The Boxing Bulletin History Corner: May 7 - 13, 1930, 1940 & 1950

By Andrew Fruman

Picking up from where we left off last time (May 7 to May 13, 1910 & 1920), we're moving on to the years 1930, 1940 and 1950 for the week of May 7 to May 13.

In this edition...

• Jackie Fields vs Young Jack Thompson - world welterweight title, Detroit, May 9, 1930
• Jimmy Perrin vs Bobby Ruffin - New Orleans, May 8, 1940
• Lou Ambers vs Lew Jenkins - world lightweight title, New York, May 10, 1940
• Paddy Young vs Charley Fusari - New York, May 12, 1950
• Plus plenty more fight reports and pugilistic news of the times...

1930

May 8…

Late replacement Cowboy Eddie Anderson (134 ½) won a highly unpopular ten round decision over Bruce Flowers (137 ¾) at the Auditorium in Milwaukee. Minneapolis fighter King Tut had originally been scheduled to face Flowers in what would have been the fourth meeting of the year between the pair, but had to pull out two days before the bout with an infected arm.

According to reports, Anderson was on the verge of collapse several times, and only managed to stay the route because Flowers chose not to cut loose – possibly as a courtesy to his opponent for taking the bout on short notice.

Last night in Milwaukee, referee Ted Jamieson gave the verdict at the end of 10 rounds to Eddie Anderson over Bruce Flowers, the colored boxer, the papers this morning say it was the rankest boxing decision ever given out in America – the crowd just about cat called and booed the roof off.

– Wisconsin State Journal

May 9…

At the Detroit Olympia, Young Jack Thompson (142 ¾), the first black fighter to challenge for the welterweight crown since Joe Walcott lost the title in 1906, took full advantage of his opportunity with a decisive fifteen round victory over Jackie Fields (145 ½).

The new champion had a scare in the second round when he was staggered by a right to the jaw.  Fields pressed his advantage with a series of right hands, followed by a punishing left hook that had Thompson’s legs sagging for a moment. The Oakland fighter managed to cover up, before forcing a clinch and by the third round had recovered enough to take the fight to the champion.

As the battle wore on, Fields wilted under Thompson’s "whirlwind" attack and by the middle rounds was struggling from the inside pounding the challenger was constantly bringing. By the eighth round, Thompson (pictured, The Cyber Boxing Zone) was in full command and late in that session had Fields backing away quickly; the crowd was astonished by Fields’ unwillingness to stand his ground, and jeers greeted his decision to retreat.

Not willing to go down without a fight, Fields gamely battled back in the ninth, but by the following session had little left to give…

He was hammered into leg weariness and might have fallen victim to a knockout punch after the tenth except for the fact that he hung on for dear life in an effort to escape having the final ten counted over him. After the tenth round, Fields had nothing except admirable courage to carry him through to the finish.

– Charles W. Dunkley, Associated Press

At the sound of the final bell, referee Elmer "Slim" McClelland instantly raised Thompson’s arm in victory, much to the satisfaction of the big crowd. As Thompson celebrated, Fields (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring) walked back to his corner and broke down in tears. He left the ring a dispirited fighter, but eventually pulled himself together in his dressing room, telling the press he’d paced himself poorly and offering no complaints at the result…

I tried my best, but I lost to a better man. That’s all I can say.

– Jackie Fields

Thompson was gracious in victory…

After the second, when Jackie landed his hardest blows and staggered me, I felt I would eventually be the winner. Fields is as game as they make them. When his strength was spent he proved to be a good sportsman. Never once did he take any unfair advantage, and he lost like a champion.

– Young Jack Thompson

Thompson earned only $2,500 for the bout compared to a $37,500 guarantee for Fields. The paltry sum was due to an unusual arrangement, in which Thompson was to have received $10,000 should he have lost, but only 25% of that total with the victory, with the assumption the title would mean plenty of money down the road. After covering various expenses, the new welterweight king reportedly was left with a grand total of $14.85.

Thompson said he’d be glad to give Fields a rematch or any other welterweight a shot at the crown, but this time wanted a sizable guarantee for his troubles.

May 12…

San Francisco heavyweight Frankie Campbell knocked out Les Kennedy in the fourth round of a scheduled ten at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. The local fighter had a big edge in each of the first three rounds, catching Campbell almost at will, before the tables were turned…

He was also out in front in the fourth round when Campbell landed a terrific left to Kennedy’s stomach and followed with a right to the had. Kennedy dropped like a stuck bull and was counted out.

– Los Angeles Times

The show also featured another heavyweight clash, between Armand Emanuel, aka The Boxing Barrister and Boston’s Jim Maloney. Emanuel, a former amateur star and defense attorney by day, packed little pop but piled up the points with a steady diet of 1-2’s.

Maloney focused his attack on his opponent’s midsection, but was largely ineffective, losing by a 6-3-1 count on the Times’ scorecard. The bout was not pleasing to the spectators, who greeted the action with "a loud and soulful chorus of boos and razzberries."

* * * *

Bucky Lawless (148 ¼) won an unpopular ten round decision over Gorilla Jones (153) at the Valley Arena in Holyoke, Massachusetts…

Though Gorilla Jones, hard-hitting welter from Akron, floored Bucky Lawless of Syracuse twice here Monday night and apparently was well ahead on points at the end of their 10-round bout, the decision went to Lawless. A capacity house greeted the verdict with jeers and boos.

– News Wire from Holyoke

1940

May 7…

Johnny Barbara (152 ¼) of Chicago defeated Fritzie Zivic (146) over ten rounds at Convention Hall in Philadelphia. It was the third meeting between the two fighters in less than two months, with Barbara’s victory giving him a two to one edge over the Pittsburgh welterweight.

Fighting with a patch under his left eye that covered a still healing laceration suffered during their previous meeting, Zivic fought a cautious battle, choosing to let the "rough and tumble" Barbara press the action in ever session. Zivic finally sprung to life in the tenth round, and a series of heavy shots upstairs had his big hitting rival in trouble at the final bell. The late push however was not enough to put a meaningful dent in the scorecards, which were unanimous in Barbara’s favour.

May 8…

Local featherweight Jimmy Perrin (126) won a lopsided fifteen round unanimous decision over young Bobby Ruffin (126) at the Auditorium in New Orleans. The championship distance was due to the sanctioning of the bout as a world title contest by the *Louisiana commission - though the affair was not recognized as such by any organization outside of the state. 

Perrin jabbed, hooked, landed straight punches, acquitted himself well in the clinches and generally convinced a crowd of 3912 paying fans that if Ruffin is a good sample of featherweight contenders then Perrin deserves to be champion.

– Pete Baird, Times-Picayune

For most of the night, the 19 year old New York fighter failed to get past the shifty Perrin’s jab, though he made a strong charge over the 13th, 14th and 15th rounds when the local fighter’s legs started to tire. In those final sessions, Ruffin managed to land his hooks, and with Perrin (pictured) unable to slip away comfortably, the fight "wound up in a blaze of action."

The official tallies were 13-0 (2 even), 11-1 (3) and 11-1 (4), with all 3 judges scoring rounds 2 through 10 for Perrin. Writer Pete Baird scored the bout 11-4, giving Ruffin rounds 6, 13, 14 and 15.

• The Louisiana commission took it upon themselves to name Perrin as the "world" champion after negotiations for and NBA mandated match-up with Petey Scalzo for the vacant title fell apart. The key sticking point was the location of the bout, with Scalzo’s side offering to meet at a neutral venue, and Perrin’s management insisting the bout take place in New Orleans.

May 10…

Big hitting Lew Jenkins (132) wrested the lightweight crown from Lou Ambers (134 ½) with a third round TKO at Madison Square Garden. Having arrived in New York the previous summer with no reputation to speak of, the win by Jenkins completed a remarkable rise from club fighter to world champion in less than a year.

Though Jenkins (pictured, The Cyber Boxing Zone) had been on an impressive knock-out run and Ambers had looked poor in sparring sessions leading up to the fight, the Sweetwater Swatter’s victory – not to mention the stunning nature of it - was still a fairly big surprise…

So durable was Ambers and so much confidence was placed in his experience and ring generalship that he was the prohibitive choice at odds of 1 to 4 to defend his laurels successfully against the former cavalry solider.

- Joseph C. Nichols, New York Times

The usually slippery Ambers was dropped less than a minute into the fight by a hard right hand, and though he managed to out-jab Jenkins for the remainder of the opening session, found himself on the deck once more in the second – this time from a left hook.

Jenkins drops Ambers in the corner - one of four knockdowns scored by the new champion (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring).

On both occasions, the champion took a count of five, before resuming hostilities with the marauding challenger, who broke through again with another "lightning" right hand just as the round ended. To his detriment Ambers managed to stay on his feet this time, as despite the sounding of the bell, Jenkins fired home two more blistering right hands before referee Billy Cavanaugh could drag him away.

Those blows after the bell stunned Ambers so badly that he walked on rubber legs to his own corner and appeared in bad shape when he came out for the third round.

Jenkins tore after him, flooring him with a bombardment of rights and left to the head for the count of seven. The champion almost fell over sideways as he rose. Again the Texan was after him. Jenkins battered his man backward into the ropes. He knocked him between the lower and second strands and Ambers crumpled to one knee, with his body half on the ropes for his fourth knockdown. He rose and was again banged into virtually the same position, but he did not go to the canvas. Cavanaugh separated them and Jenkins drove Ambers back into his own corner with a barrage that threatened to knock the reeling champion’s head off. Ambers wouldn’t quit, so Cavanaugh mercifully stepped in.

– United Press

In his dressing room after the fight, Jenkins said he was sorry for hitting Ambers after the bell and wanted to apologize to everyone for the foul. He went on to call out Henry Armstrong, prompting promoter Mike Jacobs to state that he would try and match the new lightweight champion with the welterweight king for a showdown at Yankee Stadium later in the year.

The always classy Ambers gave Jenkins full credit for the victory, but also confirmed speculation that he’d struggled badly to make the lightweight limit, and said he would be campaigning as welterweight in the future.

1950

May 8…

N.B.A. Commissioner Abe Green announced that the organization’s executive committee had voted to recognize Terry Allen as flyweight champion of the world, in the hopes he defends his title against Dado Marino within 90 days. Allen had defeated European titleholder Honore Pratesi in London two weeks earlier to earn world title status in the eyes of the British Board of Boxing Control and European Boxing Union.

Green also had a few things to say about some of the champions currently sitting on their titles with no apparent inkling to defend against the worthiest challengers…

We have served notice on champions that they are merely custodians of their titles. They must fight to keep their crowns. And not against handpicked opponents either. That goes for LaMotta, Pep, Ortiz, Charles or anybody. The six months rule means the six months rule.

It’s a mockery when we permit one man to say who will fight whom, and for him to say, ‘give me so much’ and to name the other details before he will fight.

– Abe Green

* * * *

Carmen Basilio (144 ½) made surprisingly quick work of Gaby Ferland (145 ½) at the Coliseum Arena in New Orleans. A series of punishing lefts from Basilio (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring) did the damage, as he stunned Ferland right off the bat, before dropping the French-Canadian with a hook to head. Ferland was up at the count of eight, before being sent crashing back down. He tried to struggle up, but still had a knee on the canvas when referee Pete Giaruso counted ten.

The fight had been highly anticipated among local fans, after the two welterweights had battled to a draw the previous month in one of the most entertaining fights New Orleans had seen in years.

May 10…

At the Oakland Ball Park in Emeryville, local lightweight contender John L. Davis (137) won a unanimous decision over Sammy Angott (144) in the main-event of a show that was marred by a poorly received verdict handed out earlier in the evening. Only Angott’s ring savvy allowed him to stay the distance with the relentless local fighter, as Davis gave the former lightweight champion a thorough going over.

The highly controversial result – a technical decision in favor of Los Angeles lightweight Carlos Chavez (134 ¼) over Emil Barao (134 ¼) – was referred to as "one of the most deplorable decisions in local ring history," by the Oakland Tribune’s Joe Gallagher. The writer added that the judgment was "totally beyond the comprehension of this scribe and several thousand fans who witnessed the fight."

…Barao gave the Los Angeles veteran one of the worst pastings of a long and brilliant career. Not only did Emil land repeatedly with his potent left hook, but he made the Mexican veteran look like a sucker as he crossed right after right to Chavez’ chin.

– Jack Gallagher

Referee Ray Flores scored the scheduled ten rounder – the bout ended early due to a clash of heads in the sixth session – in favor of Barao by 3 points. He was overruled by judges Toby Irwin and Jack Downey, much to the surprise of all present, including boxing commissioner Joe Phillips who was sorry it was not in his power to overturn the decision.

Following the Chavez/Barao debacle, promising local lightweight Johnny Gonsalves (140) and Harold Jones (139) of Detroit took the stage for another scheduled ten rounder. This too went to the cards early after Gonsalves’ badly swollen left eye split open during the fourth round.

The Oakland fighter was given the technical decision victory, with the referee – who scored it for Jones – overruled once more by Irwin and Downey. Ringsiders felt a draw would have been fair to the contest which had only started to heat up at the time of the sudden ending.

May 12…

In front of 9,673 spectators at New York’s Madison Square Garden, local middleweight Paddy Young (154 ½) battled through a deep gash over his left eye to win a razor close ten round split decision over Charley Fusari (151 ½).  The wound hampered the performance of the usually more aggressive Young (pictured, Antiquities of the Prize Ring), as he seemed to hold back at times out of fear that further damage might cause a doctor’s stoppage.

The crowd which was sentimentally in Young’s favour, didn’t exactly go wild over the announcement, accepting the award more as a break than anything else. For despite his tremendous show of courage, Young was clearly out-boxed by his more experienced rival. Or so it seemed to this observer, whose score card favored Fusari by six rounds to four.

– Joseph C. Nichols, New York Times

For more great boxing photos of the past, make sure to visit Antiquities of the Prize Ring.

Check back in a few days for more of The Boxing Bulletin's History Corner as we move on to the week of May 14 to 20 for the years 1910 and 1920.

e-mail Andrew Fruman