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BW Title Bouts

WBA: Johnny King began the year with the title, and he defended it twice, defeating Baltazar Sangchili (TKO 12) and Benny Sharkey (KO 3).

NABF: The title began the year with Canadian Horace Gwynne, who retained it when battling to a draw with Peter Sanstol (D 12). Later in the year, Panama Al Brown defeated Gwynne to capture the belt (UD 12).

USBA: This title changed hands twice in three 1938 title bouts. First, Georgie Pace captured the belt by defeating Lew Farber (UD 12). Then, K. O. Morgan defeated Farber (UD 12) to claim the belt. Finally, Morgan defended once, turning aside a challenge from Star Frisco (UD 12).

CBU: Horace Gwynne kept this belt for another year, making two successful defenses, defeating Tom Smith (TKO 5) and Mickey Miller (UD 12).

GBU: Having remained dormant for over a year (since Johnny King vacated the title after capturing the WBA belt), the matchup for the open title went to Tom Smith, victorious over Dick Corbett (UD 12).

EBU: Two successful defenses by Baltazar Sangchili, versus Kid Francis (UD 12) and Tom Smith (SD 12).

OPBF: Three title bouts during the year, and three successful defenses by Little Pancho, downing challengers Young Tommy (MD 12), Mickey Miller (MD 12) and Pablo Dano (TKO 9).

LABF: This title, held by Panama Al Brown, was up for grabs once, with Brown defeating challenger Raul Casanova (UD 12).

BW Division Profile

Total: 86 RL: 49 TC: 37

RL by Career Stage:
End - 3
Post - 8
Prime - 25
Pre - 7
Beginning - 6 (4 New)

Rated: 36
800+: 14
500+: 27
200+ : 36

Jan 1939 Rankings (Perf Points and Changes from Jan. 1938 in Parens):

Champ: Johnny King 45-5-1 (18) (1557) (NC)
1. Panama Al Brown 58-10-1 (20) (1625) (NC) (NABF, LABF)
2. Pete Sanstol 36-10-4 (9) (1378) (NC)
3. Sixto Escobar 29-6-1 (10) (1267) (+1)
4. Little Pancho 33-7-5 (9) (1147) (+2) (OPBF)
5. Speedy Dado 35-16-2 (14) (1123) (-2)
6. Pablo Dano 33-11-5 (15) (1028) (-1)
7. Horace Gwynne 24-4-1 (14) (978) (+5) (CBU)
8. Raul Casanova 24-5-1 (14) (927) (+2)
9. Benny Sharkey 31-13-2 (18) (907) (+5)
10. K. O. Morgan 28-11-5 (16) (906) (-1) (USBA)

Others: 11. Baltazar Sangchili 33-10 (18) (885) (+1) (EBU)
25. Tom Smith 18-5-4 (10) (581) (-2) (GBU)

Comments: All the above at Prime except for Gwynne (at Post coming into 1939). King completed another year with the WBA title, extending his winning streak to five with two more successful defenses. Brown remained a solid #1 contender, adding UD wins over Dano and Morgan to two successful title bouts; he is now riding an 11-bout win streak and has won 16 of his last 17. Sanstol battled to a draw with Gwynne, adding a pair of wins over Farber and Pace, doing well enough to retain his status as #2 ranked contender. Escobar won all three of his bouts during 1938, recording a MD win over Dano and UD wins versus Casanova and Chris Pineda. Little Pancho is riding the crest of an 11-bout winning streak, with four wins in 1938: three OPBF title wins plus a UD over Dick Corbett. Dado had an inconsistent year, going 2-2, the losses coming to Escober and Dano; the wins versus Smith (MD 10) and Sangchili (SD 10). Dano’s UD win over Dado should have moved him up, but he slipped with losses to Brown and Little Pancho (in an OPBF title clash). Gwynne retained his top 10 status with a pair of CBU title wins but struggled with the top guys, losing to Brown (for the NABF belt) and managing just a draw with Sanstol. After an early season loss (for the LABF belt), Casanova managed a UD win over Farber and a late-season win over lower-ranked Joseph Decico after a loss to Escobar in mid-season. Sharkey moved into the top group with wins over Bobby Green (UD) and Morgan (TKO) but fells short in a title matchup with King. Morgan hangs on to the #10 spot despite the loss to Sharkey; the two USBA title wins helped. EBU Champ Sangchili just fell short of the top 10, dropping a split duke to Dado and going 1-1 in title bouts, 1-2 overall. Top 10 dropouts from last year were Lew Farber, down six spots to #14, recording just one win (a UD 10 over Kid Francis) in four 1938 outings, and Young Tommy, -8 spots to #15, dropping after a three-bout losing streak. New GBU Champ Tom Smith struggled with tougher opposition, suffering a MD 10 loss to Dado in addition to unsuccessful forays for other titles. Lurking just outside the top 10 is Lou Salica, who had won six in a row before a UD loss to Georgie Pace; Salica ends up the year at #12 with a 23-4 (9) record. Just one newcomer makes the rankings list, and it is Herman Remscheid, who checks in at #29 with a 13-3-1 (7) career mark thus far. His 1938 wins include a UD over Ernie Maurer and a KO of Tony Marino, but he also lost to fellow prospect Ritchie Tanner.

Prospects: Still unbeaten, at 14-0 (9), is Tommy Forte, whose 1938 results include UD wins over Tony Marino, Jo Teiken and Horace Mann. Right behind, checking in at 13-0 (12), is David Kui Kong Yang, a UD 10 winner over Teiken and a TKO winner over journeyman Huerta Evans. Tanner, a DQ loser earlier in his career, managed to keep his recent record unblemished, with a UD over Remscheid and a SD over Tony Olivera to end the year at 12-1 (8). Olivera, now 11-1 (11), piled up a series of TC wins but suffered the one loss to Tanner. Still perfect versus TC opposition are Benny Goldberg, 6-0 (6) and Manuel Ortiz, 5-0 (4). Theo Medina (1-0, 1) and Joe Cornelis (1-0, 0) made successful career debuts.

Retirements: Three retirements from the BW ranks in 1938.

Dynamite Murphy (USA) 1920-38 36-32-3 (18) No Titles Highest Rank: 17
Ernie Maurer (USA) 1932-38 18-12-2 (12) No Titles Highest Rank: 29
Archie Bell (USA) 1923-38 38-18-8 (11) WBA Champion 1931, 1932 Highest Rank: 3

Looking Ahead: Two stand head-and-shoulders above the rest – WBA Champ Johnny King and ex-Champ and top contender Panama Al Brown – and so fight fans are hoping to see a title bout between these two some time in 1939. With most of the top contenders still at Prime, it means interesting time for the division, particularly some talented prospects such as Forte, Kui Kong Yang and Tanner poised to move into the rankings in the next year. Mexican Luis Castillo tops the four newcomers set to join the ranks in 1939.