Sporting Life - Thursday 06 June 1901 DIGGER STANLEY AND OWEN MORAN—For his match fo £20 and a purse with Moran, Stanley is training on the outskirts of Birmingham, under the guidance of W. Hill, the well-known London sportsman, now resident in the MIdlands. Stanley already looks remarkably fit and well. The Sportsman - Tuesday 18 June 1901 A boxing entertainment promoted by Jabez White was held at the Slaney-street Assembly Rooms, Birmingham, last evening, the principal item on the programme being a twenty-round contest between Owen Moran, who is regarded by the Birmingham followers of the art, as a coming champion among featherweights, and George Stanley, of London, who has proved himself a very able exponent of the fistic art. The first item was a three-round exhibition spar between Ernest Godwin, of Leicester, who was recently defeated by Owen Moran, and William Loveavy of Birmingham. The pair put up a very interesting spar, which was followed by a six-round contest between Geo. Browne and Jack Costello, both of Birmingham. The latter of this pair always kept a good straight left, and frequently pressed his opponent on to the ropes. He held a good lead up to the fifth round, when Browne, who was slightly the stronger, made up his lost ground, but in the final meeting Costello again held his own, and received the judge's award, being a narrow winner. Then came the bout of the evening. Moran had in his corner Anthony Diamond, Walter Jackson, and Harry Brodigan, whilst the requirements of Stanley were looked after by Albert Hyde, Bob Barden, and William Branson. The two started off at a hot pace, which quickly told the tale. Moran was a trifle wild and Stanley, keeping cool, was content to let his opponent make a few points in the initial rounds. The generalship of the Londoner was, however, very apparant in the middle of the contest, for he was winning steadily but surely with the left, whilst Moran failed on innumerable occasions to land. In the fourteenth round the Birmingham lad was palpably weakening and although Stanley waited until the sixteenth round before he commenced to adopt offensive tactics, he made no mistake of the verdict, and landing many slogging blows, he had put Moran so far behind when the last round arrived that, although the Birmingham lad fought gamely and well, and scored nearly all the points in the concluding round, he retired well beaten. Moran suffered much inconvenience from an ill-fitting pair of pumps. The referee was Mr Geo. Fuller. of London. The entertainment concluded with a six-round got between Geo. Phalin and W. King.
