[JCWeb]

This report covers fistic action from the second half of July 1944 – with two WBA title bouts on the agenda this time.

July 15, 1944: To New Orleans for the next card, and the main event sees USBA BW Champ David Kui Kong Young trying another step up, as he challenges Tommy Forte for the NABF BW title, currently held by the latter. Kui Kong Young, who held this belt for three years from 1941 to early 1944, hopes to regain the belt, going against Forte, a fighter he successfully outpointed in a 1942 title matchup for this very same belt, when the shoes were on the other feet, so to speak, as Kui Kong Young was the defending Champion, with Forte as the challenger. After a couple of uneventful opening rounds, Kui Kong Young moves inside and unleashes some powerful punches in round three, but Forte, a clever boxer, is able to fend off most of these blows and hold his own. In rounds four and five, Forte proves that he can deliver some sharp blows while working inside, gaining a slight edge in the punches landed stats. At the midway point, the unofficial card has Forte up by two (58-56). As the bout heads into the later rounds, the stamina factor favors Forte, who seems to be gradually wearing down his opponent. Finally, midway through the 11th round, a straight right from Kui Kong Young connects, but Forte remains upright, and he wisely covers up to avoid further difficulty. Despite a puffy right eye, Forte is able to persevere, and the bout goes the full 12 rounds. The UD 12 goes to Forte by a comfortable margin (116-113, 117-111, 117-111), running his career record to 31-5-2 (11). The loss, only the third of Kui Kong Young’s career, leaves him at 30-3-4 (16).

July 21, 1944: Next is a Friday night card as part of the Friday night fights “Down Under” series, this time at Melbourne, Australia. Featured bout is for the OPBF FW title, currently held by Tsuneo “Piston” Horiguchi. Challenging Horiguchi for the title is Aussie Eddie Miller. These two have met three times previously, all for this same title, with Horiguchi winning twice and Miller, once. This time around, both boxers get off to a sluggish start, although the action does pick up when Miller, cheered on by a hometown crowd, lands some good shots. Early in round five, Miller staggers Horiguchi with a sharp combination, but he is unable to follow up despite dominating most of the action that round. By the midway point, the unofficial card has Miller in front by two (58-56). Into the second half of the contest, and both fighters remain active, pressing the action. Punches landed stat favors Miller, and the stamina factor is about even, as both boxers begin to tire as early as round eight. In the final few rounds, Horiguchi, sensing the title slipping away, becomes even more aggressive, looking for the knockout. However, Miller’s defense remains solid, and the bout goes the distance, no cuts or knockdowns, with the end result being a SD 12 for Miller (114-115, 117-111, 115-113) who lifts the OPBF FW title for the second time. Post-bout records: Miller, 25-6-1 (10); Horiguchi, 35-11-2 (18).

July 22, 1944: London’s Harringay Arena is the venue for the next fistic action, which features a pair of title bouts topping the agenda, including a WBA title clash in the main event. In the co-feature, the two top British HWs, Tommy Farr and Tommy Martin, do battle for the fifth time, with both the Commonwealth HW title (current held by Martin) and the GBU HW title (held by Farr) at stake. Prior results show a 2-1-1 (two wins, one draw, one loss) in favor of Farr. With both these veteran HWs nearing the end of their long, distinguished careers, the action in the opening few rounds is slow to develop. Not much to choose between the two titeholders through the first half of the bout, as indicated by the unofficial scorer’s card after the first six rounds – he scores the bout even (57-57). Into the second half of the bout, and it is Martin who seeks to deviate from the pattern of the opening six rounds, by moving inside and generally taking a more aggressive approach. By round eight, both fighters are showing signs of fatigue. By the end of round eight, Martin’s strategy has begun to pay dividends, as a mouse has formed under Farr’s left eye. As the bout heads into the final few rounds, Farr shifts to a more aggressive approach as well, with Martin easing up a bit. The bout, not a particularly exciting contest with two HWs, each well past his Prime, goes the distance, and the UD 12 goes to Farr (115-113 on all three cards), who wins the last two rounds on all three cards to secure the win. Post-bout career marks: Farr, 53-20-4 (16); Martin, 30-16-3 (18). Thus, Farr now holds both the Commonwealth and GBU HW title belts. In the final bout, Jack Kid Berg, the “Whitechapel Whirlwind,” faces challenger Chester Rico in his second defense of the WBA LW title he won in late 1943. First meeting of the two, and the first title bout for Rico, who has won his last three, the most recent being a fifth round KO of ex-WBA Champ Dave Castilloux, to set up this title shot. Decent start by Rico, while it takes awhile for Berg to work his way into the fight. Late in round four, things begin to turn around for Berg, when he rips open a cut over Rico’s right eye. However, Rico’s corner is able to patch up the cut between rounds and he bounces back with a strong round five, to pull ahead (by a narrow one-point margin, 48-47) on the unofficial card after five. At this point, there is some noticeable puffiness around the left eye of Berg, indicating that Rico’s punches have had some effect. Berg bounces back with a strong round in the sixth, re-opening the cut over the challenger’s eye which continues to ooze blood into round seven. Berg hammers away at the cut with pinpoint accuracy, and late in the round, the ref steps in to call a halt. Despite protests from Rico’s corner, the bout goes down as a TKO 7 for Berg due to the cuts stoppage. The win lifts Berg, now at Post-Prime career stage, to 53-20-5 (18). Tough loss for Rico, now 23-7-4 (10), as he was leading on one judge’s card and even on two others at the time of the stoppage.

July 22, 1944: To Los Angeles for the next fight card and, as at London, a WBA title bout headlines the action. But first up, in a main supporting bout, two HWs do battle as long-time top 10 contender Max Baer, now at End stage of his career, faces Bob Pastor, another veteran HW now at Post-Prime. The two met once before, in 1941, also in Los Angeles, with Baer winning via a fourth round TKO. This time around, not much happens for the first two rounds, then Baer works his way inside but leaves himself open for some solid counterpunching by Pastor, who stops Baer in his tracks, landing several unanswered blows, leading to an early stoppage. Surprising TKO 3 for Pastor, bringing the bout, and Baer’s career, to an early end. Pastor ends the bout at 29-8-3 (12), while Baer calls it quits after an overall career mark of 39-20 (32). In the main event, “Homicide Hal” Harold Hoshino makes the fourth defense of his WBA FW title; his challenger, Puerto Rico’s Pedro Hernandez, is making his first title try. No prior meetings, yet Hoshino wastes little time going on the attack, and he decks Hernandez with a vicious cross late in the opening round, but Hernandez is saved by the bell, so no opportunity for Hoshino to follow up. After having time to recover between rounds, Hernandez gradually works his way into bout. After the first five rounds, the unofficial scorer at ringside has Hoshino up by two (48-46), but awarded rounds four and five to Hernandez. In round six, a cut is opened over Hoshino’s right eye, and the cut appears to be the result of an accidental clash of heads. The cut is closed between rounds, and Hoshino drills Hernandez with a sharp combination early in round seven, forcing the challenger to cover up. Hernandez gets through the round and manages to keep the bout reasonably close through the middle rounds, as both boxers begin to show signs of fatigue. The cut over Hoshino’s eye is reopened in round 10, but the unofficial card shows an even larger points edge for the Champion (96-93) at the two thirds point of the bout. Into the final five rounds, Hoshino’s corner is kept busy dealing with the cut, which is reopened a second time, and Hernandez takes advantage of the situation by becoming more aggressive as the rounds tick off. By round 14, there is puffiness around Hoshino’s right eye, indicating that Hernandez’s late surge is having an effect. The bout goes the distance with the issue very much in doubt, and Hernandez’s late rally is good enough only for a majority draw, although one judge declared the challenger the winner, the other two called it even (140-144 Hernandez, 142-142, 142-142). Post-bout records: Hoshino, 33-3-3 (18); Hernandez, 21-5-1 (7). Good effort from Hernandez, whose connections are already calling for a rematch, but it will take some time for Hoshino’s injured eye to heal.

July 28, 1944: The scene shifts to Pittsburgh for a Friday night card. No titles at stake, but two MW contenders looking to move up in the rankings face off in 10-round, non-title bout. The two protagonists are Ben “the Belter” Brown and Mike “Spider” Belloise. The two have not faced each other before. There’s plenty of action in the opening round, with Brown seemingly gaining the upper hand, landing sufficient leather to cause some initial swelling under Belloise’s right eye. However, late in the round, Belloise lands a right hook that forces Brown to take a step backward. Both men continue to adopt an aggressive posture through the early rounds, making for an entertaining fight. Brown seems to pull ahead with strong showings in rounds three and four, while in the fifth round, Belloise has the momentum until he has a point deducted for hitting below the belt. At the midway point, taking into account the one-point deduction, the unofficial card has Brown in front (by a 48-46 count). In the second half of the bout, despite showing signs of fatigue, both fighters continue to swing away and continue to work inside to apply more pressure on the opponent. In round eight, a series of sharp combinations enables Brown to assert control in an intense battle which sees both men looking to land a big punch. By round nine, Brown’s left eye begins to puff up, as Belloise has been able to land some sharp blows as well. With the issue very much in doubt, the bout goes the distance with – in a bit of surprise – no cuts or knockdowns. The end result is a SD 10 in favor of Belloise by the thinnest of margins (95-94, 94-96, 95-94). The win lifts Belloise to 24-5-1 (12) overall. The loss snaps a four-bout winning streak for Brown, leaving him at 33-9-3 (20) post-bout.

July 29, 1944: The month wraps with a card at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Former USBA WW Champion Izzy Jannazzo, on the comeback trail after losing that title to Eddie Dolan in 1943, faces Vic Dellicurti. First meeting of the two, and it is a slow, cautious start by Dellicurti, enabling Jannazzo to dominated the early action. By the midway point, with Dellicurti still struggling with his timing, Jannazzo has pulled ahead to a commanding points lead (50-46) on the unofficial scorecard. Into the later rounds, Dellicurti tries to become more aggressive, but he lacks the firepower to seriously trouble Jannazzo. The bout goes the full 10, with no cuts or knockdowns, and Jannazzo wins handily, taking a lopsided UD 10 (100-91, 100-90, 100-90) to retain his status as a top WW contender. Post-bout records: Jannazzo, 39-7-4 (13); Dellicurti, 25-5 (12).