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This report covers a total of 53 bouts taking place during the first half of October 1942. No WBA title bouts are included in this report.

Oct. 2, 1942: The month kicks off with a Friday night card at Atlantic City’s Convention Hall. No title bouts on the card, and the main event features recently dethroned LABF LW Champ Chino Alvarez, facing fast-rising Lenny “Boom Boom” Mancini. First meeting of the two. After a solid opening round by Alvarez, Mancini fires back with a strong second round, and he moves inside, assuming the role of the aggressor, in the third. Near the end of round three, Alvarez is cut over his left eye. By round five, with both men whaling away on the inside, there is plenty of action; at the midway point, though, the unofficial card has Alvarez on top (by a count of 49-46). In round six, the cut over Alvarez’s eye, which had been kept under control by his cornermen, is reopened. Mancini tries to target the cut but can do no further damage; indeed, near the end of round seven, he is rocked by a vicious Alvarez hook. Undeterred, Lenny steps up the pace in round eight, as he goes looking for a knockout or at least a knockdown to keep the scores reasonably close. In the end, a solid performance by Alvarez, “the Patent Leather Kid,” who takes a MD 10 (96-95, 95-95, 97-94), as Mancini managed to close some ground in the later rounds. Post-bout records: Alvarez, 40-15-5 (22); Mancini, 20-6-3 (6).

Oct. 3, 1942: To Havana’ Gran Stadium for the next fistic action, and twin feature bouts top the card. The first of these – a non-title affair – matches Cuba’s Joe Legon, a one-time LABF WW titleholder, with Italy’s Saviero Turiello; first meeting of these two long-time WW contenders. Poor start from Legon, who comes away with a bloody nose in a sharp exchange of blows in the opening round. Then, in round three, trouble for Turiello who suffers a cut under his right eye. The cut is closed and, near the end of the fifth round, the cut on Legon’s nose is reopened. At the midway point, the bout is a close one; the unofficial scorer has it even (48-all). However, the bout ends abruptly early in round seven, when the cut on Legon’s nose continues to ooze blood, leading to an immediate stoppage. To the displeasure of the Cuban fight fans, Turiello is awarded a TKO 7; the win pushes his career record to 35-17-10 (14). The loss drops Legon to 26-8-6 (12). Then, in the main event, two titles are on the line, with Baby Arizmendi putting his NABF LW title on the line, facing Pedro Montanez, whose LABF LW title will also be up for grabs in the same bout. As the two have not met before, there is a long feeling-out process with most of the early action favoring the more accomplished Arizmendi, who earlier in the year abandoned the WBA FW title to campaign at LW. By the midway point of the bout, Arizmendi’s dominance has become clear, even to the most hardened Cuban fans rooting for Montanez, and the unofficial card has the Mexican fighter well ahead (by a count of 60-54). In the ninth round, Montanez begins to labor, his situation made even more dire by a cut over his right eye, plus substantial swelling around his left eye. Montanez, who is already at Post-Prime career stage while Arizmendi is still at Prime, throws caution to the wind in the final two rounds, looking for a knockout, but to no avail. Thus, the result is no surprise: a lopsided UD 12 for Arizmendi (119-109, 120-108, 120-108). Post-bout records: Arizmendi, 46-9-4 (10); Montanez, 35-14 (7). With this impressive win, Arizmendi will be looking for a shot at the WBA LW title, currently held by Jack Kid Berg.

Oct. 9, 1942: The scene shifts across the bay to Miami for the next fight card. Only one bout of note, and it is of course the main event, matching a pair of veteran BW contenders who are now, unfortunately, on the downside of their respective careers. Meeting for the second time are Little Pancho, longtime OPBF BW Champ, and Pete “Baby Cyclone” Sanstol, who once briefly held the WBA BW crown; in their one prior meeting, in Manila in 1939, Sanstol came away the UD 10 winner. This time around, it is a cautious start by both men, and not much to choose between the two through the first half of the bout. The unofficial card has Pancho ahead by three (49-46) at the halfway point, but the punches landed stats indicate a very competitive bout. Into the second half of the bout, and Sanstol’s right eye begins to puff up as the result of the accumulated punches landed by his Filipino counterpart. In the later rounds, Sanstol tries to become more aggressive but simply lacks the firepower to trouble the determined Pancho, who goes on to take a solid UD 10 win (99-92, 98-92, 98-92). Post-bout career marks: Pancho, 44-11-7 (10); Sanstol, 41-19-6 (9).

Oct. 10, 1942: Next card is at the Forum in Montreal, and two veteran FWs do battle in the main event, as ex-WBA Champ Chalky Wright challenges Mike Belloise for Belloise’s NABF FW title. First meeting of the two. After a couple of lackluster opening rounds, Wright moves inside, hoping to press the action and thereby gain the upper hand. However, for all his troubles, Wright ends up setting himself as a target, and he comes away with a cut under his left eye as a result. Late in round four, Belloise drops Wright with a hard jab, but Wright is saved by the bell and manages to recover in between rounds. As the bout progresses, some good cornerwork keeps the cut under control, and the bout remains close through the first half of the bout. At the midway point of the point, the unofficial card favors Belloise (by a count of 57-56), largely on the strength of the one knockdown. Into the later rounds, and Wright – already running low on stamina – becomes more aggressive, launching attack after attack, but with no results in penetrating Belloise’s rather excellent defense. By round 11, Wright has to deal with some massive swelling around the injured left eye. However, to the surprise of many, Wright’s late surge (couple with an overly defensive posture from Belloise) manages to put the issue in doubt, as Wright manages to earn the vote of one judge, but falls just short as the SD 12 goes the way of Belloise (117-110, 113-114, 114-113) who retains the title and improves his career totals to 31-13-7 (11). The loss leaves Wright at 40-14-4 (15).

Oct. 10, 1942: More fistic action, this time in Chicago, and it’s a nice card at Comiskey Park. The main event features two top 10 HW contenders, as #3 Roscoe Toles faces #6 Abe Simon in a 10-round, non-title affair. The two have not met before and Toles is favored, plus Simon has already hit Post-Prime career stage. Toles, a former NABF HW titleholder, has rebounded with two consecutive wins after falling short in a WBA title challenge to Joe Louis in late 1941. Toles, the consummate boxer, starts well, and Simon tries to bludgeon his way forward, cutting off the ring, but has little success in his efforts until midway through the fifth round, when a Simon combination gets through, and Toles takes a brief trip to the canvas. In spite of this, Toles has a slim points lead (48-47) at the midway point, according to the unofficial card. Headed into the second half of the bout, Toles has the stamina edge but his corner has to deal with a mouse under left eye, the result of some sharp exchanges that penetrated his defenses. Into the later rounds, and Simon, the slugger, remains the aggressor, despite running low on energy. Toles tries to coast to the points win in the later rounds, but at least two of the three judges are impressed enough with Simon’s aggressiveness (plus the one KD in round five) to award Simon a very close SD 10 victory (95-94, 94-96, 95-94); the win runs his career totals to 30-6-1 (21). The loss drops Toles to 36-10-3 (6).

Oct. 16, 1942: Next up is the Friday night “Down Under” fight card, this time at Sydney Stadium in Australia. Main event is for an OPBF title, amply supported by a stellar non-title bout matching the #1 and #2 ranked Flyweights, Midget Wolgast and OPBF Fly titleholder Little Dado. First meeting of the two. Cagey start from both men, and little to choose between the two through the opening four rounds. First telling blow is a hard left landed by the Filipino fighter in the fifth round, which caused Wolgast to cover up; despite the setback, Wolgast maintained a narrow points lead (48-47 on the unofficial card) at the halfway point. In round six, a mouse appears under the left eye of Dado. Into the later rounds, the stamina factor favors the younger man (Dado) while Wolgast, already at Post-Prime, is beginning to suck wind. Dado moves inside, applying pressure, while Wolgast bides his time, making one last effort, going for a knockout in the final round. The bout goes to decision, and, it’s a close decision, with the SD 10 going to Wolgast (94-97, 96-95, 96-94), who improves to 56-9-1 (19) with the win. For Dado, it is only his fourth career loss, dropping him to 27-4-1 (13) overall. Then, in the feature, the OPBF FW title is contested for the first time in over two years, with Tsuneo “Piston” Horiguchi defending versus an Aussie challenger, Eddie Miller. The two met once before, in early 1940, which also happened to be the last title defense by Horiguchi, who retained the belt on an early stoppage due to an accidental butt cut (resulting in a UTD 9 for the Japanese fighter). This time around, the action heats up in the second round, when Miller rips open a cut over Horiguchi’s left eye, then drops the Japanese fighter for a four count with a solid uppercut. Horiguchi manages to survive the round by covering up, but not after taking sufficient punishment to cause some initial swelling around his other (right) eye. The cut is in a bad spot and continues to ooze blood, and it is reopened by Miller late in the fourth round. Buoyed by the support of the hometown crowd, the Aussie challenger continues to press forward, targeting the cut. However, early in round five, Horiguchi gets in a quick hook to the head that causes Miller to retreat, covering up to avoid further damage. More trouble for Miller in round six, when Horiguchi connects with another hook, once again forcing Miller to cover up. As a result, it’s a really close bout, as the unofficial card indicates: 57-56, in favor of Miller, at the midway point. Miller recovers from the setbacks in the prior two rounds, pressing forward and finally reopening the cut, which leads to a stoppage late in round seven. TKO 7 for Miller, who lifts the belt and improves his career record to 21-6-1 (9), while the loss leaves Horiguchi at 31-10-1 (16).