Photo courtesy of The Cyber Boxing Zone / Former middleweight champion Fred Apostoli took on Melio Bettina in January of 1940.

View full size photo »

By Andrew Fruman

Throughout the next 12 months, we will be looking back at what was happening in the boxing world during the years 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940 & 1950.

Attention will of course be focused on the major stars as information is more readily available on the bigger names, but plenty of space will be devoted to many of the lesser known quality fighters.

January 1...

Just over 1000 members of the Olympic Athletic Club watched Philadelphia’s 18 year old ring sensation Pal Moore defeat Brooklyn’s Joe Coster over 10 rounds. Coster entered the bout sporting an already bruised eye, which Moore took full aim at. The Quaker City youngster staggered Coster in the 3rd round, and was a convincing winner as he outclassed the Brooklyn fighter for much of the contest. It was New York’s first matinée show in several years.

January 2…

Former heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan chimed in with his opinions of the upcoming summer’s big fight between Jack Johnson and James Jeffries...

"The men are going about their preparation in a strange manner. There is too much commercialism about it and the question of who is really the better man is not at stake. They are fighting for the purse and moving picture receipts.

It wouldn’t have been that way twenty years ago. The people would have thrown brickbats at the fighters if they had attempted such a game. In those days scrappers had to fight first and do their show work afterwards. The boxing game is not being conducted the way it should be and it is only the question of time until the public will refuse to stand for the present methods."

January 4...

Pal Moore was back at it.  This time against Henry Milers in Boston in the opener of a 3 bout show - all 10 rounders - at Boston's Armory Athletic Association.  The Boston Globe called the finish one of "hottest and fastest" ever seen in the city..."in the last round both boys started in to mix matters from the tap of the gong, and they never stopped exchanging rights and lefts to the face and jaw till the gong sounded to the end of the session."  The result was a draw, but according to the Globe, the fans felt Moore deserved the decision.

The following bout on the card between Eddie Shevlin and Charlie Griffin was also ruled a draw.  With a big edge in weight, Shevlin continually swarmed forward mixing it up to the body and head with both hands, with Griffin landed frequent counters in return, although "only a few of the punches appeared to have much steam on them."  Shevlin scored a flash knockdown in the 8th, and most of the fans were of the opinion he should have got the nod.

In the main event, Ohio's Biz Mackey turned the tables on local fighter Mickey Delmont - who had won their previous meeting via 12th round stoppage - by winning a clear cut decision.  Mackey dropped Delmont with a left hook in the 5th round, and was in command the rest of the way.  Delmont is said to have injured his right hand early in the bout.

January 7...

Milwaukee's Ad Wolgast won the newspaper decision in a 10 rounder over George Mesmic at the Naud Junction Pavilion in Los Angeles.

"...a bloody hamburger steak fight from start to finish, and was about the hardest either man has ever had here... for fierceness and gameness nothing ever beat it here, and the and the big crowd of fight bugs that filled the house never had an idle moment." - LA Times

Mesmic landed his share of punches to the body and scored often with his left jab, but was outfought in close by Wolgast, who landed the more damaging blows.  An exhausted Mesmic was staggered and groggy in the 9th, but managed to survive the round and Wolgast couldn't put him away in the 10th.  Both fighters were reportedly relieved to hear the final bell.

All week, Wolgast's name has been a hot topic in the papers with a possible lightweight title match-up against champion Battling Nelson being discussed.  Not pleased with the offer on the table, Wolgast had threatened to head off for Australia if his wishes of a more even split weren't accepted, but according to reports has accepted terms.  Win, lose or draw, Wolgast is said to receive $3,750 compared to the Dane’s purse of $12,000 for the 45 rounder set at 133 pounds.

January 1...

Light-heavyweight champ Battling Levinsky was in action on New Year’s Day recording a victory against heavyweight "Wild Bert" Kenny at the Arena in Toronto. The contest was ended in the 8th after Kenny complained of an injured arm, and the ringside doctor diagnosed a small break. Up until that point, the bout had been notable only for a lack of action, with the wide swinging underdog completely outclassed and Levinsky content to waltz to a points win. In the 4th and 5th rounds, Levinsky was warned to up his intensity or the bout would be called a no contest. The action picked up a bit after that, although not enough to satisfy the paying customers who loudly voiced their displeasure throughout the dreary affair.

January 5...

Dick Loadman and Al Shubert boxed a *pair of 6 rounders at the Pine Tree Athletic Club in Portland, Maine.  According to the Boston Globe, the newspaper decision was a draw, with Shubert having the better of the action in close and the harder hitting Loadman doing his best work from the outside.  Scheduling a double-header between the same fighters was a way of circumventing the state law prohibiting bouts of longer than 6 rounds.

• The 6 round limit was a part of Maine boxing until 1937 when a local commission was established and the maximum increased to 10 rounds.  In 1939, Maine further amended their rules to include decision bouts.
  

January 7...

It was reported that Francois Descamps, manager of France’s Georges Carpentier announced that his fighter had accepted an offer to fight for Jack Demspey’s heavyweight title. One sticking point however was the bout’s length, with Descamps stating the length of 45 rounds outlined in the Dempsey proposal from Dempsey’s side was "stupid." He suggested 10 or 15 would be more than sufficient to determine the winner.

January 1...

In a battle of lightweight contenders, Henry Tuttle (137 ½), aka King Tut, recorded a TKO victory in front of his hometown fans with a pounding of Cleveland’s Billy Wallace (133 ¼) at Milwaukee’s Auditorium. Pressing the bout from the start, the wild swinging Tut knocked Wallace down with a hard right to the jaw in the opening round. Wallace was unsuccessful in his efforts to keep Tut on the outside, as the Milwaukee fighter continued to land crunching right hands throughout the contest, with another right to the chest putting Wallace down in the 6th. Wallace did not come out for the 8th round, citing an injured back suffered after being wrestled through the ropes by Tut in the 5th round.

January 3...

Maxie Rosenbloom (172) handed out a one sided drubbing to fellow contender Leo Lomski (171 1/2) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Known as Slapsey Maxie for his feather fisted non-stop windmill style, Rosenbloom was in command throughout, opening up cuts over both Lomski's eyes as he won all 10 rounds of the light-heavyweight contest. It was the 4th meeting between the pair, with Rosenbloom now holding a 2-1-1 edge.

January 1...

The Wisconsin Boxing Commission fined Johnny Gaudes (119 3/4) $50 and gave the Milwaukee based Canadian a *30 day suspension for his "safety first" approach in a 10 round tussle with Cleveland's Georgie Pace (121 1/2), the NBA World bantamweight title holder.  Pace emerged with the win, but suffered an injury to his right knuckle in the process.

• Gaudes was back in action 3 weeks later.  An appeal likely leading to the suspension being lifted or reduced.
  

January 3...

In a bloody battle of former champions, 9-5 underdog Fred Apostoli (169 1/4) climbed off the deck in each of the opening 3 rounds to upset southpaw Melio Bettina (174) over 12 wild rounds. Left hands sent Apostoli to the canvas each time, but the former middleweight champion turned the tide in the 4th round by opening a bad cut on Bettina's chin. A right hand in the 10th sent a tiring Bettina to the canvas for 9, and Apostoli, none too fresh himself, secured the comeback by having the better of the former light-heavyweight king in the 12th. The final tallies were 6-4-2, 6-5-1 and 6-6 in favor of Apostoli.  The AP scored the fight even.

"Toward the last, both fighters were almost too tired to lift their sodden gloves.  Blood flowed from a deep cut on Bettina's lip, smearing the exhausted pair with crimson and even tinting Referee Johnny McAvoy's bald dome.  It was a brutal fight." - Associated Press

January 4…

Returning to his boyhood hometown of St. Louis, welterweight champ Henry Armstrong stayed busy with a knockout of lightweight Joe Ghnouly. Armstrong had Ghnouly on the deck 3 times in the opening round, but the tough local fighter gamely hung in, absorbing a steady battering until he was dropped for good in the 5th.

Although technically a welterweight title fight, neither fighter scaled in close to the limit with Ghnouly coming in at 135 ½ and Armstrong at 136 ¾. Like many of Armstrong’s stay busy 147 pound defenses against lesser opposition, the bout received little fanfare with attendance barely topping the 5,000 mark. The gate was $6,350.

Armstrong’s next defense is scheduled for January 24 in New York against Pedro Montanez.

January 6...

With 147lb title holder Sugar Ray Robinson looking on from ringside, welterweight George Costner (147 ¼) used his edge in reach to fend off an aggressive Gene Burton (146 ¼) to win a majority decision in the main-event of the Madison Square Garden show.

Giving away almost 8 inches in height, Burton was forced to wade through heavy punishment from the big hitting Costner to get inside, although he did manage to sting his taller foe in the 3rd and 4th rounds. At one point in the 6th round, Costner showed his versatility by turning southpaw and using his right hand to jab Burton from long range. Burton again got to Costner in the final round, only to be driven back on his heels for his troubles.

The judges scores were 8-2, 6-3-1 and 5-5, while James P. Dawson of the NY Times had Costner in front by a 9-1 margin. The lanky welter from Camden is slated to face Robinson on February 22nd.

On the under-card, middleweight prospect Paddy Young (155 1/2) knocked out veteran Harold Green (158 3/4) in a battle of local fighters.  A left hook put Green down early, and a follow-up barrage ended it at 1:14 of the opening round.  The Times called it a "spectacular" stoppage.

We'll be back next week with stories from January 8-14.

e-mail Andrew Fruman