If you defined the efficiency of a prize-fighter by his ability in the ring, Harry Krakow (“Kingfish Levinsky”) would not rate better than tenth among U. S. heavyweights. Last year he had 15 fights, won only eight. If you defined efficiency as a fighter’s ability to earn money at his trade, Kingfish Levinsky might rank as best fighter in the U. S. In the last 15 months, gates at his fights with Slattery, Griffiths, Camera, Paulino and an exhibition bout against Jack Dempsey have amounted to $254,124.68. He may this year earn more than Schmeling, Sharkey, Dempsey, Camera or Schaaf. Kingfish Levinsky’s earning power is due partly to an engaging slapstick manner in the ring, an engaging entourage which includes his sister Mrs. Lena (“Leaping Lena”) Levy, famed for her loud voice and strong talk. It is due partly to the fact that most of Levinsky’s fights have been in Chicago, where everyone knows that he grew up on the West Side and entered the fish-peddling business with a pushcart on Maxwell Street.
Last week, fighting Mickey Walker at the Chicago Stadium, Levinsky started out as though his pugilistic competence had suddenly become commensurate with his earning power. He ran out of his corner, danced about for two minutes waving his large hands in an awkward way, then whacked Walker’s snubnosed face, first with a right, then with a hard left hook. Walker, dropped by the punches, got up before Referee Ed Purdy could start a count. He was groggy for the rest of the first round, wary for the next two, but he started a rally in the fourth. Fighting his first important opponent since he held Jack Sharkey to a draw last June, Walker kept it up for four rounds, rearing and straining like a leashed bulldog. In the eighth, he slowed down a little. Then he came on to win the last two rounds and a decision in which he got the votes of both judges against Levinsky’s one vote from the referee.
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