In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Michigan State would win the team championship outright. If Maxey won, Gonzaga had a chance to tie for its first ever NCAA championship . Adding to the pressure, both boxers were undefeated in their college careers, Maxey’s sole loss being outside of collegiate competition . As the two boxers warily approached each other from their corners , each carried the weight of his career, his ambition, and his entire team. That burden weighed especially heavy on Maxey, who had been worn down and wrung out over the past two weeks. He was down to 164 pounds, 11 pounds under the limit. He knew he had the battle of his life on his hands. August, in the corner, must have decided that the best way to get Maxey’s adrenaline flowing was to put a scare into him. “When [Spieser] is advancing, he’s like a hungry tiger!” barked August. “When he’s retreating, he’s like Tony Zale [pro middleweight champ]. He’s about the best college boxer in the nation. Now—go out there and get him!” What happened in the next six minutes was remembered by Gene Rankin, one of the tournament referees, as “the most masterful piece of boxing” he had ever seen. In the early going, both men circled and attacked, circled and attacked, displaying all of their skill and defensive savvy. Neither was able to break through and cause any decisive damage. Through the first two rounds, the two men fought to a virtual draw. As August toweled Maxey off before the third round, Maxey realized that the next two minutes would mean everything. “I haven’t trained all of these years for nothing, Joey,” he later recalled telling his coach just before the third-round opening bell. “I’m going out there this round and win.” As he stepped out to meet Spieser, he let loose with his characteristic counterpunching attack. “[Maxey] clipped Spieser three or four times and was quick to follow up this advantage with flurries of body punches,” according to the AP. Still, when the bell clanged to end the bout, the decision could have gone either way. The three judges huddled over their ballots; the boxers stood in their corners, their Gonzaga and Michigan State teammates looking on nervously. “We knew if Maxey won, so would we,” said Thomas. Finally, the referee beckoned both boxers to the center 70 king carl wins the crown of the ring. The referee grabbed each by a wrist. The announcement blared over the loudspeakers in the State College gymnasium. The referee thrust Maxey’s glove toward the sky. “Maxey provided the biggest upset of the evening when he earned a decision over Spieser by about the slenderest possible margin, one point,” reported the AP. “Two judges gave him one-point margins, while the third voted the other way. It was the tall Gonzaga Negro’s short, accurate counter punching in the third round that swayed the decision.” The jubilation was complete when Michigan State’s heavyweight boxer lost in the tournament’s final match, thus ending Michigan State’s bid for first place and thrusting Gonzaga into a first-place tie with its rival just sixty miles to the south, the University of Idaho. Gonzaga and Idaho had snatched the NCAA collegiate boxing championship right out from under boxing’s big eastern and midwestern powers. Spokane’s sportswriters were so overwhelmed with excitement that they could only compare it to consummated love. “Like the last page of a romantic novel, the NCAA boxing tournament at Penn State provided the happiest of endings for Inland Empire fight fans,” wrote George O’Connell in the SpokesmanReview . “The Gonzaga-Idaho tie was almost poetic, for most fans in the Northwest were rooting hard for both of these clubs. Gonzaga, with only three men in the tournament, was considered an almost hopeless underdog. Although they were figured to win at least one championship , team balance will usually decide the title, and they simply didn’t have it. In fact their entry hung fire for several days while the Ringsiders club scraped—and president Jimmy Keefe says they really had to scrape—up the money to insure the necessary finances for the trip. They were strictly a Cinderella entry, but unlike the fairy tale, their coach didn’t turn into a pumpkin at the stroke of midnight.” The entire city of Spokane, starved for any kind of national sports recognition, responded as if their city had just won a World Series...

Share