Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1914-07-15
JOHNSON GOOD AS CHAMP FOUR YEARS
Big Smoke Several Jumps Ahead of Any White Pug,
 Says Frank Menke.
(By Frank c. Menke.D

another three or four years before the heavyweight crown is torn from the dusky dome of one Jack Johnson if his showing in the Moran fight is any criterion.
 Johnson at 36 may not be quite as good a fighter as he was when he bumped Jefferies off the throne, but he's still about dozen jumps ahead of any white fighter of the present day. And, too, Johnson is a good deal better than he seemed to be against Moran.
 Johnson didn't let himself out in saw that fight knows it. Johnson could have knocked out Moran i:l any round he chose, but he let the white man remain on his feet until the finish. Johnson needed the eXer- else. He wanted to prove to himself that he hadn't aged to such an eX- tent that twenty rounds would tire him, and so instead of sending Moran to the mat for the count in tine carly part of the fight, he simply toyed with him all the way, much in the same way that cat toys with a mouse.
 Still Has the Punch.
 The fact that Johnson didn't knock out Moran inclines persons to the be- lief that he no longer has the punch that brought home the bacon so often in the days of his youth. But thos2 who think that way are due for a rude shock the very first time John son is pitted against a real fighter. The old punch is still there. It may not have the full, paralyzing power of other years, but there is still enough force in it to send into dream land any man who might be brave enough to stick his jaw in front of it.
 Those who looked for a Moran vic tory counted heavily oa Johnson's dissipations so weakening him that it would give Moran a chance. But they were treated to a disagreeable sur prise. Johnson, although ten years older than Moran and with record of four years of dissipation against Morans clean life, came out of the fight in better physical condition than did the white man. He showed greater stamina, greater endurance and more energy than the white man.
 There are some persons now who feel that Gunboat Smith or Jess Will iard, who are in the first rank of whitehopes, would have a chance against Johson. Perhaps-and per haps not. Johnson, if pitted against either of the two would extend him. self He wouldn't play the cat and mouse game that he did with Moran. He'd get out with the idea of finish ing his rival in the quickest time possible. He'd uncorck his terrible punch at the first opportunity. He would bring into play all his ring craft. And the chances are about 5 to 1 that he would land knockout within ten rounds.
 Not Frame-up.
 Ever since the Johnson Moran fight there have been reports of frame up. On the face of things the fight did not look like frameup. If there had been any frame-up it seems logical to assume that Joh.i- son would have let Moran make some sort of showing during the fight. He would have permitted the white man to land at least few punches that had weight behind them. But he didn't. The fight was farce simply because Johnson so far outclassed Moran that it was not fight, at all.
 A half dozen times during the fight Johnson slapped Moran's face with his gloved hands, then dropped his arms to his sides and laughed in derision in Morans face. A half dozen times he invited Moran to "come on and hit me few" but Moran wasn't Equal to the occasion. Such acts as these sem to convince the sensible public that the fight was not a frame-up-that it was someth- ing of burlesque, with Johnson ap- plying the slapstick.
 Moran feels that he can make cap.- tai of the fact that he fingered twen- ty rounds with the champion. If he does, he ought to split with Lii Ahthuh because it was due to Ahth- uh's kindness, not to Moran's real staying powers that the write hope" was among those conscious when the fight ended.
 Moran Regular Comedian.
 Seems to us, however, that Moran could make a great deal more money by going on the stage under the guise of comedian. Few men have pulled a more laughable remark than Nbrar, did at the finish of the fight, when bleeding. exhausted and almost blinded, he said between gasps:
 "I was Johnson's master at every stage of the fight"
 Hays Pardons M0rphis.
 Little Rock, July 14.-Gov. Hays has pardoned Asa Morphis, of Pope coun-