dressed in a saffron-hued plaid shirt, sun tan trousers, bedroom slippers and a wry smile. The visitor hit on a most unusual gambit, to wit: "How are you, Ez?" The former heavyweight champion, 16 days removed from his second chance to retrieve the bauble he let slip from his hand three years ago, was overtaken by the Visitors turn of phrase. "Just great," Ez said. Now they both laughed, visitor and fighter, and the one who had akked the question, "silly questions guys ask you, arent they? I think newspapermen lay awake nights thinking them up." "Could be," Charles said. He smiled sardonically and a front tooth, framed in gold, seemed to bend a ray of light. "You know, the guys talking to fighters are always asking silly or embarrasing questions," the visitor said. "I remember the night Henry Armstrong beat Lou Ambers in 15 tough rounds. Armstrong won, but he had a bad cut inside his lips. Must have swallowed a quart of blood." "I remembered that one," Charles said. "One newspaperman went into Armstrongs room after the fight and he leaned down to talk to Armstrong, who was lying on a rubbing table, his face all swollen and his torn lip a sight. Did he hurt you, Henry? the guy asked." Charles broke into laughter. "I remember," the visitor went on, "how every fellow that was going to fight Joe Louis was asked how it felt to be going in there with a guy that almost killed you." "Yes," Charles said. "The same thing could be asked of you, Ez," the visitor pointed out. "You could be asked how does it feel going in with a fellow like Marciano, with 40 knockouts in 45 fights, that wouldnt be a foolish question, but it might be ambarrasihg." Charles averted the visitors gaze. He turned and looked out of the window just behind the chair in which he was seated. He didnt comment. He just stared for a moment and then turned back to talk . some more. It was apparent that the visitor had stepped out of bounds. v Now there was a moment of uneasiness in the room and the visitor, trying to get the train back on the track, asked, "I dont want to spy, but just how do you fight a . guy like, Marciano?" "I know one thing," Charles said, "and that is that most of the other fellows have been fighting him all wrong. It isnt smart to try to feint- him and draw him into a lead. That way hes doing the punching and the other guy is worrying more about what Marcianos going to do instead of punching." "This means youll go out there winging?" "Wouldnt say that either," the fighter said. "You had your chance to win back the title from Walcott. Whats different about trying to get it back from Marciano?" "Tell you," Charles began, "I went in there witb Walcott thinking I had this one easy. I found out they dont give you anything on a silver platter." "yiyandsfi- The clients who may have forgotten are reminded that Charles didnt press Walcott when the pressing was good, down in Philadelphia, and permitted J. J. to cake-walk to the wire. "You look kind of heavy?" "Got about six or seven pounds to take off before the fight," the fighter said. "Im okay just the way I want to be this far in front of the fight." "You going to win?" "I think so," he said. "Im going to win because Im a better fighter than Marciano. Fought tougher fellows for a lot longer and I know more. Thats how it is." Could be.
