[JCWeb]

Lee, thanks for the kind words but now I have to do a mea culpa and admit I screwed up and overwrote part of the report from the second half of September '44 before posting it. Here's what's left:

Sep. 23, 1944: To the West Coast for the next fistic action, this time at Los Angeles’ Olympic Auditorium. Meeting in a title confrontation for the second time in less than a year are two top BWs, David Kui Kong Young and Benny Goldberg. At stake is Kui Kong Young’s USBA BW title, and their prior meeting (for the NABF BW title) ended in a late TKO via a cuts stoppage in favor of Goldberg, who since lost that belt to Tommy Forte, who in turn fended off another challenge from Kui Kong Young. In this rematch, and Goldberg looks sharp, getting the best of the exchanges between the two in the opening rounds. However, by the end of round four, there is a trace of swelling under the right eye of Goldberg, as Kui Kong Young recovers from a slow start. Then, late in the fifth round, Goldberg stuns Kui Kong Young with a hook to the head, and Kui Kong Young covers up to avoid further difficulty. At the midway point of the match, the unofficial card has Goldberg in front (58-56), which roughly tracks the punches landed stat which also favors the challenger. Into the second half of the bout, and Kui Kong Young remains aggressive, seeking to work his way inside; he manages to pick up some points but still trails in the punches landed stat. The title remains up for grabs into the final few rounds, and the bout goes the full 12 with no cuts or knockdowns. In the end, Kui Kong Young’s aggressiveness is rewarded, as he takes a UD 12 (115-113, 118-110, 115-113), retaining the belt by winning the last five rounds on all three cards. Post-bout career marks: Kui Kong Young, 31-3-4 (16); Goldberg, 26-5-2 (13). Impressive second half rally by Kui Kong Young, who certainly boosted his chances for a WBA title shot with this win.

Sep. 29, 1944: Into the final weekend of the month, and next is a Friday card at San Juan, Puerto Rico’s Escobar Stadium. Featured as the main event is an interregional contest in the Flyweight division, with NABF and USBA Flyweight Champ Dado Marino facing Jimmy Gill, the “Fighting Jockey” and the reigning GBU Flyweight titleholder. First meeting of the two and, as such, the action was slow to develop in the opening stanzas. The two boxers take turns trying their luck on the inside, but neither has much success. In round five, the inside exchanges Marino breaks through Gill’s defenses, and he drops the Brit for a six-count. Gill arises slowly, then adopts a cover up strategy to clear his head and last the round. At the midway point, the 10-8 round in the fifth catapulted Gill to a solid lead (49-45), according to the unofficial scorer at ringside. Gill tries to battle his way back into the fight, but an accidental clash of heads in round seven opens a gash over his right eye, slowing his progress. With the cut patched up by his corner, Gill goes on the attack in the final few rounds, but he lacks both the stamina and the firepower to land a telling blow. The bout goes the full 10, and Marino takes a fairly comfortable UD 10 (97-92, 97-93, 98-92) to lift his career totals to an impressive 22- 2 (13). The loss leaves Gill at 35-14-4 (11).

Sep. 30, 1944: The month wraps with an excellent card at New York City’s Yankee Stadium. On the undercard, popular MW Jake LaMotta remains unbeaten, running his record to 17-0 (15), taking a UD 10 over Joe Carter as the “Bronx Bull” is forced to go the distance for only the second time in his young career. Then, in the main event, WBA LH Champ Billy Conn moves up in weight, challenging Jersey Joe Walcott for Walcott’s NABF HW title. Solid start from Walcott, who dominates most of the action in the early rounds. By the end of round four, a mouse has formed under the left eye of Conn, indicating that Walcott’s accurate punching has had an impact. Conn recovers with a strong round five but, at the midway point of the bout, the unofficial scorecard has Walcott ahead (by a count of 58-56). While Conn does well to keep the bout reasonably close, Walcott continues with a workmanlike performance that keeps the LH Champ from penetrating his defenses. Conn, a consummate boxer, switches tactics and tries to become more aggressive in the final two rounds and, in the final round, he connects with a hook that puts Walcott on the deck. Walcott arises after taking an eight count, and he manages to last to the final bell without further incident. The bout thus goes to decision and, to the surprise of many, Conn captures the NABF HW belt with a close but UD 12 (115-112, 116-111, 114-113), with the final round KD having an important impact on the outcome. Post-bout career marks: Conn, 34-6-3 (14); Walcott, 49-8 (28). Walcott’s almost four year reign as NABF HW Champ comes to an end, and Conn makes a case for another shot at Joe Louis’ WBA HW belt.

Will add an addendum to this post if I'm able to reconstruct some of the other action.