The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1916-03-24
CORBETT PICKS
Willard To Win
Gentleman Jim Does Not Look
for Champion to Hang the
Kayo on Frank Moran.
CHALLENGER HAS CHANCE
By JAMES j. CoRBETT.

Former Heavyweight Champion Of the Work.
New York. March ga pick Jess
Willard. the worlds heavyweight
champion, to defeat Frank Moran. the
challenger. in Madison Square Garden.
on Saturday night. As for a Knockout.
l think Willard has just possible
chance to score one.
The chance against willard deliver
ing Knockout it that he never has
been an aggressive fighter In some
or his battles. and especially in the
Johnson fight. he was not aggressive
But he has told me that against Mo-
ran. he intends to make a rushing at
tack II he lives up TO this plan. then
his chance of stopping the challenger
increases
Another thing against Willard win
ming by a Knockout is that lie has
been pulling" his punches against his
sparring partners in the training camp.
He has made a big mistake. His arms
are likely to get tired and heavy when
he starts to let out his punches,
backed by his full power. Then il is
that Jess will be forced to let up on
the hard punching attack and rely
more on his cleverness.
Noran's only chance OF victory IS,
in my opinion, in landing a Knockout
punch. II he wins at all. IL will BE-
by a knockout And I think his
chances OF scoring a vital walIop are
very. very small. Still. willard had
better not let Moran hit him too often
on the jaw.
Before I go any farther with this
story, let me saw that ! have been
"lsidoed" about my selections in for
mer big fights. But those elections
haven't always been mine. news
paper friend syndicatcd a weekly night
letter under my signature for a mum
nF
a skiing me my opinion, he wrote ar
:icles Under my name picking Jsfri2s
10 defeat johnson and johnson TO de-
feat Willard.
Now. l thought Johnson would beat
Jeffries, and thought Willard would
win the championship from Johnson.
wrote a letter to John J. McGraw.
manager of the Giants. that ! did not
believe Jefrries could get into condi-
ton to beat anybody. OF course, I
could not come out and make public
an opinion that ! considered Johnson
a moral certainty. because. at the time,
was helping to train Jefrries.
When willard and Johnson were
matched. I was playing in vaudeville
out on the Pacific coast and was on
my way to Australia when the fight
came of Before I sailed. I told H.
NJ. Walker. of the Los Angeles Exam
liner. that ] thought willard would win
the title from the negro. Still the
man who was writing my stories said
l favored Johnson.
You can see that I am not such a
bad picker after all
Moran has a very few advantages
over Willard. He is a Craftier man
and will have the sympathy OF the
audience. This. OF course. will be quite
some asset. It's pretty nice to have
the crowd with you. 1t spurs YOU on.
Another advantage for Moran is that
he will go into the ring with every
thing to gain and nothing TO lose.
Let him make a good fight and il will
add greatly to his reputation. Will
lard. on the other hand, will be risking
the championship which. believe me. is
no small item
Willard has many advsnts ges over
Moran. He is the biggest man that
ever held the heavyweight champion
ship. And he knows how to make his
size count. Willard is the quickest
man of his size with his hands that
ever climbed into the ring. He IS
quicker with his hands than Moran.
too. Jess is fifty pounds heavier and
six inches taller than Frank. And
that is a big advantage.
willard has greater variety of
blows than the challenger. In fact,
Moran has but one real punch. right
to the head or to the body. On the
other hand willard knows every Kind
of blow. and he can deliver a punch
from any angle with either hand.
After watching both men carefully
really figure Willard an easy win
ner. I would like to see Moran annex
the title, for he is a fine fellow per-
sonally and would be r popular cham
pion, but it's too long a shot for me
to play to bet on him at any odds