Kaplan

A towel-- soggy, bloodstained, ragged--sailed over the top rope of the fight ring in Madison Square Garden, Manhattan. Sock! it landed on the canvas, right at the heels of a battered little man with a streaming gash over his right eye. The little man was rocking to and fro under showers of blows from a furious, compact human whirlwind that flew now at his head, now at his ribs, now at his jaw, now at his pounding heart.

The referee, sorry for the battered little man, had been watching for the towel. As it struck, he stepped between the fighters. Friends rushed to the little man -- he was a Featherweight Danny Kramer of Philadelphia-- and helped him to his corner, beaten. The human whirlwind-- he was Featherweight Louis ("Kid") Kaplan of Meriden, Conn.--stood panting but jubilant while they raised his right hand aloft and declared that, by a technical knockout, he was winner, he was world's featherweight champion.

The bout was the final elimination tournament begun some months ago by the New York State Athletic Commission to determine a successor to Johny Dundee,* former titleholder, who had been forced (TIME Sept. 1) to admit he could no longer scale his weight down to 126-lb. maximum allowed for featherweights. Kaplan hit his way to victory in the ninth of 15 scheduled rounds, winning every round.

*Johnny Dundee's real name is Giuseppe Carriorra. He was born in Sicily. Last week, he was received by Pope Pius XI--the first time such an honor has ever been accorded a pugilist. Said Mr. Dundee (later) to reporters: "That ought to bring luck. I hope I'll knock out the next man I fight."