The Boxing Bulletin History Corner: February 19 - 25, 1930,1940 & 1950

By Andrew Fruman

Picking up from where we left off on Thursday (February 19 - 25, 1910 & 1920), we're moving on to the years 1930, 1940 and 1950 for the week of February 19 to 25.

In this edition...

• Pete Latzo vs Larry Johnson - New York, February 21, 1930
• Young Corbett vs Jackie Fields - San Francisco, February 22, 1930
• Steve Mamakos vs Sammy Luftspring - Toronto, February 19, 1940
• Lou Ambers vs Bummy Davis - New York, February 23, 1940
• Nick Barrone vs Bob Satterfield - Chicago, February 22, 1950
• Plus plenty more fight reports and other pugilistic news of the times...

1930

February 21…

At New York’s Madison Square Garden, former welterweight champion Pete Latzo (173) pulled off a surprise by outpointing fellow light-heavyweight contender Larry Johnson (174) of Chicago over 10 rounds.

The southpaw from Scranton’s crouching style perplexed the hard punching Johnson in the early going, the latter finding it difficult to land a telling blow with his big right hand. After having some success in the fourth round, Johnson scored heavily in the fifth only for Latzo to come back strong over the next two rounds behind a steady body attack.

Having a lead in points going into the final rounds, Latzo resorted to holding tactics to slow Johnson up, but again came to life in the ninth after hurting the Chicago fighter with a left hand. Johnson made a strong start to the tenth, scoring a flash knockdown early in the round with a hard left hook, but Latzo fought back gamely until the final bell.

February 22…

Young Corbett (149) won a 10 round decision over welterweight champion Jackie Fields (146 ½) in a non-title contest before 20,000 spectators at San Francisco’s Recreation Park. The challenger had been contractually obligated to come in over the 147lb limit so that the title would not be at stake.

It was far from a thrilling bout, with Corbett initiating plenty of clinches and the referee was forced to get in and pry the fighters apart in every round. Fields (pictured left, Harry E. Winkler collection) took a bit of time to get started, as he found the local fighter’s southpaw style tough to solve, but by the fourth round the champion was effectively bobbing and weaving away from incoming fire and doing the better work. It was still close going into the ninth round, but a steady two handed attack from Fields over the final two frames seems to put him out in front…

The decision was popular with the San Francisco fans who had wagered heavily on Corbett but Referee Jim Griffin came in for severe censure from other sources. Fields appeared to have an edge and going into the last round it was freely predicted he would be awarded the verdict. Jackie took the last session all by himself and there was considerable surprise when Corbett’s arm was raised in token of victory.

- Bob Shand, Oakland Tribune

Ringside opinions varied, and many veterans of the game figured the champion was at least entitled to a draw. A shower of cushions and paper programs into the ring followed the decision.

– Associated Press

Fields’ usually talkative manager Gig Rooney was reportedly too stunned by the decision to articulate his thoughts in the immediate aftermath, but later on voiced his displeasure over the verdict.

* * * *

In a bout that featured an amazing nine knockdowns, Junior-lightweight champion Benny Bass (128 ¾) and "Cowboy" Eddie Anderson (131 ½) fought to a 10 round draw in Milwaukee. The champion’s title was not at stake in the over the limit contest.

The ninth round, with both fighters endeavouring to land a knockout punch was replete with thrills. During this session, the champion was knocked dizzy twice, while Anderson was on the canvas three times. Anderson had been on the floor four times in previous rounds, but always managed to weather the jolts to come back strong. The decision of the referee in calling the bout a draw met with favour of the fans.

– Associated Press

1940

February 19…

In front of 4,500 spectators Steve Mamakos (151 ½) of Washington D.C. won a 10 round split decision over hometown fighter Sammy Luftspring (151 ½) at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

The busy Mamakos had much the best of the first six sessions…

Through the first six rounds Mamakos threw and connected with every punch in the book, plus a couple of variations on several themes. He flung straight lefts, left hooks, left uppercuts and left swings, right crosses, hooks, uppercuts, chops and slaps to the body and the head, to the head and the body.

Sammy played the nonchalant boxer through all this, stabbing a left, hooking a left, moving from side to side, weaving, bobbing – and mostly catching.

- Joe Perlove, Toronto Star

Luftspring came alive in the final minute of the seventh, finally opening up with his right hand and landing it effectively on his aggressive opponent. Mamakos came back to edge the eighth, before the Toronto fighter let loose with a non-stop attack over the final two rounds that had the visiting man backing up. It was a crowd pleasing finish to a bout that had looked like a runaway only a short time earlier.

The "call" that everybody in the house gave was one for a return bout for these two gamesters, who provided Toronto fight fans with their most exciting fistic dish in a long time.

– Vern DeGeer, Globe & Mail

* * * *

After consulting with the two judges, referee Norman McGarity called an abrupt end to the scheduled 8 round bout between Lem Franklin (204 ½) and Andy "Kid" Miller (182) a no-contest. The opening three minutes were uneventful, but the next session proved a different story…

Shortly after the next round opened however Franklin caught Andy coming in with a right to the point of the chin and his opponent went down for a six count. This was the only clean punch of the encounter, although Miller slipped to the canvas five more times. After Miller’s last trip to the floor the referee called a halt and consulted the judges.

Fans believed Franklin tried but that Miller’s refusal to fight turned the fight into a farce.

– Chicago Tribune

* * * *

The Cocoa Kid (148 ½) won a ten round decision in Baltimore over Milwaukee’s Tony Martin (148). The classy Puerto Rican used his sharp left jab to build up a big lead before Martin came on a little bit in the final two frames.

On the undercard, a six round preliminary between Tommy Julius (127) and Hitoshi Tanaka (122 ¾) featured the use of a headgear specially designed to "prevent injuries from knockout blows". The Maryland State Boxing Commission is experimenting with the new gear that features padding to protect the temples, forehead and the back of the skull.

* * * *

Dallas heavyweight Jack Marshall (193) stunned heavily favored Argentinean Valentin Campolo (223) before 2,500 fans at Laurel Gardens in New Jersey. A 10 to 1 underdog, Marshall went into the bout with an unhealed cut over his left eye that bled steadily throughout the contest, but still managed to hammer his bigger opponent…

Unmindful of the blood, Marshall laid down a barrage of hooks and swings (that started in left and right fields) and battered the bewildered Pampas Bull to the canvas three times in the second round. The counts were seven, nine and nine. Poor Valentin was sprawled backwards for a three count in the third; and for eight in the fourth session, and for six in the seventh heat.

– Associated Press

The one sided loss puts Campolo’s scheduled March 15 date with Buddy Baer at Madison Square Garden in doubt.

February 20…

Referee Abe Roth decided he’d had enough of Angelo Puglisi (167 ½) and his spoiler tactics and awarded TKO victory to Turkey Thompson (165) 1:12 into the sixth round of a scheduled 10 at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles.

At the time of the stoppage, Puglisi had done little more than clinching and mauling his more talented opponent, while constantly crouching in a low shell to evade incoming fire. Roth had already warned the light-heavyweight from Minnesota on a couple of occasions to start fighting before tossing him from the contest. To go with his other infractions, Puglisi also infuriated Thompson in the second round by allegedly biting the hometown fighter’s thumb.

Puglisi defended his style in the dressing room after the abbreviated contest…

"I was fighting my usual fight. It was my plan to stay down low and let Thompson tire himself out hitting me on top of the head. Thompson is a great fighter and hard hitter. I thought I was doing the right thing by keeping in a crouch. It was my plan to open up in the seventh round."

– Angelo Puglisi

February 23…

Before a record Madison Square Garden crowd of 20,586, Lightweight champion Lou Ambers (139) scored a decisive 10 round victory overly formerly unbeaten welterweight Al "Bummy" Davis (146 ½) of Brooklyn. Davis had gone into the bout hoping a win might led to a title shot against welterweight champion Henry Armstrong.

Davis did have his moments, stunning Ambers (pictured left, Harry E. Winkler collection) with a "roundhouse right to the jaw" in the second, and forging forward in the fourth with a determined body attack that had the lightweight king a little bothered. Those moments were few and far between however, as for much of the contest Ambers used his unmistakable jumping jack style to dart in and out, as he baffled his bigger but relatively inexperienced foe with a punishing two handed attack.

In the vernacular of the ring, Ambers gave Davis the shellacking of the latter’s life. He undoubtedly will swallow more defeats, this Davis, as he plods pugilisms highways and byways. But none will be so painful, none so thorough going short of a knockout, none so crushingly humiliating as this one.

In the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds Ambers gave his foe a boxing lesson. He had Davis missing so awkwardly and was pounding the heavier fighter so freely and uninterruptedly that the crowd yelled ridicule at the so-called Brownsville Terror.

He battered Davis so relentlessly in the tenth that Al spent the round clinching and grimacing when he wasn’t being jolted by a rain of rights and lefts to the head, face, jaw and body.

– James P. Dawson, New York Times

Referee Billy Cavanagh scored the contest 8-1-1, while the judges had it 8-2 and 7-2-1. Dawson had Ambers up 8-2 on his card.

February 25…

Eddie Mead and George Parnassus, the respective managers of Henry Armstrong and Ceferino Garcia, continued bickering over the details of the upcoming middleweight title fight.

After being alerted to a rule in the California state boxing code that gave a fighter weighing below 145 pounds the right to wear 5 ounce gloves, Mead announced Armstrong would be wearing the lighter mitts when he tackled Garcia. Not surprisingly, this did not sit well at all with Parnassus…

"Over my dead body, over my dead body! There will be no fight. It is our title that is at stake, not Armstrong’s."

– George Parnassus

The issue over the gloves is the latest bit of gamesmanship between the two sides. On February 19, Garcia pulled out of the original February 22 date citing a minor rope burn abrasion on his right knee, forcing the contest to be pushed back to March 1.

Some have suggested the move may have been a retaliatory gesture to what took place before Garcia challenged for Armstrong’s welterweight title in 1938. On that occasion, Armstrong pulled out only a few days before the bout, making up a story about a non-existent back injury at the behest of promoter Mike Jacobs. According to Armstrong, Jacobs had wanted extra time to let the Madison Square Garden press agents build up interest in the bout.

1950

February 21…

Local fighter Clarence Henry came through some shaky moments to stop Irish Bob Murphy in the sixth round at the Olympic in Los Angeles.

Henry almost ended the bout in the closing seconds of the fifth round; breaking free of a clinch, he unleashed a short right hand that caught the San Diego light-heavyweight flush on the chin. Murphy’s seconds dragged their man back to his corner and had him on his feet to start the following round, but it was on a matter of time as the former sailor was still in rough shape…

When the sixth round started, Henry was off his stool and fuming for the kill. He nailed the game Murphy with a right to the chin and the Battling Blond fell for nine. Murphy was groggy but loaded with determination to go on. Henry stalked his foe. Then he shot home another right to Murphy’s button.

As the badly battered Irishman sailed backwards through the ropes, Referee Reggie Gilmore moved in and stopped the cruel slugfest.

– Cal Whorton, Los Angeles Times

Henry got off to a solid start, putting Murphy down with a short right in the second, but found himself on the ropes taking punishment for long stretches after that. The aggressive wild swinging Murphy won the third and fourth rounds and was poised to win another round before Henry caught him with the fighting changing shot at the end of the fifth. At the time, the hometown man’s left eye was starting to swell, while his nose and mouth were both bleeding.

February 22…

In the first of two main-events at the Chicago Stadium, iron jawed Nick Barrone (175) kept his record of never being knocked off his feet intact, but was decisively beaten by underdog Bob Satterfield (173 ½).

Barone, 23-year-old ex-marine, received a terrific battering but Satterfield was unable to floor him. Satterfield started moving ahead in the second round and remained out in front by a wide margin.

In the ninth round, Satterfield drove the rugged punch-absorbing Barrone around the ring under a heavy two-fisted barrage. Satterfield connected with five left hooks to the body and then drove rights to the same spot. Barone was hurt, but gamely held his feet under a fresh assault that Satterfield directed to the head.

– Associated Press

All 3 judges had Satterfield up by a wide margin with two scores of 54-46 and another of 56-44.

In the co-feature, Gene Burton evened the score with George Costner by winning a tight 10 round split decision. Costner had earned the nod when the two met the previous month in New York.

Burton’s victory was by divided verdict and by a total margin of two points which aptly represented the difference in a battle that had steady action but few thrills. Many in the crowd apparently thought Costner should have been the two point victor, although their verbal disagreement faded quickly.

– Wilfrid Smith, Chicago Tribune

The scores were 51-49 twice for Burton, with a dissenting 51-49 card in Costner’s favour.

February 23…

Middleweight Laverne Roach died at New York’s St. Clare hospital a day after suffering a tenth round knockout on his 24th birthday at the hands of Georgie Small. Roach had been well ahead after 7 rounds, winning the fight at long range and close quarters before starting to tire…

With the eighth round however, Roach started to weaken under the pain of Small’s savage body blows. A right to the face split Roach’s upper lip and jarred the Texan. Roach was never the same. He fought on gallantly through the ninth, more by instinct than design.

Early in the tenth, Small rocked his foe with a left hook to the head. A following right to the jaw stretched Roach flat on his back for a count of nine.

Arising groggy but game, Roach faced his foe, but feebly. A right to the jaw dropped the Texan flat on his face. Referee Fullam dispensed with a count, waved an end to the contest, and assisted Roach to his corner, after the tenth round had gone 1 minute 57 seconds.

– James P. Dawson

The referee came in for harsh criticism after the bout, but defended his actions by pointing out Roach would have won had he saw out the round. The former professional fighter said he believed Roach was in good shape and explained why he ignored the urging of spectators to stop the bout…

"Because of my long experience as a referee, and because of my experiences as a fighter, I do not become excited by the site of blood, or by the cries of spectators. I know that the cries for a fight to be stopped maybe coming from gamblers."

– Frank Fulham

Adding to the controversy was the fact that Roach was in the process of a comeback, started in early January after a fourteen month absence from the ring. The fighter had taken the advice of others and retired in 1948 after a punishing knock-out loss to Marcel Cerdan, was followed by two more defeats in which his reflexes appeared to have slowed.

The former Marine from Plainview, Tex., proved in death, what the fight mob already knew – that you don’t ever recover enough to make a safe comeback, once you have gone over the hill because of injuries.

Too many things of this nature – as nineteen deaths in boxing last year proved – are permitted. The tipoff is the frequent disclosure of this or that fighter being blind in one eye, yet permitted to fight. There even was a case, not too long ago where a man was fighting with a glass eye – and passing the physical examinations.

Boxing is going to have to clean house of the crooks and sharpsters who decorate its fringes. Also, it must tighten its system of physical examinations to prove that it wants to save the lives of other kids like Laverne Roach – or else it should be outlawed.

– Oscar Fraley, United Press

Roach was considered a fighter with plenty of potential before the Cerdan bout. He had received an award from Gene Tunney as the best fighter the marines had produced during the war and had been voted the rookie of the year by Ring Magazine for 1947.

Check back in next week for more of The Boxing Bulletin's History Corner as we move on to the week of February 26 to March 4.

e-mail Andrew Fruman