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AT THE RINGSIDE By Barney Nagler NEW YORK N Y May 3 The night Wallace Bud Smith lost to Joe Brown in a nontitle bout in Houston Bill Heinz was talking about the won ¬ ders of a TV bowling show He was saying in the intense way he says bright things that he had never seen a bowling ball until he cast an indifferent eye on his television screen Now he confessed he knows bowlers by their first name nameI I know this guy Buzz Fazio out of De ¬ troit how much he weighs and his age and his height just from looking at this TV show You know I know more about Buzz Fazio than I do about Bud Smith Heinz said saidSure Sure I know that Smith is the light ¬ weight champion and that every now and then he has to weight 135 pounds for a title fight but little else I must say that bowl ¬ ing show is wonderful wonderfulNow Now Heinz frank confession is not be ¬ ing put down to embarrass the fellow He is late comers might want to know the finest writer of sports in the national magazines In time past when the Sun still hit the streets of New York each morning he was a splendid war corres ¬ pondent and later an equally outstanding sports columnist He knows as much about boxing as any man in the land He knows nolhing about Bud Smith SmithA A 4 A ANeither Neither does this deponent Indeed Bud Smith has been world lightweight cham ¬ pion since last June 29 Yet he is as un ¬ familiar as any guy named Smith not in ¬ cluding Red This as the poets say is a shame shameOnce Once the lightweight division was the richest in pugilism barring only the heavy ¬ weights From the days of Cans and then Leonard down through the Canzoneris and Ambers to Jenkins and Beau Jack and Montgomery the 135pound title was a lush prize Now it has fallen on unhappy days daysSeeing Seeing Smith in action on TV pointed up the reason for the divisions plight He is something less than enthralling He blew 10 out of 10 rounds to Brown Smith vs Brown now thats an equation to send men cheering into the streets streetsIt It is not Smiths fault alone that the lightweight class is in shadows The divi ¬ sion began falling into disrepute in the j offagain onagain reigns of Carter who is the exexexexchampion exexexexchampionThe The gaud was passed around in Carters heyday like a bottle among Bowery dere ¬ I licts Sundry eyebrows were raised time and 1 again when he went into the ring in de fense of his title which he lost to such citizens as Lauro Sales and Paddy DeMarco i Carter gained the championship first by knocking out Ike Williams and the circum ¬ stances surrounding the event were enough to cast suspicion His manager Willie Ketchum was regarded by many as a mere front for assorted citizens named Blinky and Mr Gray GrayThereafter Thereafter Carter went around giving j the title away and regaining it in return I Imatches matches causing those concerned with ring j history to develop kingsized indifference to I the lightweights lightweightsWhen When Smith came along out of the night so to write and won the champion ship he won himself something next to tonothing nothing Now it seems he cant win for forlosing losing and his division has suffered in di Continued an Page ThirtyNine AT THE RINGSIDE RINGSIDEBy By BARNEY NAGLER Continued from Page Two Tworect rect ratio with his failures The Interna ¬ tional Boxing Club has a champion on its hands who is worth less than 135 pounds in feathery down downPerhaps Perhaps one factor in the downfall of the lightweights as led by Smith is the fact that he waited around a long time before getting his chance at the title Half a dozen years ago Bud was regarded as a wasnt handled by the right mob I Eventually grasping hands latched onto Smith moved him the right way and im ¬ posed him on the lightweight class classLightweight Lightweight indeed and it will never recover
