Rocky Mountain News – April 15, 1938
By Chester Nelson
A mighty man is the Nagurski!
The 230-pound Bronko toppled Sandor Szabo, “Denver’s hero” of grunt and groan, retained his world heavyweight title and showed his muscles splendidly before 2,520 rain-dampened customers in City Auditorium.
The “Nag,” famous for his deeds in professional football, showed the partisan gathering some scientific grappling, if a serious thought may be had at this point, in spinning the 215-pound Hungarian Adonis to the canvas for the necessary three seconds twice in three falls.
Bronko toppled the brown-skinned and handsome Szabo in 21 minutes 3 seconds for the first fall which was action in direct contrast to the rowdy-dow theatrics our patient faithful have been accustomed to.
Nagurski rammed Sandor to the floor a half dozen times with authoritative flying tackles, then flung his vast frame on his shoulders for the duke.
Szabo won the second fall after being allegedly on the ragged edge several times. He flipped the huge Bronko to the canvas with head holds three times, then toppled him with an arm press and head hold, so my neighbor explained. The time was 12 minutes 20 seconds.
Nagurski shook himself out of a headlock and clamped Sandor to the mat with a body press after six minutes 15 seconds to walk out of the arena victorious.
It was indeed refreshing the way the pair of gladiators refrained from the phonus-balonus rough tactics and supplied a display of strength work with their holds.
Perhaps it wasn’t as exciting as some of the Bull Martin exploits, but it was not without its interest as fully three-fourths of the crowd urged the underdog Szabo on.
At least Nagurski showed he was a better wrestler than showman. He didn’t choose the ringsiders, and he didn’t do a lot of phony eye-gouging, slugging and kicking. And Szabo — well, that guy was good enough to win two Olympic championships back yonder, so he knows a little about the more earnest endeavor.
The show wasn’t without its showmen being as how Bull Martin and the Golden Terror, a pair of fat men with loud voices, were in the prelims.
Martin, as good as ever, found an enthusiastic youngster in Tommy O’Toole, a fine brother of a lad to be sure, and was stripped of his wrist tape and tossed in 15 minutes 45 seconds of the semi-windup.
The Terror, children, flopped Tony Pilduski in 10 minutes 6 seconds, then came back to throw George Becker in seven minutes 46 seconds to make good his advertised boast of throwing two men inside of 30 minutes.
Mike Strelich toppled Pancho Valdez in 11 minutes 10 seconds of the curtain raiser.
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