Word: moran
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...squatty lad with the Irish name looked no more like a prizefighter than any other Mexican in Southern California. He had a baby face, black curly hair, a noticeable lack of pugilistic rip & tear, an immense, nerveless calm. Last week, Nick Moran bounced into a Los Angeles ring to be butchered (the odds were 12-to-1 against him) by World's Lightweight Champion Bob Montgomery. Before the fight, reporters tried to elbow their way to his dressing room and were shushed away with: "He's like Napoleon ... he can sleep anytime, and he's sleeping...
When the bell sounded, Mexico's 20-year-old sleeping beauty was wide awake. Fighting from a crouch, Moran sparred awkwardly with the polished champion for a second or two. Then he landed a crushing left that made Montgomery's knees buckle, followed with a right cross that suddenly lifted the champ clear of the floor, sent him into a ridiculous skid on his backside. Nothing but inexperience kept the Mexican from exploiting his Sunday punch with a clincher. After groggy Montgomery picked himself up, Moran danced and jabbed his way to an easy win on points...
Before last week's nontitle fight (Sergeant Montgomery will not defend his title for the duration), Moran was a third-rater with dim prospects. In ten rounds he became a white-hope challenger for the world's postwar lightweight crown...
Fresh from a Philippine army hospital, Captain "Strench" Moran, husky 6th Division rifle-company commander, drew 800 pesos back pay, stuffed the notes in a shirt pocket, and trudged off to the battle line east of Manila. There the 800 pesos proved just enough to buy his life. A bullet grazed one arm, bored into his bankroll, nestled against the skin of his chest...
...also puts a far greater strain on men's nerves than ancient warfare did. It has introduced monotony, terrible noise, ever-present danger of shell or bomb out of the distant blue, long-continued lack of any rest period or of any moment free from fear. Lord Moran defines courage as "a moral quality . . . not a chance gift of nature like an aptitude for games. It is a cold choice between two alternatives, the fixed resolve not to quit; an act of renunciation which must be made not once but many times by the power of the will. . . . Some...