European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday july 13, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary Star no s a Bird of another Feather no one Ever had to ask Jake Lamotta what he did for a living. Carmen Basilio and Tony Canzoneri would t fool too Many people. Even Jack Dempsey had to have a nose Job. Not even if the members had blindfolds on could Lamotta stump a panel. The minute he began to talk they would ask him How Many fights he had. The few punches that missed his nose went right to his Adam s Apple. How would you like to be known As a fighter who could take it that s Marlon Starling s worst Nightmare. Which is curious because he s the welterweight Champion of the world world boxing association version at the moment. He holds the same title Roberto Duran Tony de Marco Basilio and some of the All time gargoyles of Box ing history held. He d never get the part in a movie. First of All there Are the and owl ish they look As if the belonged on an accountant. His ears Don look As if they Are grow ing. He does t have scar tissue for Eye brows his hands Don look like mittens and he Marlon Starling can breath through his nose and talk through the front of his Mouth. Yet he s had 157 fights 47 As a pro. When he talks he does t sound like Ronald Colman but Nei ther does he sound like Fritzie Zivic. Marlon made it the hard Way. He did t come out of Reform school he did to strictly speaking com out of the ghetto. He came out of the hard Rock Section of Hartford conn., known As the Brickyard but he graduated from High school he grew up in a two Parent Home he never ran with gangs and his roots and Outlook were if anything Bourgeois. Hartford is a conservative town with Strong traditions of Yankee Commerce but it has always had a Strong attraction to pugilist. Its fights were staged Ina Mories car barns and amusement Parks. It became the Citadel of the featherweight championship when three titleholder in a Little Over a decade came from there. First there was the relent less Louis kid Kaplan the Buzz saw who came out of the so tells of Russia to the Connecticut Valley where he was to become the most furious Swarmer the division had Ever seen. Then came Christopher Bat battalion a Warrior whose profession was All too visible on his face. Then came Willie Pep the nearest thing to Mercury in boxing togs the ring had Ever seen. Pep fought 242 fights the last when hews 46 years old he lost a split decision. Willie was As hard to hit As four of a kind for everyone but Sandy Saddler and Marlon Starling modelled his fight plans after the Wisp. I hate the sport admits Starling. I particularly hate to look like a loser even if i m a Winner. I Don t want to sit there with an ice pack on a split lip an two swollen eyes and bleeding god knows where and have somebody congratulating his ring style reflected his philosophy. If i get hit 5 times in 15 rounds i m upset with it s great for the eyes the Teeth and the cars but not so Good for television. Marlon was t into put Ting on any Rocky in blood Baths he was into survival. He also did t have any olympic Gold medals Tohang around his neck As he climbed in the ring. Television likes those even better than a suicide Complex. Marlon lost his Chance for the 1976 olym pics when he broke a wrist in training. When he reeled off 24 straight wins with 16knockouts, Hartford thought it had its Best since Willie and would descend on new York by the train Load when he fought. But when he lost to Donald Curry twice in Atlantic City the fight mob wrote him off. To the extent that they considered him a Nice Safe opponent for Mark Breland one of the Losangeles olympic heroes. They set up a title match that was to be a triumphant Parade for Breland in his Hometown of Columbia . Starling rained on the Parade. He knocked Breland and his Gold medal kicking in the 11th round. Breland who had been thought to be so promising some were surprised they did t rename him sugar Mark got his rematch with Starling and this time he stayed conscious. But when he got a draw even the to commentators were outraged. Wrote new Day s Wallace Matthews Starling was robbed of the satisfaction of another win Over Breland when his apparently easy 12-round Victor was scored a majority draw by the three Starling kept the title and the prestige. He still does t look like something you d Call the raging Bull or the mauler or the Meriden Buzz saw. But that s All right with Starling. So Long As they Call him what he is. The Champ. The los Angeles times heart throb Agassi pumping new life into american Tennis by Doug Fernande Sarasota Fla Herald Tribune Bradenton Fla. They were tugging at andr Agassi now pulling on his trademark Denim shorts yanking at his Long was a human pie Cut into pieces but the pieces would not feed the hungry masses television radio newspapers adoring fans and Tennis wanted a slice of this 18-year-old Tennis phenom and they were getting no. 6 player in the world was at the Nick Bol Lettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton recently and he was about As accessible As Nelson months ago a request for an interview with Agassi would have gotten you a seat in his Bungalow and a thoughtful response to any responses Are still there but now they come from the lips of people paid to make sure Andre in t burned by excess , without a doubt they Are doing their jobs. It happens to All superstars when they reach this level said Bill Shelton Agassi s agent. Everyone thinks he is Public property. You have to live with that and be As positive As Don t want to make the people angry but you have to make them understand that he still needs Tim for himself. He still needs to practice being Good in Tennis does t automatically has there Ever been a Tennis player to match the meteoric Rise of Agassi in december 1987. He was coming off his first tour Victory at the i Talanca Tennis tournament in Rio de Janeiro winning $90,000.from there it was straight up for both his Bank account and ranking. There were victories in the tournament of champions in Forest Hills n.y., the indoor and the . Clay court was doing it with a style direct from the Sands or Riviera in Las vegas flashy Brilliant the Public was eating up this newest heir to the sagging american Tennis he reached the semifinals of the French open before losing to Mats Wilander in five sets it see Medas if the whole world knew of the Little Las vegas Wunderkind with the big time be been really impressed with the Way he s handled it said brother Phillip another one of Andre s just wants to play the Best Tennis he can play and take his Talent to the he s enjoying his Success. You can t make it your god. You use it As a tool and if it leaves remain As consistent As you were before you got with most athletes there was the Early beginning and signs of Early Tennis balls at age 4 with Jimmy Connors leaving Las vegas for Bollettieri s Camp at 12, and dropping out of the 10th Grade to turn Young Andre was an arrogant know it All who hit every Ball As hard As possible and was sullen an bitter according to Friend David Wheaton. He was his own worst enemy said had an attitude just because it worked in juniors Agassi said. You think Vou re the Best thin that Ever picked up a Racket and you tend to be vocal about your Confidence. I was t real sensitive to other combination of things chiselled away the rough exterior. The natural maturation process a health dose of Bollettieri s Wisdom with the volume turned up and most importantly Andre s relationship with is such a Beautiful person Bol Lettien said. His belief in life itself and his Bible studies have made him slow Down. It has shown him that there Are still Many things to be Agassi is to climb even higher it will be his Reli Ance on this support system Phillip Bollettieri Shelton and Andre s , in fact has changed his direction opting to work exclusively with upcoming stars Agassi when ton and Jim next step for Bollettieri will require work getting Andre to move into the game s upper Echelon joining the ranks occupied by Ivan Lendl Boris Becker and Mats is a Complete package and several aspects of Agassi s game have some catching up to five set match in the French open had a fatigued and aching Agassi chasing Down Wilander s shots. It showed that for All his positives Andre has to Gam Andre Agassi plays in Stuttgart West Germany this week. Strength and stamina particularly in his legs for him to move up in ranking. We should t say Andre s a great player Bollettieri said. He s a Good player with the potential to be
