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This report includes bouts from the first half of May 1948. One WBA title bout is included in this report.

May 1, 1948: The month kicks off with a card at Atlantic City’s Convention Hall. Art “Golden Boy” Aragon is in his first bout as a main event fighter, and he faces fellow LW Santa Bucca. The two have not before, so it is a conservative start by both men. Bucca scores with a big round two to grab an early edge in the punches landed stats. Aragon gets going with a strong round four after recovering from the rather slow start. At the halfway point of the bout, Bucca has a narrow lead (48-47) on the unofficial scorecard. In the second half of the bout, Aragon seizes the initiative and takes a more active approach, but some solid defense from Bucca prevents him from making much progress. The bout goes down to the wire, with Bucca maintaining a healthy lead in the punches landed stats, and the end result reflects how evenly matched the two were, with the SD 10 going to Bucca (95-96, 96-95, 96-95), who held on to win despite a late surge by Aragon, who won the last two rounds on all three cards. With the win, Bucca improves to 19-4-3 (8). For Aragon, it is his second career loss as he wraps up the Pre-Prime stage of his career at 18-2 (12).

May 7, 1948: Next card is a Friday night affair at Vancouver’s Exhibition Gardens. While there are a few Canadian fighters on the undercard, the main event matches two HW contenders from the States in one of those proverbial crossroads bouts, as Ezzard Charles faces Roscoe Toles. While Toles is on the downside of his lengthy career, Charles is still looking to establish his credentials in the HW ranks after a brief reign as the WBA LH Champion. It is the first meeting of the two, and Charles goes to work in the opening stanza, firing away with some accurate punching, enough to cause some initial swelling under the right eye of Toles. Charles is quickly able to establish a large early lead in terms of the punches landed stats. Late in round three, Charles rocks Toles with a powerful hook that causes Toles to cover up. At this point, Charles’ killer instinct kicks in and, with Toles literally out on his feet, the ref steps into save him from further punishment. Impressive TKO 3 for Charles, once again elevating his status as a future HW title contender. Post-bout career marks: Charles, 26-5 (22); Toles, 45-17-6 (8).

May 8, 1948: Next up is a nice card at the Stadium in Liverpool. Two top 10 ranked British Flyweights, past regional Champs and one, a two-time former WBA titleholder, clash in their fourth meeting, as Teddy Gardner faces Peter Kane in a 10-round, non-title affair. In three prior meetings, Kane has prevailed all three times but, this time around, Gardner is the higher ranked of two leading into the bout. The bout is a close one through the opening few rounds but, by the end of the fourth round, Gardner’s accurate punches has caused a mouse to form under the left eye of Kane. At the midway point, after a strong round five, Kane has pulled ahead to a slight lead (48-47on the unofficial card. The bout remains close into the final few rounds, as the two appear to be evenly matched. Kane comes through with a big round nine and, by this point, there is noticeable swelling under Gardner’s right eye as well. No cuts or knockdowns, and Kane finishes strongly (winning the last two rounds on two of the three cards) to take a UD 10 (97-93, 96-94, 96-94), repeating his earlier success over Gardner. Post-bout career marks: Kane, 39-10-1 (14); Gardner, 29-9-2 (11).

May 8, 1948: Chicago is the venue for the next fight card, and Joe Louis is on hand to defend his WBA HW title in Comiskey Park against none other than #4 ranked HW Pat Comiskey. For Comiskey, it is his second meeting with Louis and his second title try, having taken a TKO 5 loss to Louis in a 1943 title clash in Detroit. In this rematch, Louis once again dominates from the opening bell, taking the opening round and, in round two, he manages to connect with a hard shot on the top of Comiskey’s head that causes the challenger to cover up. With a minute left in the round, Louis’ killer instinct kicks in, but Comiskey manages to survive without further damage. Then, it is all Louis in round three as he gradually wears down Comiskey, then putting him down and out with seconds remaining in the round. Another big KO win for Louis, this time a KO 3, who registers his 60th career win in 62 total bouts; Louis now has an impressive career total of 60-1-1 (58), plus he crosses the 2300 perf point plateau, the first boxer in this Uni to do so. The loss drops Comiskey to 30-8 (21).

May 14, 1948: Two Cuban FWs face each other in the main event topping the next card, a Friday night affair at Havana’s Gran Stadium. The two protagonists are fast rising Ciro Morasen and National Kid, who is on the downside of his career arc after having held the NABF and LABF FW titles in past years. This “crossroads” fight represents the first meeting of the two. It is the first meeting of the two. Morasen takes charge in the second round, dominating most of the action and, by the end of the round, Kid is sporting a welt under his right eye. By the midway point of the bout, Morasen holds a wide lead (49-46) on the unofficial card, but Kid rallied to win most of the inside exchanges to take round five. In the second half of the contest, Kid is poised to take a more aggressive approach, but fatigue sets in, preventing him from making much progress. Meanwhile, Morasen, boxing conservatively, goes on to record a UD 10 by a wide margin (98-92, 99-91, 98-92). Post-bout career totals: Morasen, 21-3-3 (3); Kid, 29-14-3 (12).

May 15, 1948: A doubleheader tops the next card on the French Rivier at Cannes. In the first co-feature, former WBA MW Champ Marcel Cerdan, the “Casablanca Clouter,” will have the support of the French fans as he takes on Argentinian MW Raul Rodriguez, , who is the current LABF MW titleholder, The two have not met before, but that doesn’t prevent Cerdan from clocking his opponent with a straight right in the opening stanza. Rodriguez remains upright and wisely elects to cover up, but he ends the round with a puffy right eye as Cerdan’s accurate punching has a decisive impact. After the opening round fireworks, things settle down as Cerdan continues to grind away, carrying a two-point lead to the midway point (48-46), according the unofficial card. Late in round seven, Rodriguez gets in his first good punch, an uppercut that causes Cerdan to cover up. Inspired by this success, Rodriguez takes a more aggressive approach in the final few rounds, while Cerdan seems to be limiting his exposure and resting on his early points lead. In the final round, Rodriguez overextends himself, and Cerdan takes charge with a four-punch combo, then he puts Rodriguez down and out with an overhand right. KO 10 for Cerdan, who reaches the 50-win plateau, ending the bout at 50-8-3 (33). The loss leaves Rodriguez at 25-10-1 (14). The second co-feature is the only title bout on the card, as Brit Jim Kelly defends the EBU FW title versus Spaniard Luis de Santiago. No prior meetings, and de Santiago, while still in the Pre-Prime stage of his career, has compiled a perfect 15-0 career mark thus far. In this title clash, Kelly, despite being at Post-Prime, manages to inflict enough damage to cause a welt to appear under the right eye of the challenger. In round four, de Santiago manages to open a cut over Kelly’s left eye. In an action-packed round five, Kelly lands a jab that causes a cut to appear over de Santiago’s left eye. Despite blood coming from the cut, deSantiago is able to retaliate, dropping Kelly with a nice uppercut. Kelly regains his footing, but the is floored a second time, courtesy of a deSantiago cross – so it ends up being a huge round for the challenger. In the sixth round, with the cut over his eye now closed, deSantiago seeks to finish matters, and he does by reopening the cut over Kelly’s left eye – and this time a stoppage is ordered as the cut is deemed to serious to allow the bout to continue. TKO 6 for deSantiago, who captures the EBU FW belt before reaching the Prime of his career. Post-bout records: DeSantiago, 16-0 (11); Kelly, 39-23-9 (12).