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By JOE LOUIS
NEW YORK, Tuesday.
TOMMY FARR fooled me. he's one
game, tough fellow at fighting. Yes
England's champion proved a full
even-
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ing's job, and my
crown is doffed to
him.
I am glad that
he gave me a tough
scrap, but I am
perfectly satisfied
with my showing.
Unfortunately I
hurt my right hand
in the third round,
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otherwise I feel I might have knocked
Tommy out inside five rounds.
After jabbing Farr into position in the
third, I cut loose with my first cannon shot
of the fight, and it landed high, catching
his head. Then I decided to use my left
and rest the right.
I feel that I won the fight and retained
my title by beating Farr with jabs.
My hardest punch of the 15 rounds
was a left hook which I landed in the
fifth. It drove home with everything
behind it.
I knew Tommy was hurt, and I drove
three more left hooks, one sinking into
his body. It was then that I could have
used my right hand if it had been sound.
Farr has a heart of flint. He is fearless
and tough, yet I feel that I didn't get a
good shot at him. I never hit him as hard
at any time as I hit Max Baer.
Tommy is a good puncher, better than I
figured. He didn't hurt me badly at any
time, but he caught me with some corkers.
His hardest punch was a left hook in the
sixth round, but it didn't stun me.
My right hand was bruised when we
collided head-on in the eighth, but that
did not bother me enough to count.
They tell me that Farr also bruised his
right. He certainly waded in and threw
it enough. twice in the fifteenth round
he caught me with a overhand rights,
although I was going away at the time,
and didn't take the full force.
In the twelfth I jabbed Farr's head and
felt my left was hurt. Then I tried to dress
him up with the right, and felt that.
Still I caught him good near the end of
the thirteenth. at that time Farr was
rushing me into the ropes. I drove with
left and right uppercuts, and the right
went home; but the round was too nearly
over.
I knew at the time it was my last
chance to score a knockout, so I spent
the last two sessions boxing him to
protect my lead. England can be proud
of Tommy Farr. I hope we meet again
some time, but right now I feel like
taking a long rest to let my hand heal.
Farr's Puzzling
Style
Farr has a most peculiar style. He doesn't
look effective, yet he is puzzling and his
punches are annoying. In the first two
rounds I let him lead and sized him up,
concentrating on jabs. Then in the third I
decided to cut loose, and cut his face with
lefts.
I took some neat jabs in the fourth.
Tommy surprised me by rushing out at the
gong, but I worked the left jab enough to
hold him at bay.
The fifth is when I thought I was "going"
to town. Tommy missed a right-hand lead,
and I drove my best punch of the fight, a
left hook to the jaw.
He grabbed for my arms and I knew the
man was hurt, so I threw another right,
but there was nothing in that weapon.
another hook to the body doubled him up.
I tried desperately to finish the fight, but
the man in front of me simply would not
be finished. He was as game as any man
I ever fought. He gritted his teeth and
fought back.
Farr beat me in the sixth by taking the
play away from me. He rushed from the
gong, and kept coming into me like a
stubborn bull. Tommy kept flipping his
left jab into my lips, and as the seventh
started again, I put everything into a series
of left hooks.
I believe Tommy was hurt as this round
closed, but this man Farr never knows
when he's beaten.
He came flying back in the eighth, and
annoyed me no end. Once in this round, I
remember, he charged and scored with left
and right swings. Tommy side-wheeled
with his left shoulder high, and was hard
to reach.
My "Bomb" Would Not
Explode
I caught him with a good hook again in
the tenth, and followed with a long right;
but again this blow which should do the
"bombing" failed to explode. In the
eleventh Tommy again charged like a mad
bull. My eye was bruised and swollen,
and I couldn't take chances on driving him
away or fighting him out of clinches.
So I devoted this round to making him
miss, though in the twelfth, thirteenth and
fourteenth I knew I had fair margins.
Playing upon my jabs for the most part,
I protected my lead in the last round.
A great fight - a great opponent.
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