By JACK GORDON

CHIEF BOATS Earl Bishop, an old navy fistic figure of another decade, took Mssr. Joe Waterman, the Portland fight promoter to task this week after the pride of Woodburn, Oregon, Joe Tony Kahut dropped that non-title fight to light-heavy champ Gus Lesnevich in a Portland arena on a recent Friday p. m. . . . "Kahut, in his early twenties, was no match for the ringwise Lesnevich," says Boats Bishop, "first of all because he didn't have the experience behind him to keep him in an upright position through one-half of the fight, let alone the first round." . . . Kahut bowed out by the kayo route after two minutes and 40-some seconds of the initial round to ex-Coast Guardsman Lesnevich. ... In Bishop's estimation. Waterman and Joe's manager made the mistake of trying to push the kid too hard and it was just a case of Kahut's not being ready to tackle Lesnevich. . . . Bishop, who trained fighters aboard navy ships years ago and won a fleet title himself, should know what he's talking about. . . . In your Swabbing Neighbor's corner, we agree with Bishop's comment and we'd like to add that the odds were against Joe from the start. . . . First of all, he's fighting in home territory; secondly, all around him were a galaxy of friends and supporters, and to some young fighters such continued praise, plus the fact that he had a pretty good record to back him up, probably helped Joe convince himself that he was ready to meet Gus. . . . Despite the fact that Gus was "on the shelf" 'during his three years of service in the Coast Guard, the champ knew that if he dropped the fight here he would be on the downhill side; and too, with such a small gate, Gus wasn't going to take any chances by putting on any show for the customers (a "crowd" of around 4,000). . . . Thus Lesnevich went in for an early kill, and his dynamite-laden right that floored Joe in the first knockdown told the beginning of the end for young Joseph. . . . Kahut, on the other hand, was primed to go at least four or five rounds before trying to level the champ. ... It was a bad guess on the Waterman, Kahut and Company's part, because in addition to putting Joe behind the eight ball in his uphill light-heavy trail to the top, his defeat didn't tend to help the already poor enthusiasm in the ranks of Portland fight fans. . . . Take Joe Kahut and put him in the ring against Lesnevich next year, or maybe a little while later, and we'll bet our hat that, it will be a different story. . . . Joe seems to be one of those guys who has to learn his trade the hard way—but sometimes the hard way is in reality the easy way to win and keep success. . . .