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AT THE RINGSIDE By Barney Nagler NEW YORK, N. Y., May 11.— There was % piece out of Chicago telling of Joe Louis newest brush with the revenooers and the one reading it remembered a bit of intelligence picked up some days earlier. Max Baer, a man had said, was to begin collecting next month on a 50,000 trust fund established for him by his manager, Ancil Hoffman, right after the madcaps knockout by Louis back in 1935. "Hell be getting ,200 a month out of the fund," the man said. "You Averent around when Ancil took that quarter of a million from Max* purse and put it in the fund. Baer screamed, but now he blesses Hoffmap every time he thinks of it." Now, the one reading the piece out of Chicago couldnt help reflect on the relative financial status of-Louis and Baer. AAA "The government," the piece out of Chi-cag said, "today filed an-eighth income tax lien against former heavyweight champion Joe Louis, this one for 2,308.46. The new lien, covering income tax for the years 1953 and 1954, brought to ,243,097 the total the .government claims Louis owes. The previous liens covered the years 1946 through 1951." "Baer," the man had said earlier, "got himself a big chunk out of the bout with Louis. Remember, that one drew a million. Baer took a beating from Louis, but he got well paid. "When it was over, Baer was loused up in all the papers. They said he quit to Louis, and maybe he did, but Hoffman didnt worry. Hes the original manager who cried all the way to the bank. He took Baers end, plus some other money, and put it in this trust fund. "Now its 20 years later and Max may be a clown, but hes got - this ,200 a month. There were times. he wanted to grab some of the money, when things got tough, but the way Ancil set it up it would take the U. S. Supreme Court to get the trust fund upset." For the next 20 years, while Louis tax problems keep piling up, Baer will sit around collecting and living it up. Not, mind you, that Louis will be down and out. Joe still lives high on the hog, paying off out of pocket, so to speak. He is earning some money as a wrestler, gets 0,000 a year from the International Boxing Club and picks up fees here and there. However, he has none of the peace of mind that ,200 a month will give Baer. Twenty years ago, with Louis up and Baer down, none could have foreseen, these times. AAA Louis was being represented as the best-handled fighter since G. Washington. He was a modest lad who handlers gave the impression of substance. They were saying that Louis would never have to worry for a buck. Baer was the clown, complete with fast talk and swift ladies, and he went to his pocket with abandon. The forecast, in his Continued on Page Fifty-Five I AT THE RINGSIDE By BARNEY NAGLER Continued from Page Two case, was for stormy financial weather in the days ahead. It is not known, of course, whether money is all that counts. It beats poverty, of course, but_does it make Baer a happier man than Louis? None can know for sure. Lou Nova, who beat Baer and was slugged by Louis, is another ex-heavyweight down on his luck. He didnt get to be champion, but he struts Broadway these days as though he never lost a fight. Time is on his side. Nova currently regards himself as a neo-DeWolf Hopper. He reads poetry for a living. Living? He drew 69 paying customers to a recital in a Carnegie Hall chamber the other night. His plight hasnt robbed Nova of a sense of humor. On a television show a. week or so ago he was asked if he had studied yogi when he was boxing. Nova confessed his devotion to the Hindu philosophy, not the Yankee catcher of the same name, and pointed out- that yogi had enabled him to develop his cosmic punch. "That punch almost knocked out Joe Louis in the third round of our fight," Nova said. Eye-witnesses snickered. "Imagine," Nova went on, "If T had knocked out Louis I would have become the world heavyweight champion. Yes, and Id be wrestling in Norfolk, Virginia, tonight, instead of Louis." And being dunned for taxes as well.
