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This report includes bouts from the second half of October 1949. Two WBA title bouts are included in this report.

Oct. 21, 1949: Twin feature bouts, neither with any titles on the line, top the next card, a Friday night affair at Pittsburgh. In the first co-feature, two MW sluggers do battle, with Rocky Graziano facing “the Savage Slav,” Al Hostak. The two have not met before, and Hostak is at post-Prime for this bout. Late in the opening round, Hostak goes on the offensive, forcing Graziano into a neutral corner then connecting with an overhand right that puts Rocky down for a count of three. Graziano regains his footing, and there is not enough time left in the round for Hostak to follow up. Hostak continues to hold the edge in the punch count stats through the early rounds. Late in round five, Graziano serves notice by staggering Hostak with a big hook; Hostak covers up and manages to survive the round. At the halfway point, the unofficial scorer has the bout as even (47-47). By the end of round six, Hostak is beginning to show signs of fatigue, plus there is noticeable swelling under his left eye. Midway through the seventh round, a Graziano hook sends Hostak toppling to the canvas. Hostak struggles but is able to regain his footing at the count of eight, and, once again, he resorts to the cover up to last the round. In the eighth round, Hostak begins to turn things around, stunning Graziano with a straight right, and this time it is Graziano who uses the cover up to avoid further difficulty. An aggressive Hostak tries to follow up in the final few rounds, but Graziano is able to hold him off and take a UD 10 (95-91, 94-92, 94-92), sealing the win with a final round knockdown for a 10-8 round. Post-bout career marks: Graziano, 25-11-1 (20); Hostak, 48-17-3 (34). In the second co-main event, two LH contenders lock horns, as Joey Maxim faces Oakland Billy Smith. The two have met three times before, with Maxim taking a points win in their most recent encounter, while the other two resulted in draws. This time, Smith, the slugger, takes the initiative in the early going, while Maxim is more comfortable boxing from the outside. After a couple of close early rounds, Maxim is able to carve out an early edge in the punch counts stats. At the h halfway point, Maxim enjoys a slight lead (48-47) on the unofficial card plus, Smith is bleeding from a nick under his right eye. Into the second half of the bout, and the pattern set in the early rounds continues, with Smith initiating most of the action. The bout remains close into the final few rounds, with Smith managing to eke out a SD 10 by the narrowest of margins (95-96, 97-94, 96-95) to run his career record to 27-10-4 (20), while Maxim ends the bout at 22-10-5 (5). A peek at the judges’ cards showed Smith winning the last two rounds on all three, enabling him to overcome Maxim’s early edge.

Oct. 22, 1949: Back to Europe for a card at Gothenburg, Sweden’s Ullevi Arena. In the main event, two top MW contenders face off, with “Sugar” Ray Robinson taking on EBU MW Champ Marcel Cerdan in a non-title bout, with a possible WBA title shot awaiting the winner. The two have not met previously and Robinson seeks to take advantage of the face and that Cerdan is now at Post-Prime career stage. By the end of the opening round, he is well on his way as Cerdan’s face shows signs of puffiness under his right eye. Another round into the bout, and Cerdan is suffering from a cut on the bridge of his nose. Robinson’s momentum continues into the middle rounds, as he pulls in front in the punches landed stat. At the halfway point, Robinson has a solid points lead (50-46), according to the unofficial scorer’s card. Trailing, Cerdan attempts to battle back in the second half of the bout but, as the rounds tick off, Robinson’s superiority is even more evident. “Sugar Ray” coasts through the final few rounds and, in the final minute of the final round, he floors Cerdan with a overhand right. Cerdan struggles to his feet at the count of eight, but Robinson is able to force an early end via a TKO 10 although the issue was never really in doubt. Post-bout records: Robinson, 30-3-1 (29); Cerdan, 52-19-5 (35).

Oct. 22, 1949: Two title bouts top the agenda at the next card at New York’s Madison Square Garden. In the first of these, former WBA MW Champ Charley Burley challenges Artie Towne for Towne’s USBA MW title. The action heats up in round two, when a hard shot from Burley rips open a cut on Towne’s forehead. After having the cut patched between rounds, Towne tries to work his way into the bout as it enters the middle rounds. However, the cut – reopened in round five – continues to be an issue for Towne and his corner. At the midway point, the unofficial card has has Burley up by two (58-56), while Towne must also deal with a rapidly swelling right eye. With a two-for-one edge in the punches landed count, plus Towne’s issues with the cut and the swelling, Burley is poised to coast to victory in the second half of the bout. Even though Burley is well ahead on all three cards, it is the cut that decides matters, with Burley emerging as a TKO 9 victor after the cut becomes too severe to allow the bout to continue. Burley improves to 51-5 (35) with the win. The loss, only the third of his career, leaves Towne at 23-3-2 (8). Burley is set to hit Post-Prime with his next outing in early 1950. After this, the ring is cleared for a WBA LH title bout, with Archie Moore making his sixth defense in 14 months; this time the challenger is the unbeaten NABF LH Champion, Harold Johnson, who enters the bout with a perfect 22-0 career mark. The two have not met before, and this represents Johnson’s first WBA title challenge. The bout devolves into the prototypical boxer versus slugger matchup, with Moore, as the slugger, taking the initiative in the first half of the bout. In round five, Moore connects with a wicked uppercut to the head; Johnson goes down and arises only after taking an eight count. Despite the one knockdown and a rapidly swelling left eye, Johnson is ahead (48-46) on the unofficial scorecard after the first five rounds were in the books. In the middle rounds, Moore continues to grind away, applying pressure while working mainly on the inside, while Johnson elects to keep his distance, staying mostly on the outside. At the two thirds mark, Johnson continues to hold the points lead on the unofficial scorer’s card (96-93), but Moore appears to have a huge edge in terms of the stamina factor, so he presses forward as the bout enters its final few rounds. A strong final third enables Moore to overcome any point deficit and retain the title via a close but UD 15 (143-142, 144-141, 144-141). Post-bout records: Moore, 49-4-5 (34); Johnson, 22-1 (9). A peek at the judges’ cards showed Moore winning five of the last six rounds on two of the three cards, enough to retain the belt and hand Johnson his first career setback.

Oct. 28, 1949: Next is a Friday night card taking place South of the border, in Mexico City. In the main event, LABF LW Champ Enrique Bolanos faces George LaRover in a 10-round, non-title contest. No prior meetings, and Bolanos, aka “the Dorango Dropper,” enjoys the support of an appreciative hometown crowd. Despite the handicap of facing a hostile crowd, LaRover is able to hold his own through the opening few rounds. The heavy hitting Bolanos is able to wrest control by bludgeoning his way inside to score heavily in round three. By the halfway point of the contest, it is Bolanos who leads (by 49-46) on the unofficial scorer’s card, this despite the fact that LaRover has managed to land some telling blows sufficient to cause some initial swelling to appear under the left eye of the Mexican fighter. In the second half of the bout, both the punches landed count and the stamina factor work in Bolanos’ favor. Late in round seven, Bolanos digs a hard hook to the body that causes LaRover to wince, but he eschews the cover up and remains upright. The following round, round eight, sees Bolanos deck LaRover with a cross; this time LaRover elects to cover up after taking an eight count before resuming. The bout goes the rest of the way without incident, and the lopsided UD 10 goes to Bolanos (98-91, 99-90, 99-90). Post-bout records: Bolanos, 28-4 (21); LaRover, 26-9-2 (13).

Oct. 29, 1949: The Olympia in London is the scene for the next card. Topping the agenda is a joint Commonwealth/GBU title bout, preceded by a main supporting bout matching former WBA Fly Champ Rinty Monaghan versus Belgium’s Raoul DeGryse. The two are meeting for the fourth time, with Monaghan holding a 2-1 edge in their prior results. Both men are at Post-Prime for this encounter. After a couple of close opening rounds, Monaghan moves inside and takes charge in round three. Midway through round four, there is a clash of heads, and Monaghan comes away with a cut over his left eyebrow. Despite the cut, Monaghan has a slim lead (48-47) on the unofficial scorecard at the midway point of the contest. In the second half of the bout, DeGryse starts swinging away freely, but he is unable to make much of an impression on Monaghan, who goes on to eke out a SD 10 (97-94, 95-96, 97-94) to run his career record to 46-17-1 (12). DeGryse ends the bout at 33-18-5 (17). Finally, in the featured bout, both the Commonwealth FW title and the GBU FW title are at stake in a unification battle between Ronnie Clayton, holder of the FW belt, and Al “the Aldgate Tiger” Phillips, holder of the GBU title. These two are meeting for the third time, each having prevailed once in prior action. After a couple of indifferent opening rounds, Phillips moves inside to try to put pressure on his opponent. With Clayton holding a slight edge in the punches landed count, the two fighters mix it up on the inside in round five. Phillips continues to battle, landing sufficient to leather to cause some initial puffiness under Clayton’s left eye. At the halfway point, the unofficial scorer at ringside has Clayton up by one (58-57). Into the second half of the contest and Phillips, with a stamina advantage, seizes the initiative and begins to press the action. However, in round eight, things go downhill quickly for Phillips, who sustains a cut lip followed by a more serious cut over his right eye, and, with both cuts bleeding, the ref steps in to call a halt. As a result, Clayton claims both CBU and GBU belts via a TKO 8 due to the cuts stoppage. Post-bout records: Clayton, 31-5 (16); Phillips, 30-14-1 (13).

Oct. 29, 1949: The month wraps with a fine card in Miami. Twin title bouts top the agenda. First up, Black Pico, the reigning LABF Fly titleholder, challenges Dado Marino for Marino’s NABF Flyweight title. This is the third meeting of the two, and Marino prevailed in both their prior encounters. This time around, a solid start from the challenger whose defensive prowess poses some challenges for Marino. In round five, both men do battle on the inside, and some good toe-to-toe action results in a stalemate – no real advantage for either side. At the halfway point, Marino has pulled out to a narrow lead (58-57) on the unofficial scorer’s card. In the second half of the bout, Pico’s superior stamina begins to have an impact, as he is plugging away on the inside with some effect. A solid rally from Pico in rounds seven through nine forces Marino to switch tactics and go on the offensive. Pico is able to resist, and a strong second half carries him to victory. The UD 12 goes to Pico (116-112,118-111, 116-112), and he adds the NABF belt to his LABF one. Post-bout career marks: Pico, 22-3-2 (1); Marino, 36-11 (14). Marino retains the long dormant USBA Fly title belt. In the final bout of the month, Jimmy Sherrer challenges aging veteran Henry “Homicide Hank” Armstrong for Armstrong’s WBA WW title. Earlier in the year, the two met for the vacant title (vacated when Ray Robinson elected to move up to MW), and Armstrong won via a late stoppage on cuts and has defended twice since. This time around, Sherrer gets off to a strong start, taking advantage of the fact that “Sugar” Ray is at End career stage for this bout. By the end of round two, Sherrer has landed sufficient leather to cause some initial swelling to appear under Armstrong’s left eye. Everything seems to be working in Sherrer’s favor until round four when, suddenly, the ref intervenes and Sherrer is DQ-ed for some flagrant low blows. The DQ-4 result enables Armstrong to hang on to the title for another defense, but demands for a rematch are quite loud and frequent. The win enabled Armstrong to move to 57-11-4 (46) overall, compared to a post-match record of 25-4 (13) for Sherrer.