[JCWeb]

This report covers a total of 53 bouts taking place during the second half of September 1942. Two WBA title bouts are included in this report.

Sep. 18, 1942: Time for Friday Night Fights “Down Under” and, this time around, it’s a solid card in Melbourne with twin title bouts topping the menu. In the first co-feature, Aussie WW and home crowd favorite Jack McNamee makes his third defense of the OPBF WW title, facing Filipino challenger Flashy Sebastian. The two have not before, but McNamee is a heavy favorite given Sebastian’s journeyman status – the challenger has never been ranked among the top 50 WWs in the world and sports a mediocre record that is barely above .500. Trouble for Sebastian in the third round, when he suffers a gash over his left eye, and the cut appears to be in a bad spot. By round five, there is swelling around the injured eye, plus a second cut on the lip to further trouble the underdog challenger. At the midway point, McNamara has a solid points lead (59-55) on the unofficial card. In round eight, the cut over the eye is reopened, and it continues to ooze blood through the following round. It takes a massive effort from Sebastian’s corner to keep the cuts and swelling under control, and McNamee, for his part, is content to sit on his points lead, doing little to force the action while staying out of trouble. In the end, despite the nasty looking cut, the bout goes the distance, and it goes down as a routine UD 12 for McNamee (119-110, 118-111, 119-109), who keeps the belt and improves to 31-9-1 (18) with the win. The loss drops Sebastian to 14-13 (4). The second title bout is for the OPBF MW title, recently vacated by Ceferino Garcia, who retired. Contesting the vacant belt are two veteran Aussie MWs: Fred Henneberry and Ron Richards. The two split two prior belts and, given both are at the Post-Prime stage of their respective careers, they are fortunate to earn title shots at this late stage. Early punches landed edge to Henneberry but Richards, the more aggressive of the two, is able to do some damage on the inside in round three, causing some initial puffiness around Henneberry’s right eye. At the midway point, the unofficial scorer at ringside has the bout even (57-57). In the second half of the bout, and Richards continues to pound away on the inside, and he appears to be the fresher of the two as the later rounds beckon. Richards lands some hard shots in round 10, and in round 11, both men, exhausted, go looking to land a KO shot. The bout comes down to the final round, and Richards goes on to take the title via a SD 12 (115-113, 114-114, 115-113). Post-bout records: Richards, 37-19-2 (24); Henneberry, 32-20-2 (13).

Sep. 19, 1942: The action shifts to Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg for card primarily featuring European fighters. The main event is a non-title bout matching the EBU MW Champion, Marcel Cerdan, aka
“the Casablanca Clouter,” versus American Al Hostak, aka “the Savage Slav.” It’s the first meeting of the two, and the bout devolves into a bit of a brawl after Cerdan tags Hostak with a huge hook late in round two, and this causes some puffiness to appear under the right eye of the American fighter. Then, in the next round, Cerdan manages to break down Hostak’s defenses, doing more damage with some devastating punches, ending with a straight right hand that leaves Hostak defenseless. Mercifully, the ref steps in to call a halt. Solid TKO 3 win for Cerdan to boost his record to 33-3-2 (24). The loss drops Hostak to 35-8 (27). With this impressive performance, Cerdan hopes to earn a second shot at the WBA MW title (he lost to Freddie Steele back in 1939).

Sep. 19, 1942: Next is a huge card at the Polo Grounds in New York City, with Joe Louis is the headliner as he once again defends his WBA HW title. On the undercard are a couple of hot young prospects: future stars FW Willie Pep and WW “Sugar” Ray Robinson. Pep is the first of the two to take the ring, and he dominates the action, showing superior ring generalship before finishing off journeyman Bill Speary via a TKO 6, improving his career record to 14-0 (11). Then, Ray Robinson’s talents are on display, and matches Pep’s result – a TKO 6 versus hapless Earl Turner. Post-bout records: Robinson, a perfect 15-0 (12); Turner, 13-2 (10). In a HW prelim bout to the main event, Lem Franklin scores a major upset by taking a UD 10 (6-93, 96-93, 97-93) over top 10 HW contender Jack Trammell, pushing his record to 22-4 (17), while the loss dropped Trammell to 32-13 (15). Then, in the main event, WBA HW Champ Joe Louis takes on British challenger Tommy Farr, in a rematch of an April 1943 title bout that ended abruptly, with a technical draw, due to an early butt cut suffered by Farr. Overall, this represents the third meeting of these two, all with the WBA title on the line, with Louis having recorded a KO 5 in their initial meeting, back in 1938. This time around, Farr is felled in the opening round, as Louis worked his jab to set up a big shot that sent the “Tonypandy Terror” to the canvas. Farr manages to scramble to his feet at the count of three, but the tone has been set for the rest of the bout. By the end of the third round, Farr is taking a pounding and showing the effects, with a rapidly swelling right eye. A second KD in round four, and then in round five, a third and then a fourth knockdown, from a pair of rapid-fire Louis combinations and after the fourth KD, Farr is unable to beat the count. KO 5 and another impressive win for Louis, who is already being spoken of among the all-time great HWs. Post-bout career marks: Louis, 40-1-1 (38); Farr, 50-17-4 (16). With this win, Louis’ perf point stat his an all-time high of 2042, or 2 PP higher than the previous all-time year-end high: 2040, by Tony Canzoneri (in 1938).

Sep. 25, 1942: Next up is a Friday night card at Johannesburg’s Rand Stadium, a venue whose usage has increased during the war years. It’s a fairly light card – just four bouts – and the feature, a non-title affair, matches two top BW contenders, current NABF BW Champ David Kui Kong Young, whose career is definitely on an upward arc, and former WBA BW Champ Johnny King, who remains in Prime contention and is the current holder of the GBU BW title. Kui Kong Young starts well, winning the first two rounds to forge a solid early points lead. By the midway point of the point, King has recovered from his slow start and is fully engaged, but Kui Kong Young is well ahead (50-46) on the unofficial card. In round six, King rocks the American fighter with a huge combination, and Kui Kong Young wisely covers up and lasts the round. Into the later rounds, and King is full of fight as he seeks to regain the ground lost due to his poor start. By the final round, a weary Kui Kong Young is carrying his hands low as King launches an all-out attack. The bout goes the full distance, and it ends with Kui Kong Young holding his own, but sporting a puffy left eye as a result of King’s punishing assault. The end result – a draw (95-95 on all two cards, 96-94 for Kui Kong Young on a third) – seems fully justified. Post-bout career marks: 26-1-2 (14) for Kui Kong Young; 54-9-2 (22) for King.

Sep. 26, 1942: Next fistic action takes place at the Olympia in London. Two co-features top the agenda. In the first of these, two veteran Flyweights do battle, as former EBU Fly Champ Istvan Enekes faces a homegrown British talent, Jimmy Gill, aka “the Fighting Jockey.” The two have not met before, and Gill is a former Commonwealth Fly titleholder, so both men are looking to establish their credentials in this 10-round, non-title affair. Unfortunately, late in the opening round, an accidental butt opens a gash over the right eye of Gill. The cut continues to ooze blood for a couple of rounds until Gill’s corner manages to close it. Despite their efforts, the cut is reopened in round four, and again, in round six. At the midway point, Enekes is slightly ahead (48-47) on the unofficial card. Despite the cut, Gill manages to rebound with a strong performance throughout the second half of the bout, frustrating the more experienced Hungarian. Winning the final round on all three cards secures Gill a come-from-behind UD 10 victory (96-95, 96-95, 96-94) to run his career totals to 32-9-4 (11). The loss drops Enekes to 38-12-2 (11). In the main event, Jack Kid Berg, who recently dethroned Tony Canzoneri for the WBA LW title, puts that belt on the line, facing long-time GBU LW Champ Harry Mizler. The two have met three times before, with Berg winning all three; this is Mizler’s first try for a WBA title, however, and he is a huge underdog against his much more accomplished opponent. After a couple of close opening rounds, Berg gradually pulls ahead and is well in front after the first five (by a count of 49-46, according to the unofficial scorer at ringside). Into the middle rounds, and Berg continues to pile up points, dominating most of the action. After 10 rounds, the unofficial card has Berg well in front (98-93). Mizler, who is on the verge of exhaustion, goes on the attack in the later rounds, but he cannot mount a comeback. The result, to no surprise, is a lopsided UD 15 for Berg (148-139, 146-140, 148-139), and Berg retains the title, while Mizler will slip into Post-Prime career stage with his next outing. Post-bout career records: Berg, 49-18-5 (16); Mizler, 24-15-6 (6).

Sep. 26, 1942: The month wraps with a card at Vancouver’s Exhibition Gardens. Headlining the agenda is a bout for the NABF HW title, with Jersey Joe Walcott defending that belt versus hard-hitting Max Baer. This is the second meeting of these two, and Walcott, having dropped Baer for a third round KO some four years earlier, is confident of victory, given that Baer will be at Post-Prime career stage this time around. Jersey Joe dominates most of the action in the early rounds, with Baer being largely ineffective and, in round four, Max suffers a cut under his left eye. In round six, Walcott rocks Baer with a hard uppercut, forcing Max to cover up. At the halfway point, Walcott holds a solid lead (59-55 on the unofficial card). Then, in round seven, a short hook from Jersey Joe rips open a new cut, over Baer’s already damaged left eye and, with blood flowing freely from the new cut, the ref steps in and, after consultation with the ringside physician, a halt is called. TKO 7 for Walcott, who retains the belt and improves his career record to 43-7 (27), while the loss leaves Baer at 35-17 (20).