Jack Dillon (referee)

Jack Dillon referee'd famous Harry Greb matches between Billy Miske, Larry Williams, Bill Brennan and Tommy Gibbons. He also handled a host of others including title fights between Frank Klaus/George Chip and the Klaus/Papke affair.

Jack Dillon came to Pittsburgh from Ireland and first broke into the headlines as a halfback on the famous old Pittsburgh Lyceum Eleven football team, which also included Christy Matthewson, the famous major league baseball pitcher.

At a time when boxing used different rules, Jack Dillon in a single tournament won the National Amateur welterweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight championships in 1904 at the Old Avenue Theater in Pittsburgh, after challenging the two contenders in the higher weights. Jack turned pro for a brief amount of time.

For l5 years he refereed. During World War One he did a hitch with the marines at Paris Island. Later he went into business and operated one of the most popular bar-restaurants in Pittsburgh on Diamond Street. He later became a deputy sheriff and precinct detective and at one point, at a bridge leading into downtown Pittsburgh, armed with a machine gun, he stopped the KKK from entering the city. His oldest son became President of Mt. St, Mary's College a few miles from the Presidential Camp David.

Jack was sometimes confused with another Jack Dillon known as "The Giant Killer", whose real name was Ernest Cutler Price. Around l940 the two Jack's met at the Hialeah Race Track in Florida where "The Giant Killer" was operting a shed where he sold beer.

BOUTS HE REFEREED

 selected bouts

Mar 5	1913	Frank Klaus-Billy Papke		France		WF 15  (world middleweight championship bout)
Dec 23	1913	George Chip-Frank Klaus		Pitts		KO 5   (world middleweight championship bout)	
Mar 17	1919	Harry Greb-Bill Brennan		Pitts		ND 10 
Mar 31	1919	Harry Greb-Billy Miske		Pitts		ND 10
Mar 22	1920	Harry Greb-Larry Williams	Pitts		ND 10
Jul 31	1920	Harry Greb-Tommy Gibbons	Pitts		ND 10
Jan 13	1933	Ben Jeby-Frank Battaglia	NewYork		TKO 12 (world middleweight championship bout)


-bio page info was suppiled by Jack's grandson Bill Dillon. 
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