The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1909-02-01
FRANK HART DEFEATS JACK
DIXON OF WALLACE IN Flu.
RlouS RING BATTLE.
WINS ON BLOW TO HEART
Railroad Camp Witnesses One Of the
Fiercest Encounters Ever Held in
Western Montana--Winner Gave
Away 20 Pounds and Held Bulky Op-
ponent at Mercy for Two Rounds.

SptcIdl 10 nc Idlly M1SSOulldn,
Taft, Jan. 3l,-In the fourth round
of the bloodiest prize fight ever seen
in western Montana, Frank Hart of
Taft sent Jack Eixon of Wallace to
slumber, sound If not sweet, at /
o'clock this morning, the particular
sedative used being a stiff jolt under
the heart followed by quick uppercut
to the jaw. Dixon was terribly pun
ished and 1t was long after the count
that he was restored to consciousness.
The victory was as decisive as any ever
scored in the ring and marks Hart as
a pugilist of no mean pretensions.
Betting Is Heavy.
The event was pulled Off under the
auspices of the Taft Athletic club and
was well attended. The purse was
$3.50 and there was large amount of
siderable question here as to Harts
ability with his mtts and the few
friends that he had at the ringside
found plenty of takers for all the
money they could put up. II they had
been well heeled they could have
busted" Tafts sporting population
wide open.
Dixon had all the advantage of
weight and reach. He is about four
inches taller than Hart and weighed
100 pounds against the 10 units of
avoirdupos that his opponent regis
tered In the opening round this ad-
vantage counted little in his favor
but the lighter man rallied in the sec
ond and after the men once got
warmed up to their work, Hart had
things all his own way.
Cat and Mouse Work.
In the second round we'll placed
jab in the left side made the big fell
low groggy and Hart could have put
him out then and there if he had chos-
en-; he appeared to want to punish
Dixon as much as he could before de-
livering the final coup de grace and
he played with the bulky chap for two
rounds and half.
From the outset ii was a fight. The
men mixed fast and hard and for two
rounds there were not many clinches.
In the third Dixon did good deal
of hugging to save himself but he got
Hart was there every time with a
kidney poke that was at all times eff
fective. Then Dixon resorted to foot
work but at that Hart, too, was his
equal.
At Hart's Mercy.
When the men faced each other for
the fourth round, it was evident that
,ub
he wanted to- He hammered the big
fellow all around the ring and had
him against the ropes most of the
time. When the final stroke was
given, the men were in the middle of
the ring. Dion was clearly dazed and
was endeavoring to ward off the rain
of blows that was pouring upon him.
His arms raised to give Hart the OPEN
ing he had been waiting for and there
was quick thud as the mitt struck
the side of the Coeur d'Alene man;
he tottered and, as he wobbled, Hart's
left went to the chin for the jab that
meant oblivion. Down went 100
pounds of bone and sinew to the
canvas.
Hart stood over his man, ready to
follow up his advantage, but that last
had done the business thor
oughly and there was no movement In
the bulky frame stretched on the floor,
as the referee slowly checked off the
fatal seconds. At the count Of 10
Dixon's seconds rushed through the
ropes and began the work of resusci-
tation. 1t was a long time before the
big fellow came to enough to inquire
how many others had been killed in
the landslide.
The Fight by Rounds.
Round both men sparring eau