Pittsburgh no longer produced champion boxers, but it revered its glorious past. Billy Conn and Fritzie Zivic became twin icons, frequently attending youth sports banquets. Zivic was more comfortable and entertaining in this milieu, and did it more often. With his quick-witted humor and disfigured nose, he looked and acted the part of an old pug. This writer recalls seeing him speak at a banquet in Garfield. Of his reputation as a dirty fighter, he said, “I was a perfect gentleman in the ring. I said ‘Pardon me’ every time I fouled a guy. One time I said ‘Pardon me’ thirty-nine times in one round!”
Paul F. Kennedy, Billy Conn: The Pittsburgh Kid, 2007
