The Pittsburgh Press gave Frank Moran ,a Pittsburgher only 2rds,[the 5th & 6th ,]in his challenge against Champion Jack Johnson. It should be remembered that Johnson was 36 years old and 221lbs for the 20rds defence. http://article.wn.com/view/2011/12/15/Frank_Moran_19172011/
I think one newspaper writer commented, "the only time Moran laid a glove on Johnson was when they shook hands before the fight" .... which is obviously untrue, and an exaggeration. But it was a very one-sided affair. From what I've seen of it, it looks like Johnson is handling him easily.
The cream of the crop was supposed to be Gunboat Smith, unfortunately he was beaten by the 20years old 170lbs referee of the Moran/Johnson fight, 3weeks later. Being floored for a count of 7 during the fight.
Yes, but you are conveniently forgetting his comprehensive destruction of Johnson in their highly ballyhooed match. :nono
I wouldn't give any credence to wire reports. I could be wrong but to the best of my knowledge Pittsburgh didn't have a reporter on scene.
Selective editing on my part. You have a finely tuned sense of humour Seamus, I must concede that.:good
I even mislaid the report. No, I don't give it any particular import its just another item that may be of passing interest. I would not find it surprising if a 36 years old, fat and ,untrained Johsnon who had 10 sloppy rounds under his belt in nearly 2 years struggled with a decent contender. Ali v Young?
I'm actually surprised that they reported Moran winning ANY rounds. Frank was not popular in Pittsburgh after the George "Kid" Cotton fiasco. Attacking a popular fighter/referee like Eddie Kennedy was not wise :naughty
Both Moran and Frank Klaus learned the hard way that it's unwise to talk disparagingly about your hometown. Neither were embraced by the Pittsburgh fight crowd after that.
Shhh! Don't tell that to McVey as he has a holy than thou approach with newspapers that are favorable to fighters he fancies. We have the film here folks. 40+ minutes of it and most rounds are featured with high lights. You can see most of it on ESPN classic, and based on the footage show and the commentary of the rounds not shown where the ESPN voice tells you who was better, its a very close fight! Johnson is the better up close, Moran, who is nothing special was better as the out fighter.
OOH, I bet you had a seminal discharge . For the sake of argument,let us say a prime Moran ,did well against a 36years old ill trained fugitive from justice Johnson. If that gives you an erection, GO TO IT! And it's "holier than thou", not , " holy than thou". Rainman.
A prime Moran? That is funny. Moran was just an average white hope type. How did he " earn " a title shot? In 1912 fighters like Ross, Kubiak, and Smith beat him. In 1913, McCarty beat him. So an average white hope gave Johnson all he could handle. How embarrassing. Watch the film some time for a clue, and then maybe just maybe you see things for how they were. Be sure to watch Johnson land a foul blow on a break, which is how he floored Burns in the first place. Moran took the blow, complained then continued. The match was close, and Moran took the final round. A draw would have been a fair call based on the 40+ minutes I have seen. I have also seen Moran and Jess WIllard and Moran go 10, and honestly Moran had a tougher time landing and leading on Willard.
In Moran was 27 years old, and was coming off a ko win over Al Palzer. After losing to Johnson, Moran won his next 4 fights by ko, including wins over Coffey and Wells, he went 2 years before losing so I confidently say he was in his prime when he lost to Johnson who, at 35, and 221lbs was emphatically past his.
A round by round summary of the Johnson v Moran fight that Mendoza states should have been a draw. This link gives the build up and round by rounds summary ,it also includes the Johnson /Jeffries fight and Jeffries stating after the fight "Johnson is a very great fighter". The scoring of the Moran fight credits the Pittsburgher with sharing the first ,the rest of the rounds to Johnson ,seems a funny sort of even fight to me.:huh It includes round by round summaries of the Burns Johnson fight, in which Mendoza states Burns," had a jaundice" ,and broke Johnson's ribs. Round by round summary of the Jeffries fight in which Mendoza states Jeffries held his own until he tired after the halfway mark. And round by round summary of the Flynn bout Also it includes summary of the Burns /Hart fight. Sorry I could not break it down into items. https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...gAuQ1X&sig=AHIEtbRBITxltz0BzF5yNoQXqcC1SO9WvQ
