12 Sports Aces, May 1943 — page 24: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

22 12 SPORTS ACES «eG salen renee seeBee Ber D ie Ore Ber Dende hore Gah iePreheBeeder Deo PiGerOrPreenra her Du DeeBe See Pere GerSer Oren SoerherSurPesrrmer Gu SoGrn tection Seen Rerirreies ¢ Her eyes flashed. “He’s not afraid of anyone.” “No? Then how come he gave me the runaround for a year?” “He wanted to fight you. His manager would not let him. Sammy is a good boy.” Steve's eyes glinted. He said, “I hope you still think so after the fight” She shook her head. “You think you’re hard, Steve,” she said. “But there are two kinds of hardness. You’re bard out- side and soft inside. Sammy is soft out- side and hard inside. If you try slug- ging with him tonight, he’ knock you out.” He threw back his head and laughed. The laughter died suddenly on his lips and he snarled, “G’wan back to your Sammy. Tell him when I get through with him, he’ll never fight again.” She bit her lips. She said, “You’ve changed a lot, Steve. You’re not the man you used to be before you won the title.” Her face became firm, she turned and walked out of the dressing room. Steve stared at the door. The hardness ieft his face. The old feeling was still there for Edith, but he never would let her know it, She wanted him to quit when he had won the title; he refused. There was a quarrel and she had told him to for- get about her until he changed his mind. Whispers started about her going places with Salbo. He saw them together , at a night spot once. That had killed his last hope that things would work out ail right. He had tried to harden himself against her. But he never had succeeded. ORGAN came in the room and the eall went up fer the main bout. Steve went down the aisle with Dorgan and the handlers behind him. He got a big hand from the crowd when he stepped into the ring. Sammy Salbo sat in his corner with his arms stretched along the ropes. Salbo had a clean expressionless face. The papers called him “The Baby- faced Assassin.” Only the powerful slop- ing shoulders betrayed the dynamite in his fists. Salbo nodded. Steve scowled and turned away. There was the announcer’s introdue- tions, then the referee called them to the eenter of the ring. The bloodthirsty crowd howled. Steve did not hear them or the referee. He kept thinking back to the night Joe fought Salbo. He kept see- ing flashes of Joe reeling around the ring with bloodstained features. Only his guts had kept him on his feet. And he saw the picture of Salbo stalking him with a bland face. He would put some expression into that face tonight. Some blood-smeared ex- pression. . Satbo looked straight at hm. Steve looked down at the canvas. The referee said, “You guys been around long enough to know your Markis o’ Queensberry so make this a good clean fight ali the way now shake hands and come out fighting at the bell.” Salbo shoved out his gloves. Steve ig- nored them and went to his corner. The crowd shouted at his contemptuous ges- ture. They had turned out for a bloody grudge fight, all the signs pointed to one. - The bell clanged. Steve came out of his corner in a smooth glide. Salbo met him in the center of the ring. Steve swung a left and cocked his right. His ieft con- nected to the ribs, a hard blow smashed against his face. Steve went scowling into a crouch. He drove both fists to the body. Saibo took them and whaled away at Steve. The crowd was on its feet with a yell. They had expected action, but not right from the opening beil. Both fighters pounded away toe to toe. Steve snarled and put everything he had behind his punches. His gloves smacked against a stone wall. Salbo kept shooting them back. Salbo connected with a hard right to the jaw just before the bell. A flash blazed before Steve’s eyes, then they cleared and he walked away scowling. Dorgan said, “A couple more like the last one, Champ, and it’s too bad.” “Aw, I didn’t even feel it,” snapped Steve. He was lying, that punch had hurt plenty. His eyes scanned the ringside seats. Edith was there. She met his eyes and turned away. The bell rang for the second. Steve picked up where he had left off. He Gomichbooks (E(0)