The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1916-03-24
HIS BIC CHANCE
Thirty Minutes Tomorrow VIII
Decide MOran'S Future.
Victory Means Fame and For
tune; Defeat Blasted Hopes.

New York, March 24.-Frank Mo
ran, the red haired, bull-necked chal-
lenger of Jess Willard, $ ready for
the fight of his life.
In every fibre of his being the Pitts
burg heavyweight today felt confident
of beating Willard tomorrow night be-
fore d mammoth crowd in Madison
Square Garden, and sending his name
down in pugilistic history as one of
the greatest fighters the game ever
knew.
on the big fight depends Morans
status in the annals of the game. If
be sprawls Wizards six feet six inches
of length on the canvas tomorrow
night it is d safe bet that the daddy
of the future will take little Willie on
his knee and point out he moral Of
the bigger they are the harder they
fall" with Frank Moran playing the
stellar role in the narrative.
If Willard drops Moran then
Franks name won't amount to more
than an Incidental entry in the game
of puSilism.
Trained to the Minute.
Moran is trained to the minute,
hard as d stony-hearted illage squire
and beaming with health and strength.
He has had everything on the training
exercise with the chest weights and
long sessions of sparring with his
training mates. Frank Moran is
ready.
gan, present an odd combination in
the fight game. They are friends in
separable and what Ike says goes with
Moran for the good of the combina-
ton.
Ike Dorgan never intended to man
age d fighter, bat when Moran came
drifting back from Paris after hand
ing Jack johnson that tough 20
round fight they just naturally drifted
together. They never had a written
contract and neither of them wants
one.
ITS just like gettin' married"
drolled Ike. ''Sobe people want to
split up just because they're tied.
Frank and I don't need a contract.
We're the best of friends in the world;
he's for me and I'm for him Either
of us would be hurt whole lot more
by losing the others friendship than
by loss of the money we might help
each other make
Dorgan worked at Jimmy Coffroth's
club in san Francisco on all COff-
rOth's championship matches and be-
came pretty well acquainted with the
fight game. He liked it but thought
he would like New York. too, so he
came east and went into the newspa-
per business.
"A couple of months before the
johnson fight Moran was in New York
and asked me to handle him in a six
weeks vaudeville tour" said Dorgan.
Became Firm Friends.
I'VE became firm friends in thai
little jaunt and Frank went over the
pond and tossed gloves at johnson for
twenty of the toughest rounds ever
fought in Paris. Frank gave john
son quite a mussing up and if he fight
had gone further the impending un-
pleasantnesS with Jess Willard would
not have been necessary.
We'll. when he came back we just
drifted together and I've been Frank s
manager ever since" Dorgan is
man of medium height; so is Tom
Jones. manager of Jess Willard ana
associate enterprises, patents applied
Cor and copyrights pending, keep off
the grass and drop two bits in the hat
as you go in But right there the re-
semblance ends.
Dorgan is known for his llberallty.
Comments on Jones in this regard
were indeed superfluOus: but they do
say Sir Thomas dropped a thin dime
down a crack in a sidewalk in his
home town of Kewanee thirty years
ago and still keeps in touch with the
board of selectmen to learn when
they're going to rip up that walk.
Dorgan's ability to analyze a fight
er's qualities and sight star, dim as
yet. in the pugilistic offing, is well
known in New York and San Fran
CISCO So long ago as 1914 he cast his
eye on Benny Leonard, the sensational
lightweight. who is regarded as a
contender for Freddie Welshs crown,
and gumshoed around trying 10 sign
him.
Dorgan found Benny surrounded by
q flock of relatives. Two things struck
him at the same time; first and
strongest, the fragrance of the onions
cousin; second, he conclusiont that
Benny Leonard'S management was 60
ing to be a family affair. Dorgan
backed off and has watched the al
most entire fulfillment of his expecta-
tons in Benny Leonard.
Moran has prospered under Dor
gans management. He received So
900 for his first fight with Jim Cof-
few in which he flattened the man
from Cork in three rounds; for the
second bout he received 1894, which
was 1924 more than the Garden
people were willing to offer at first
For fighting Willard, Moran is to
get s23.75O. just $3.50 more than the
first offer for his services in tomor-
rows bout.