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NEW YORK, Jan. 13 - "I'll
keep on fighting and I'll keep on
winning and then maybe the people
will give me full recognition as
champion."
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Puzzled and somewhat bitter Ez-
zard Charles, heavyweight of the
world, made the statement shortly
after he had stopped veteran Lee
Oma of Buffalo in 1.19 of the 10th
round of their 15-round title bout
in Madison Square Garden last
night.
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"Maybe I'll show 'em more the
next time," said the Cincinnati ne-
gro. The next time is going to be
late February or early March
against Jersey Joe Walcott in De-
troit, Miami or St. Louis. All that
is expected to be ironed out today
at a conference at the Internation-
al Boxing Club. Charles won his
crown by whipping Jersey Joe in
Chicago June 22, 1949.
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Right now Charles is running
ahead of Joe Louis' record time
schedule. His defeat of the 34-year-
old Oma was his sixth defense of
the crow. That leaves Ezzy six
down and 19 to go to tie the old
Brown Bomber.
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Five of his title defenses were
won by knockouts or technical
knockouts and his triumph over
Oma was almost according to the
script. He methodically wore down
his playboy rival with searing
body punches and Oma "ran out of
gas," as predicted. It could be that
Oma, arm-weary by the 10th, de-
cided he was going to take no more
punches than necessary.
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Referee Ruby Goldstein halted the
often bullish bout with Oma still on
his feet - he was never knocked
down during the evening - but reel-
ing around the ring from a barrage
of punishing lefts and rights to the
head. Oma was on the verge of a
knockout when Goldstein step-
ped in.
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The odds were fully justified
although Oma put a better exhi-
bition than figured. Charles, who
was outweighed 185 to 193, was
a 1 to 6 favorite to win and a 1 to
2 choice to stop his foe.
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Yet, despite the victory, Charles
felt disturbed and disillusioned by
the boos and catcalls that came
from many of the 11,504 paying
fans. The booing was provoked by
low blows, punches that cost
Charles the fifth and eight rounds
and were responsible for much
of the booing. Charles said "Oma
carries his hand low and my
punches kept glancing off. I don't
think they hurt him."
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Oma had no alobi. "I just ran
out of gas, that's all," said Lee, who
was unmarked except for a few
bruises around his left eye. Asked
about the low blows, Oma said
"the last one really hurt. I know
he wasn't doing it intentionally.
He's a fine guy, and I'd like to
fight him again."
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Outside of the 10th there wasn't
much to the fight. Oma surprised
by not using his hands down, walk
away style. He led often and mixed
it up with Charles on many occa-
sions. Charles led with his right
constantly during the early rounds
and missed several haymakers as
Oma slipped away from the
punches. The champ then concen-
trated on short punches to the
body and he soon had Oma's mid-
section turning a pinkish color.
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The two rounds he took away
for low blows were the only rounds
Goldstein scored for Oma. He
gave the champion the other seven.
Judge Charley Shortell had Ez
ahead, 6-3, while Judge Frank
Forbes had it even rounds,
4-4-1, but had the victor ahead
on points, 7-4.
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Oma was in good shape when
he left the arena, stopped to shake
hands with many well-wishers. He
earned $9,456 as his share of the
$54,185 gross and his $2,250 cut on
the television-radio money. But
he won't be able to spend it right
away in his usual carefree man-
ner. Several attachments have
been made on his purse, accord-
ing to Harry Markson, managing
director of the IBC. Charles col-
lected his $18,722.
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The show was broadcast nation-
ally and telecast. An estimated
audience of 25,000,000 heard or saw
the bout via airwaves.
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