Stribling v. Schaaf

Ernie Schaaf, a pale, bulky young Bostonian, was one of Jack Sharkey's sparring partners until Sharkey, thinking Schaaf showed sufficient promise to be groomed for the heavyweight championship, became his manager and got him a fight with Max Baer, which Schaaf won. Schaaf, who has won 20 of his last 30 fights, last week went to Chicago to fight William Lawrence ("Young") Stribling, who was beaten last July in Max Schmeling's sole effort to defend the heavyweight championship.

Though his nickname is no longer entirely apposite, experts have not yet considered Stribling too old to be effective. Of late he has been bothered by lumbago in his back. His left hand, often broken at the knuckles, has to be desensitized with cocaine every time he fights. Against Schaaf, Stribling found this left hand peculiarly ineffective. Sharkey, who beat Stribling in 1929, had apparently coached his protege to avoid it and Schaaf pounded Stribling in the body till the fourth round. Then, when Stribling tried to hold him with one of his peculiarly tenacious clinches, Schaaf cracked him on the jaw with four right uppercuts, dropped him with a left hook. Saved from a knockout by the bell, Stribling fought six more losing rounds, with exactly that kind of exciting, reckless courage which critics have accused him of lacking after fights which he has won. At the finish, with both eyes almost closed by bruises, Stribling saw Schaaf get a unanimous decision. Experts, picking Schaaf as the best heavyweight prospect of the winter, pictured an odd situation: Sharkey, if he beats Schmeling next June, signing Schaaf to a championship match with himself.

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