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After a bit of a hiatus, on to the first half of December 1929 action.

Dec. 6, 1929: First fight card for December is more Friday night action, this time coming from the Coliseum Arena in New Orleans. Featured bout matches up two BWs for the USBA title. Veteran Memphis Pal Moore defends versus Eddie "Cannonball" Martin. Moore starts well, outboxing Martin in the first couple of rounds and causing some swelling under the Cannonball's right eye. Then, Martin steps up the pace, and in round four he slices open a cut over Moore's left eye. Martin stats to target the cut and, as the bout wears on, Moore becomes more and more tentative, worried about the cut instead of focusing on his opponent. In the final few rounds, the cut becomes even more of a problem, worsening until ref Harry Ertle is forced to call a halt. The title changes hands as a result, going to Martin via a TKO 11 on the cuts stoppage. Martin is now 27-10-3 (15), while Moore, who will hit Post-Prime with his next bout, is 49-17-6 (14).

Dec. 7, 1929: Next fight action is in Munich, at the Amor Bahn. In the main event, EBU MW king Len Johnson defends the belt against hometown favorite, Ernst Grimm of Germany. Johnson outboxes the German challenger in the first half of the bout. In round six, Johnson suffers a nick under the right eye. At the outset of round eight, the action suddenly heats up as Grimm lands a big uppercut but then leaves himself open to a counter from the British Champion that puts Grimm down for a seven-count. The wind then seems to go out of Grimm's sails, and he also suffers from an increasingly swollen left eye from round nine to the end of the bout. The result is an undisputed UD 12 win for Johnson (116-111, 116-111, 117-110). The win moves Johnson to 25-9-1 (15) while Grimm is now 26-13-3 (13).

Dec. 7, 1929: A big fight card in Boston is headlined by a HW twin bill. First up, in his second pro bout, is young Barney Ross. Ross overcomes a cut to register his second consecutive UD 4 win, demonstrating some impressive boxing skills in the process. Then, on the co-main events. First up is Floyd Johnson, now at top 10 HW, who faces former WBA Champ Marty Burke in a 10-round, non-title affair. The bout is over quickly, in round four, after Johnson lands a big cross that puts Burke down and out. The KO 4 win lifts Johnson to 23-8-1 (22) while Burke drops to 32-14-1 (9). The second HW clash matches two former Champs, the still young Jack Sharkey, the "Boston Gob" against the aging vet, Harry Wills, aka "the Black Panther." Wills looks sharp early, and by the end of round two, there is noticebale swelling under Sharkey's left eye. Sharkey is bleeding from a cut nose a round later. Then, in round five, Sharkey outmanuevers Wills and lands a haymaker to put the Black Panther down for a count of seven. In the later rounds, Wills appears to be overly cautious -- emboldening Sharkey. After an action-packed round seven, Sharkey presses the attack in round eight, but Wills holds him off. Then, in round nine, the cut on Sharkey's nose is reopened, and blood from the cut drips to the canvas. With the crowd hooting and hollering, the ref calls a halt. It goes down as TKO 9 for Wills on the cuts stoppage -- a controversial call. Post-fight, Wills is 61-11-1 (47), while Sharkey dips to 21-5 (14).

Dec. 13, 1929: Friday night fights heads to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada. Featured is a 10-round HW non-title bout, matching Canadian Commonwealth Champ Larry Gains with EBU titleholder Piet Van Der Veer. This one turns out to be a bit of a mismatch, as Gains takes charge early. At the end of the opening stanza, he stuns his Dutch opponent with a soild cross. By the end of round six, Van Der Veer's left eye is starting to puff up as a result of the impact of repeated blows landed by Gains. By round eight, the other eye is starting to swell. A combination from Gains puts Van Der Veer on the deck in round nine, but the Dutchman manages to regain his feet and last the distance. Not much of a surprise, this one is a lopsided UD 10 win for Gains (99-90. 99-90, 99-91). The win moves Gains to 27-5 (17) compared to 33-14-6 (20) for Van Der Veer.

Dec. 14, 1929: Back to Liverpool in the UK for the next fight card. Featured bout matches two Flyweights, and two titles are on the line in the bout between former Champ Kid Socks and Jackie Brown: Socks' GBU title and Brown's Commonwealth belt. Early in the bout, Brown is cut over his left eye; Socks suffers a swollen left eye. Not much in the way of action, but it is a solid boxing exhibition by the younger Brown, who takes a UD 12 (116-113. 116-113, 114-113) to add the GBU title to his resume. (Socks' EBU title was not on the line in the feature bout.) Brown moves to 17-3-1 (8) with the win, compared to 29-11-1 (8) for Socks.

Dec. 14, 1929: Another strong card at the Cow Palace in San Francisco is headlined by a rematch for the USBA title, as Chick Suggs defends against Danny Kramer, whom he TKO'd in an earlier contest. This one is much closer, and Suggs has to battle a swollen left eye from the third round on. Then, in round nine, Suggs' other eye starts to swell. The issue remains in doubt until the final rounds, and the end result is an extremely close but UD 12 win for Suggs (115-113, 116-112, 115-113). Suggs moves to 35-10-4 (11) with the win, while Kramer, who hits Post-Prime in 1930, finishes the bout at 29-13-4 (9).