WEDNESDAY, September 12, New York--

8:50--Arrive Polo Grounds. Push, claw, and body-punch through 61, 369 fans in effort to enter park. All Harlem, if not all New York, appears to be present.

9:00--Arrive at seat in last row of upper grandstand, section 23, less than one quarter mile from ringside.

9:01--Adjust field-artillery glasses. Able to make out ring in distance. Entire stadium is full, except for scattered ringside seats which await arrival of fashion ably-late celebrities and socialites. The crowd is hot and noisy. Most of the conversation centers on the main event. Few watching prelim between Jackie Turpin (Randy's brother) and Joe Wamsley.

9:05--Standee behind last row reveals that he has $270 on Randy Turpin. Will collect $600 if his man wins.

9:10--Swarms of fans start jumping over dugouts from lower grandstand to ring side seat sections. Understaffed police-force completely ineffectual against gate crashers.

9:20--J. Turpin wins prelim.

9:45--Mayor Impellitteri enters through centerfield gate. Crowd busses. Joe Louis enters behind him. Crowd roars. Big group accompanies ex-champ as he make long walk to ringside seat. He stops before sitting down and talks to Joe DiMaggio escorting a blonde.

10:00--Aaron Wilson K.O.'s Elkins Brothers in 8th and final round of the semi-final.

10:10--The International Boxing Club, Inc. pulls out all stops, plays two national anthems.

10:15--Fighters enter, surrounded by huge escorts.

10:20--The lights go off. The fight goes on.

10:25--The Englishman wins the first round on the basis of two hard, short rights to Robinson's head. After this, the American begins piling up points. Round after round he does most of the moving, most of the punching. But it is not an altogether convincing performance. He throws too many punches and lands too few. Turpin seems to be pacing himself better. Although his right, with which he often leads is a clumsy downward punch, his left is straight, hard, and quick. Several times Robinson's head snaps back from it. Both noses are red. In the third Robinson hits Turpin three times in the gut. In the seventh he starts at the waist at close range and bombards the body and head with a vicious, two-handed assault. Turpin seems unaffected. He has won one round and lost six, but he looks very fresh Robinson very weary.

10:53--In the eighth, an even round, the tide begins to turn. Turpin bounces around as though he has just begun the fight. In the ninth he lands some good lefts and takes his second round. Both fighters miss often. So far it is a tense, interesting but not spectacular battle. The crowd is restless and a little disappointed.

10:57--Almost before the audience knows what has happened, Robinson's left eye is a great blob of blood. So much of the blood is over Turpin that from the distance it looks as though he may be the one who is cut. Robinson seems to come to life, moves in savagely. He hurts Turpin badly and then knocks him flat on his back with a right to the jaw. The conclusion drawn from the first nine rounds--that Robinson could not hurt the champion--is proved wrong in an astonishing second. Every spectator is up on his feet, screaming. Turpin is up again, caught against the ropes, defenseless, sagging, victim of a blitzkrieg. The punches keep coming and coming and still he stays up, kept up, perhaps by the blows themselves, which knock him back against the ropes. The standee with the bet is transformed horribly. His voice is raw with excitement, shouting for the kill.

11:03--Afterwards everyone stands around limply wondering how Turpin managed to stand up under the beating. "Him and Lamotta has de hahdest two haids in de world," a fan says, shaking his head. The standee is $270 poorer. His enthusiasm is gone. "Guess I hafta walk home," he mutters to no one in particular and starts down the long flight of stairs. The entertainment is over.