“Gladly,” I replied, “but on one condition, Joe—that you tell me here and now the true story of that alleged knock-down in the Johnson-Langford fight. I’ve been flooded with letters about it, and Dad Phillips, who saw the fight, tells me you’re all wrong about it. Now you’ve got to tell me the truth if you want any help from me.” Joe chuckled. “You’ve got me, Nat,” he replied, “Langford never dropped Johnson. But I was anxious to fix up another fight between the two and knowing Jack’s pride, I invented the story of that knock-down to goad him into the ring against Sam again.” “Although it never happened, all the newspapermen believed it. They just never took the trouble to investigate. That knock-down was just a publicity gimmick.” So, here was the truth at last! Shrewd Joe Woodman not only disposed of Langford’s alleged knock-down, but ended the canard that had upset Jack Johnson whenever the topic was discussed. * * * * * Had I followed the advice of Johnson when I was making my choice in the first fight between Max Schmeling and Joe Louis, I would have picked the winner. Johnson, during the trips he made with me to Louis’s camp, repeatedly called my attention and that of other scribes to the fighting flaws that could easily cause the downfall of the rising young heavyweight sensation when he faced such a sharp, powerful hitter as Schmeling. On several occasions he stripped for action in my office, and before friendly newspapermen, he went through maneuvers to prove his contention. Johnson pointed out that Joe had his body slightly twisted when he faced an opponent so that if he missed his left, he was wide open for a counter punch. “He’s always off balance,” said Jack. “I’ve seen him hit frequently this way by sucker blows. A clever boxer who hits like the German can knock Louis down and might even knock him out. To avoid this, Louis has got to change his stance.” I published a story in _The Ring_ giving Johnson’s views, and so did Hype Igoe in the New York _Journal_. And to add spice to my daily radio program on boxing, I took Johnson to station WNEW the following evening and there he repeated his opinion about Louis’s faults and gave his opinion of the way a clever, hard-hitting right-hand sharpshooter could stop the Brown Bomber. What happened in the Louis-Schmeling first fight is ring history. Jack Johnson was vindicated. His preview of that contest was so accurate as to be almost uncanny, for every mistake Louis made was called in advance by Johnson on my sports program and in my office before newspapermen. [Illustration: 11] A BLACK OMEN Jack Johnson was in trouble with the United States Government. He had been indicted for violation of the Mann Act and had fled to Europe to avoid incarceration.