New Britain Herald Newspaper, March 17, 1916, Page 13

Eyes Photos by American Press Association. I.—Willard ready to lead. 2.—Fighting attitude of Willard, 3.—Tom Jones, Willard’s manager. 4.—Moran ready to let one go. 5.—Moran in fighting attitude. 6.—Sam McCracken, Rick- ard’s assistant. 7.—Referee Charley White. 8-—Promoter Tex Rickard. 9.—Jack Curley, assistant manager of Willard. 10.—lke Dorgan, Moran’s manager. By TOMMY CLARK. HE eyes of the sporting world are now centered on the coming ten round muss between Jess Willard and Frank Moran to be held in Madison Square Garden on the evening of March 25. The coming battle has attracted more attention an any other bout since the Jeffries fohnson affair in Reno, Nev., July 4, 1910, This is not alone due to the im- portance of the battle, but the fact that Tex Rickard, who astounded the sport- ng world when he offered over $100,- 100 for the Jeffries-Johnson mill, again | itunned fistic circles by giving $70,000 0 Willard and Moran for their services | n a ten round bout. It might also be well to mention the purse for the Reno battle was a record breaker. Like the Jeffries-Johnson bout, there & much speculation on the coming bat- lle being a money maker Rickard. By the time the men en ring staging the bout will have cost Tex ywer $100,000. Rickard optimistic ind states that he will pull out a win- aer by about $35,000. Picking a winner in the coming mill ® a hard proposition as no re rendered in New York. Unles £ a knockout betting men will ha selection to experts At the present writing Willard is rul- ng favorite at the odds of 2 to 1. This s due to the fact that the champion 1as so many advan! over the sandy 1aired Pittsburgh scrapper. He tops Moran in height, weight and reach. Phey are nearly of equal age, Moran aying been born on March 18, 1887, ind Willard on Dec. of the same rear. Willard, when he enters the ring, vill tower full five inches over his op- yonent, who measures six feet one inch, ind as to weight Moran will have to :oncede at least forty pounds. He gen- enters the ring weighing a cou over the 200 mark, whil all iikelihood will not be | under 230 pounds after for decisions there leave | sle of poun Willard in rery much ning. ‘Willard's enormous hree and one-half inches vith Moran's seventy-eight is a handi- | ap which the Pittsbu r will have | © overcome in order to have a chance That reach of eighty- as compared 'f outpointing his big adversary Moran the of itam 1d a punch sufficiently ive for a knockout has been d strated in scveral of his ring battles “Moran has been anxious to meet Wil- possessor effec- on- | | a fight. won the| Johnson, Lis latter Jack the ‘om lard ever since championship nearly a ago, an chances on the owing he made against Johnson at Paris in 1914, Mo- ran believes he has the ability and force to wear down Willard, even in a limited bout of ten rounds. Willard will make every effort with- in his power to knock out Moran. Ten rounds is a short bout in which to ac- complish this task, but Willard ex- presses his confidence in heing able to do it. A victory is necessary for the fortune of the house of Willard. His circus contract stipulat that he must win, However, there that ring March sesides Willard there will be a 200 pounder who owns a knockout punch and an iceberg dispo- sition, who not long knocked loose from his understanding a fighter who had been figured Willard's most dangerous rival—Jim Coffey, a heavy- weight of proved gameness and endur ance. Moran's task will be to malke it Can he do it? Accounts of his bat indicate is a slow, deliberate workman aggressive, preferring to catch the oth- er man coming to him rather than to carry the milling to him However, workir vear basing be two men in since a es he not very 1inst a man of 266660 » MORAN IS CONFIDENT OF VICTORY, W)LY chance at the title has come Frank I am that T will win the cham- world from Wil- ain ship of the T took Corbett twenty-ore rounds to batter down the game Sullivan, who finally succumbed, not fr one punch, but from the continual batte ing he had received. It took Bob Fit simmons fourteen rounds to flatten Jim Corbett with famous ar plexus punch at Carson City on ch 17 m any It have im we had to But, althot it I was as strong as an finish Jack after and should cost title, ¢ as agreed bled freely “I met Willa s a ean he had lost rd. He told me that I tter man than Jess and I ever ught the present 1ld bet on me, know people think that the physical handicap I will labor under will be too much for me overt but I think I will fool them badiy.” w that if champion he v yme @ vererIrLOO®™ ® . ®» @ ROLOBORLLHADRBE OO P 807, It J. Jeffries eleven ds to stri of the title they 2 on June 9. 1899, at and. Jeffries, tottering puted the claim heavyweight took re simmon: I Coney Is en n ven d to t as he wa when he of Jack championship, stood up before the ne- | gro for fifteen rounds in that memor ble battle at Reno on July 4, 1910. And then it twenty-six rounds for youth and stamina to triumph over : ‘v\h(n Jess Willard cended to t | throne over the pr e body of Juck | Johnson at Havana on April 5 last year | Accepting these five fights as the out- standing examples, it is found tha 1o of eighty-seven rounds of fighting were consumed for the heavyweight crown to change hands five times. This makes an average of a fraction more than seventeen rounds ner fight, Johnson @ | took NEW, "BRITAIN DATLY HERALD, FRIDAY, MARCH 17, of the Sporting World Centered on Willard-Moran Fight* rounds. pected would happen if lard develop fightin and open up from the start with intention of stopping Moran. There is no doubt but that both will go into it for all they are W will not dare attempt to it for ten The une the Willard type, Moran may appear | fast. In fact, if he is to gain au from his chance, other than the § offered him by the promoters, he have to force his way through that seemingly impregnable defens Wil- lard's and fight his way to the jaw and | body. | as the; If Moran does not make this attempt| ply box through ten rounds. It w it will be the cheese championship fight | ruin Willard as a drawing card du of the world. Only those who have|his tour with the wild west show, seen -in conflict two slow leviathans,|it would put an end to Moran neither one willing to set the pace and | high class heavyw - both playing safety first, will be able| Moran has been studving h to appreciate what an awful looking|and doping out how h- can defeat thing a heavyweight contest can be. | He says he doesn’t care how big It being the great opportunity of Mo- | lard is or how big any fighter i ran's career, it is almost certain that| will bring him down to his he will go after Willard to the best of | his ability, which will make it a fight. How much of a one will depend en-| tirely on the use Willard can make of his six inch advantage in height, five and one-half inches in reach and fifty pounds or more of bulk. One would | think that all Willard need do to keep an unclever man like Moran at bay would be to lean forward and extend his left arm. Tommy Ryan taught Jeffries th system and made him win a champion ship With it. Tt does not seem pc | anybody could hana out without st ble that Moran could effectively got‘in; any grave effects therefrom past this Gibraltar if Jess hid behind | took the hardest blows Jack Joh will 2 a well placed wallo; the bread basket. Moran is coolly fident, according to his own that he can land amidships of big and bring his towering head dow an e reaching distance. Thi perfectly logical, provided Wi stands still and permits Frank to cute his plans Jess, however, has some ideas o own ahout defending his person {lard has taken the hardest pun: opponents is of retirement for several none knew whether he was the of old or a fattened replica of his mer self, Jeffries stepped into the to defend the championship Jack Johnson, liberally supported 10 to 6 favorite. Did the There are many whose pu the wrought by outcome of that fizht LITTLE ABOUT A PAIR OF years { However, what is of more moment than | jef ! this is the fact that what might be termed an “outsider” has in cach in- stance plucked the coveted title When Jim Corbett, the Cali- fornia bank clerk, matched with John L. Sull it generally be- lieved that Sullivan was invincible and [ that he would of Corbett and re 1ip honor Odds of trim was favorite still ulti an W decisively ravages the ain (I to 1 and much Sullivan money : even at attractive ure What was the result? e “out- sider” won When Fit ved to grab the prize from Corbett's grasp, Corbett was rated a 10 to 6 favorite in the bet- ting. Again the “outsider” won And when Jeffries, with nothing but his ability to assimilate punishment and his powerful punch to support him, came forth to do battle with Fitzsim- mons there were comparatively who conceded Jeffries more tha | ighting chance, and the odds were 2 t Frank il Bhavo 1. Y¥or the third time the “outsider” | thirty minutes of his perfectly punched his way to the top. time for the mere pittance of §6i Even though he had worn the cloak | every sixty seconds, dispo champion were liberally quoter went beggir these figg- simmons e Whet = Frank Madison 1IN only Willard MITY Jess Willard! himself battli thirty minutes at March he w out M for Garden the purse s ten round ho a no de tew | fc its, and in additior say give R Wil- the men orth, sim- ould ring and as a ma: him. Wil- as he His method of reducing the altitude of his p in tendencies | con- | s0, Jess n to is lNard exe- f h Wil- ches 10w - He nson and fries for- ring ain as W TITLE GHANGED HANDS FIVE TIMES IN 87 ROUNDS. feel | matc FIGRT MILLIONAIRES ears oran 1it's up good 66.67 But you can't tell.) possessed without even being flustered, ion and the used his height and weight combir to lean upon the colored fighter wear him out and emerged from battle fresh and unfagged. Willard, who is six feet seven inches in height, will have an advantage of six inches over Moran, who is six feet one. Willard's style of b g finds him standing head erect and thrown slightly back. Moran's style finds him with left hand extended, left shoulder protecting his jaw and crouched. It is apparent the difference of thus materially increased. Is it logical to assume, then, that Moran will elect | to direct his aggressive against Wil- lard’s at the outset any more than it is to surmise that Jess will concentrate his early and long range efforts at Frank's body ? iques of the men, accentuat- r styles of boxing, decree that 11l devote his initial attacks inst Willard's body and that Wil- lard center his assaults in the begin- ning on Moran's head and jaw. Campaigns of attack and defense ean be but preliminary in nature hest They can be prepared to cover only a limited period measuring the first few ro Thereafter everything, is governed by effect. in's deficiency in height demands 5 each move, Mo HOW JESS WILLARD AND FRANK MORAN COMPARE. is a stockier il inches FRANK MOR man {han Jess Wil The champion is eight taller than the challeng will weigh fifty than his foe, and he is regarded as heing the better boxer. Moran is several inches larger the chest, his arms ave according tothe “rail he hits a harder punch both hands. Moran an asset not to jooked in the fact that been in constant train The measurements of follow: Willard ) vears £t 7 4 pou in he pounds more around -, and 1ve be ove h the men Mors x inches in height is | that he not waste his strength by per- | sistently leading up at Wilard's head, | but that he work on J ' body with the primary idea of compelling Willard to crouch to protect his body and thus | lower his jaw and possibly open it to | what may prove a vital attack. Possi- bly Moran’s attack on Willard's body will prove sufficiently vicious and strong to be vital in itself. Knowing that he must first fight at Willard's body, Moran will prepare himself by perfecting his punching along these lines, endeavoring at the same time to develop an impregnable defense for his head and jaw. Willard, equally wide awake to exist- ing physical conditions, has worked to perfect his jabs, hooks and uppercuts, at the same time devoting much | thought and time to the careful groom- ing of his body to withstand a deter- mined and powerful punching. Those are the programs to be follow- | ed by champion and challenger. They are subject to any and all changes dic- tated by effect, as all such campaigns must be. The coming battle will be Moran's second chance at the championship crown. His previous opportunity was In 1914 when he battled Jack Johnson for twenty rounds in Paris and lost the decision on points. There were many accusations and much scandal over this battle, but whether there was real ground for it or not Moran succeeded in remaining the twenty rounds with | Johnson and emerging undamagea. Since that battle Moran has made »od impressively, the record book owing four successive knockouts in his last four battles. Last March he knocked out Bombardier Wells in Lon- don in ten rounds, but every good heavyweight does that. In July he dis- posed of George Sims in London by the sleep route in six rounds, and last Oe- tober he snuffed out the hopes of Jim Coffey in three rounds, and recently | again sent Coffey to dreamland. In his less important battles he has a steady and consistent record of knocking out his men, so Willard has no easy mark before him. Moran also has proved that he can stand the gaff and assimilate a lot of punishment. Moran's bout with Johnson compares favorably with the first twenty rounds of the Willard-Johnson battle. Johnson outfought Willard in the first twenty rounds, but he was unmistakably in much better form than against Moran in Paris. This puts their showing against the former champlon on a par. Moran, who has twice stopped Jim Coffey, proved in both these bouts that he was the man of the hour and proved that he was one of the most cool head- ed fighters in the ring today. He ocar- ries a heavy punch in either hand, and, while not clever, his ring generalship should prove a valuable asset. As to whether Willard's great advan- tages will enable him to put the K. O. on Moran can be answered correctly on March 25, but the writer is of the opinion that it Willard uses hia strength, weight ané reach and be- comes aggressive he should put the K. O. on Moran inside of eight rounds. By this manner he would carry Moran off his feet and tire him out in a short time. On the other hand, if Willard in- tends to be satisfled with jabbing and an occaslonal hook the red haired Pittsburgh fighter will get him with heart blows as he did Jim Coffey. (GHARLEY WHITE HAS REFEREED 3,500 BATTLES I'HE selection of Charley White to | referee the Willard-Moran match | met with general approval. White has | with the boxing same | He is both honest and identified for many years. Sle White has had much experience. He is the man who declared Young Cor- bett the champion featherweight over | Terry McGovern, He w: when “Mysterious” Billy Smith won the welterweight title from .Joe Walcott. He refereed the famous championship | fight of Jim Jeffries and Jim Corbett May 11, 1900. He called Joe Gans the | impion in his twenty-two round bout with Frank Iirne at Fort Erie | He e Ben Jordan, the Britisher, | the ernational featherweight cham- | pionship George Dixon. He was | the third man in the ring of Peter Ma- her and ( Ruhlin, Fitzsimmons and Ruhlin, Fitzsimmons and Sharkey in their ond meeting, Mahe vin and Maher and Goddard. These are just a few of the battles In which White gave satisfaction, He bas refereed about 3,500 fights, heen over s in the ring [® and Sla- [ ® e PPPOSPPOSOSOSISOIGODS @ * & WILLARD SAYS HE'LL KNOCK & MORAN OUT. as short as possible” says & Champion Jess Willard, “ul- though I hate to deprive the fans of the chance to see a lot of fighting for their money, but I think they will be satisfied with what they have seen after I fin- ish with Moran. “Moran, people say, is a terrific puncher. Iam glad of that. The thought that he can hit will make him fight all the better, and that is what I like. When I step into the ring I like to have a man stand up and battle. Tt makes the work so much more interesting, but I am afraid that Moran will not have much op- portunity to test his punching powers after I get my left jab to working. You know my left is long, has a sting behind it and shoots out with a lot of speed Moran may want to quit after a few punches reach home.” £190999000909099090003000000 > @ ® L0820 880800