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This report includes bouts from the second half of December 1949. Three WBA title bouts (!) are included in this report.

Dec. 17, 1949: Next card takes place in the Far East at Manila’s Rizal Arena. Matched together in the main event are Black Pico, the reigning NABF and LABF Flyweight Champion, and Yoshio Shirai, holder of the OPBF Fly title belt. The two have not met before, and the bout, with no titles at stake, is scheduled for 10 rounds. Starting in round three, Shirai works his way inside and, late in the round, he drops Pico with a nice combination. Pico picks himself off the deck after taking a seven count and covers up in order to last the round. Pico is able to recover quickly, gaining the upper hand in the middle rounds sufficient to forge a narrow points lead (48-47) at the midway point, according to the unofficial scorer’s card. However, the punch count stats favor Shirai, who continues to be the more active of the two as the bout enters its later stages. It is not until the final round that Pico, who is suffering from a rapidly swelling right eye, begins to show signs of aggressiveness. It turns out that a strong showing in the final round is sufficient for Pico to salvage a majority draw (95-95, 96-94 Shirai, 95-95) with one judge favoring Shirai. Post-bout career marks: Pico, 22-3-3 (1); Shirai, 25-5-1 (12).

Dec. 17, 1949: Aging veteran HW Jersey Joe Walcott is still enough of a draw to feature in a main event, this time the venue is the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix; Walcott’s opponent in the feature bout is Kid Riviera, a promising West Coast boxer. It is the first meeting of the two, and no titles are on the line in this 10-rounder. There is not much to choose between the two through the opening rounds, but Riviera serves notice with a strong round three. Then, in round five, Walcott’s age begins to show, as he falls victim to a Riviera combination and goes down, arising after taking a four count. At the midway point of the contest, Riviera has a solid points lead (49-46) on the unofficial scorer’s card. In the second half of the bout, Walcott battles back, taking a more aggressive posture, with some success, as he pulls out to a slight lead in the punches landed count. Despite Walcott’s best efforts, he is unable to mount a rally, so Riviera takes a UD 10 (98-92, 97-93, 99-91), and he improves to 21-4-1 (10) as a result. For Jersey Joe, it’s just one step closer to retirement as he ends the bout at 55-19 (31).

Dec. 23, 1949: Next is a Friday night card at New York’s Madison Square Garden, and a pair of title bouts top the agenda. In the first of these, Tommy Yarosz challenges Lloyd Marshall for Marshall’s USBA LH title; this bout takes place exactly one year after Marshall’s last title defense in December 1948. It is the first meeting of the two, and the action is slow to develop as there is little to choose between the two in the opening rounds of the contest. In round four, the action heats up, with Yarosz doing some damage by ripping open a cut over Marshall’s left eye; in addition, the eye is showing traces of swelling as well. Marshall strikes back in the very next round, dropping Yarosz for a four count with a barrage of blows; the challenger manages to last the round with effective use of the cover up strategy. At the halfway point, despite one 10-8 round for Marshall, Yarosz is ahead (57-56) on the unofficial card. In the second half of the bout, Yarosz continues to have the upper hand, re-opening the cut over Marshall’s eye in round nine and, again, in round 11. The bout goes to decision, and Yarosz emerges as a SD 12 victor (113-116, 116-111, 115-112) to capture the belt, which is the first title for him in his career. Post-bout records: Yarosz, 30-7-2 (11); Marshall, 40-9-5 (32). Unfortunately for Yarosz, his reign may be short-lived as he is slated to hit Post-Prime with his next outing in early 1950. In the finale, the WBA HW title is at stake, with Joe Louis, the “Brown Bomber,” now in his second decade as HW Champ, and, this time around, the challenger is lightly regarded Phil Muscato. Muscato, whose career did not start until 1942, after Louis began his current reign as WBA Champion, is facing Louis for the first time. There is, surprisingly, no quick knockout, as Muscato is able to hold his own through the opening two rounds. It is not until the end of round three that Louis is able to land a powerful uppercut; Muscato drops to the canvas and barely manages to beat the count, and the bell sounds before Louis is able to finish matters. Louis goes on the offensive in the next round, landing several telling blows until the ref decides to call a halt, saving Muscato from further punishment. TKO 4 for Louis, who runs his impressive career record to 66-1-1 (64) as a result. Muscato ends the bout at 26-7-3 (10). Looking ahead, Louis has one more year before hitting Post-Prime in 1951, while Muscato will be at Post with his next outing.

Interesting side-note: with over a 1000 point difference in the pre-bout Performance point levels going into the bout, it turns out that the loser (Muscato) actually gained more PPs (10, rounded up) than the winner (Louis) who gained less than 1 Perf Point to end 1949 at an all-time high of 2374.

Dec. 24, 1949: Staying in the USA for the next card, a Saturday afternoon affair in front of Christmas Eve. A WBA title clash tops the action, preceded by a BW matchup featuring Tommy Forte, a former WBA BW Champ, taking on the EBU BW titleholder, Guido Ferracin of Italy, in a 10-round, non-title affair. The two have not met before, and Forte is at Post-Prime while Ferracin is still at Prime. In round three, Forte moves inside and does well enough to take the early lead in the punch count stats. Forte continues to build on this through the middle rounds and, at the halfway point, he is up by two (48-47) on the unofficial scorer’s card. In the second half of the bout, and the stamina factor favors Forte, who also has the support of the crowd. In the later rounds, Ferracin, trailing, is able to mount a rally, but, in the end, he comes up short, as Forte takes a UD 10 (97-94 on all three cards). Post-bout, Forte improves to 40-13-3 (13) with the win; the loss leaves Ferracin at 18-5-4 (3). The main event sees Ike Williams on hand to defend his WBA LW title, and the challenger is USBA LW Champ Freddie Dawson. The two have not met previously, and Williams get off to a strong start, dominating the action in the opening few rounds in this, his fourth title defense. In round three, Williams rips a hard hook to the body that forces the challenger to cover up, although Dawson does remain upright. Dawson bounces back with a strong round four, but at the one-thirds mark, Williams has a large lead (49-46) on the unofficial scorer’s card. After a lull in the middle rounds, in round nine the action picks up. First, Dawson connects with a cross that draws blood; suddenly, a cut appears over Williams’ right eye. Later in the round, Williams responds, decking Dawson for a three count with a barrage of blows, and the bell sounds before Williams can do further damage. At this point both fighters need a breather, and both corners go to work, as Dawson is showing the effects with a rapidly swelling left eye. After 10 rounds are in the books, the unofficial card has Williams with a huge lead (99-92), indicating that Dawson needs a knockout or a cuts stoppage to prevail. In round 11, the cut over Williams’ eye is reopened, and, once again, a sharp combination from Williams drops Dawson, who barely manages to beat the bout. Dawson topples to the canvas a third time near the end of round 14, and Williams finishes Dawson off with a pair of KDs in the final round, ending matters with a short, clean cross for the fifth knockdown that puts Dawson down and out. Intriguing contest that ends with a KO 15 for Williams, who retains the title and improves to 40-4-1 (34), while Dawson ends the bout at 25-3-3 (6).

Dec. 26, 1949: Next is the traditional Boxing Day card that takes place at Earls Court in London. No titles at the stake, and the featured bout matches two regional titleholders: Commonwealth and GBU FW Champ Ronnie Clayton and his USBA counterpart, Phil Terranova. The two have not met previously, and the bout is scheduled for 10. After a couple of pedestrian opening rounds, Clayton takes charge by moving inside in round three. By the midway point, Clayton has pulled ahead to a nice lead (49-46) on the unofficial card. Furthermore, at this point, a mouse has formed under the right eye of Terranova. In round seven, Terranova leaves himself open, and he goes down from a Clayton combination. After the count reaches three, Terranova is back on his feet, and he covers up and lasts the round. Trailing badly, Terranova tries to up his aggression level in the final two rounds, but to no avail. Clayton punctuates his superiority by putting Terranova down two more times the final round, with the second KD occurring just before the final bell. Thus, a lopsided UD 10 goes to Clayton (99-88, 99-89, 99-88). Post-bout career marks: Clayton, 32-5 (16); Terranova, 27-13 (11). Terranova is at Post-Prime and due for a mandatory title defense in early 1950.

Dec. 31, 1949: The year’s action wraps up with a New Year’s Eve event at San Juan, Puerto Rico. A WBA title bout tops the card, and the main support matches two top ranked Flyweight contenders in a non-title clash. In this preliminary contest, Dado Marino, who still holds the USBA Flyweight title belt, faces Maurice Sandeyron, who twice tried (unsuccessfully) for the EBU Flyweight title. No prior meetings of the two and, after a couple of close opening rounds, Marino gradually pulls ahead in the middle rounds. At the halfway point, Marino is ahead on the unofficial card (48-47), and Sandeyron is already showing signs of puffiness under his left eye. The bout goes the distance, and Marino grinds out a solid UD 10 win (98-92, 97-93, 97-93) to improve his career stats to 37-11 (14). Sandeyron ends the bout at 37-9-4 (5). Final bout of the card and the year is for the WBA LH title, with Archie Moore making his seventh title defense, facing veteran Harry “Kid” Matthews. In their one prior encounter, for the USBA title back in 1945, Moore took a unanimous points win. Late in the second round, Moore strikes, connecting with a barrage of blows that put Matthews on the canvas, taking an eight count just before the bell sounds to end the round. Midway through round four, Moore drops Matthews for a second time with a short, clean combination; this time the challenger scrambles to his feet and covers up in order to last the round. Another knockdown takes place right before the bell and, while Matthews once again is able to beat the count, there is not enough time left in the round for Moore to finish matters. Matthews is fortunate to last the first five rounds, but at this point Moore is well ahead (50-43) on the unofficial scorecard. Matthews has time to recover and begins to settle in through the middle rounds, but he is not really a threat to seriously challenge Moore. At the end of round eight, Matthews goes down a fourth time, this from a Moore uppercut, but he is saved by the bell. The end comes a round later, this after Moore is able to open two cuts, one over Matthews’ right eye, and a second under his left eye, and this causes the ref to step in and call a halt. Impressive, one-sided TKO 9 for Moore to wrap up another year of fistic activities. Post-bout career records: Moore, 50-4-5 (35); Matthews, 35-10-1 (23).

There is talk of Moore moving up to HW to challenge long-time Champ Joe Louis, but that matchup will have to wait until after the year-end reports coming up next.