The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-07-06
CONCEIT COT HIM
OvercOnfidence Responsible for
MOran'S Recent Defeat.
And 1t All Means the End Of
His Big Career.
BY FRANK G. MENKE.

place so low that he never may rise
again. And that conceit, in addition
to bringing to him the worst beating
that he ever got in his ring career,
also killed his chances of ever again
earning big money as a fistic per-
former.
A lesson can be learned by all
pugilists from the case of Frank
Moran; a lesson that will teach them
never to regard a foe cheaply.
Frank Moran made the greatest
mistake of his life when he under
estimated the fighting skill of Jack
Dillon. He thought that his meeting
with the Giant Killer would be moth
ing but a mild workout for him. But
instead, the fight practically elimi-
mated the blond Pittsburger from the
front ranks of heavyweights, and has
made the once-time hero of the ring
little more than a scoffed-at battler.
Moran reckOned that Dillon would
be pie for him. He had in mind
the fact that he would be six inches
taller and have almost the same edge
in reach. Furthermore. he reasoned
that if he (Moran) could score two
and give great fight to the massive
Willard, it would be easy for him
against the pigmy Dillon.
Didn't Train Earnestly.
And so Moran, didn't do any e;-
tensive training for his affair with
Dillon During the weeks that inter-
vened between his fights with Willard
and Dillon he lived a care-free life.
He put on weigh1a lot of it. He per-
mitted his muscles to soften. He lived
on the fat of the land" SO to speak.
and didn't pay undue attention to
keeping himself in fighting trim.
When he went into his camp in
worked out-yes. But he didn't put
much zip into it. He didn't try with
might and main to harden his muscles.
to develop his wind and to fit himself
for a gruelling battle. What was the
use? A cinch fight was ahead, wasn't
it? And arduous training isn't to the
liking of any man. So Moran just
took things easy and meanwhile issued
statements that he was going to beat
one Jack Dillon to an unconscious
pulp.
When Moran jumped into the ring
on the night of the Dillon fight. the
crowd gasped. No wonder. Moran's
bulky stomach bulged over the waist
line of his tights. His arms and
shoulders seemed encased in fat The
trim fighting lines so apparent when
he fought willard were conspicuously
known in ring parlance as hog fat"
Morans feeling of contempt for
Dillon continued through the early
rounds of that fight. In so little re-
gard did he hold Dillon that he made
one of the worst foozles of his career
in the third session. He went out
then and tried to finish a man who
was still fresh; tried to land a hay
maker upon a man whose jaw is lik-
ened to concrete. before the man was
worn down. The Pittsburger, know
ing that he wasn't in real fighting con-
ditiOn, would have accomplished much
more if he had played waiting game
and saved his energy. But, instead,
he rushed Dillon in that third round.
He chased his agile foe around the
ring and dashed out his arms like
fails. He felt that Dillon must go
down and out under those blows. He
had staggered the giant Willard with
one of them, hadn't he? Well, how
then could the tiny Dillon stand up
under them? Oh, yes, Moran knew
the third round would use up his tri-
fling reserve power. But what was
the difference? He'd reach Dillon
with one of those crushers surely
and then the fight would be over and
he wouldn't need any more steam.
But Moran's over-confidence that
permitted him to enter the ring al
up all the pep" he had in that third
round. However. Dillon, much to Mo-
rams amaZement, didn't drop in that
third round. He didn't seem to be
Hurried. In the fourth, Moran. his
strength waning, made a last deSper-
ate effort to send Dillon to dream
land. He failed-and then it was that
he began to pay for his folly of over
confidence.
Day of Big Purses Over.
Out of condition. he had no stam-
ina to call upon. He had used up all
the real power that was in his fat
body in the third and fourth rounds
He had nothing left. He became lit
tie other than punching bag for
Dillon. His every movement was
slow; his arms seemed like rolls OF
lead; he was winded, worried, alto
gether through.
Then it was that the big Pittsburger
realized the horrible error that he had
made; awoke' to his real peril. From
the fifth round on Moran's conceit
vanished, his confidence was gone. He
became filled with the fear that he
might become the victim of knock
out punch. And he fought a fight that
many call a cowardly one; a clinch-
ing battle in which he leaned on his
smaller foe in an effort to save him
self from beating far worse than he
was getting
Jack Dillon beat Frank Moran so
decisively that it left no room for de-
bate. Dillon fought his greatest bat
tie that night; was in the most per-
feet condition of his life. Moran on
the other hand, in the worst shape of
his ring career, and showed less as a
battler than he ever exhibited before
Moran may try to alibi his defeat by
the fact that he was not in shape-but
that is Moran's fault and no one eIse's
The day is past when Frank Moran
can dictate terms for his services: the
era has gone when purses running far
into the thousands are his for the
asking. Having suffered defeat by a
man smaller than himself, Moran now
is little better than a '-wunz-wuzzer."
And oVerconfidence WAS the nrirr,a nv