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1918 WW Title Bouts

WBA

Art Magirl CH (25-2) vs Kid Graves #4 (32-9-3)

Magirl gives Graves his first World title shot, despite a recent loss. The Champ is seeking his 15th successive win. First meeting of the two.

Magirl, the "Oklahoma Whirlwind," pours it on in the early rounds, building a solid 50-47 lead on the unofficial card after five. Graves suffers from a split lip early in the fight. A huge right nails Graves near the end of round 7. The challenger starts to tire as early as the 9th round. In round 11, Magirl rocks Graves with a straight right. The cut is reopened a round later, leading to an early stoppage. Magirl by TKO 12 (cut).

Art Magirl CH (26-2) vs Johnny Basham #5 (26-7-3)

First meeting. Basham comes into the bout with the CBU belt, having won his last four in a row. On paper, looks like a stiff challenge for Magirl.

After a cautious start by both men, Basham dominates on the outside in round two. Magirl gets much more aggressive at the start of the third, rocking Basham with a big left that forces the Brit to cover up. Magirl takes advantage quickly, and the result is an early stoppage. Magirl by TKO 3.

Art Magirl CH (27-2) vs Ted Kid Lewis #10 (26-10-3)

Ted Kid Lewis, the man whom Magirl defeated to take the crown back in 1916, gets another shot.

The Oklahoma Whirlwind looks sharp early, round one to Magirl. Both stay outside in round two, slight edge to Lewis. Magirl moves inside in round three, but Lewis scores well enough to take the round. Magirl pounds away from the outside to take round four. Toe-to-toe action in round 5 favors Lewis, who is ahead by a narrow 48-47 margin on the unofficial card. Magirl gets aggressive in round 6, suffering a cut above his right eye while connecting with a right hand flush on the chin of Lewis. The challenger covers up to survive the round. Lewis's head clears and he targets the cut in round 7. Magirl is back on the attack in round 8, another strong round for the Champ. Magirl dominates some toe-to-toe action on the inside in round nine, but the cut above his eye is reopened. Lewis takes advantage in round 10, dishing out some major punishment as both of Magirl's eyes start to swell. It's a close bout, 95-all, going into the final five rounds. The bout flows back and forth over the final rounds, and Lewis' right eye starts to swell from the accumulated effect of Magirl's punches. No KDs, the bout comes down to the wire, and the final result is ... a majority draw (145-141 Magirl, 143-143 on the two remaining cards). Magirl escapes with the title but his consecutive win streak is snapped at 16.

NABF: Packey McFarland, holder of this belt since 1910, defended it twice in 1918: first, versus Canadian Frank Barrieau, who gets off to a good start and manages to keep the bout close although McFarland wears Barrieau down for a UD 12 win; second, McFarland takes on his long-time nemesis, Jack Britton, turning the tables after two prior losses when Britton suffers a cut that gradually worsens, leading to a TKO 9 win for McFarland.

USBA: Britton defends against Johnny Alberts, taking charge in round four when he decked Alberts; a cut on the bridge of the nose of Albert gradually worsened and led to a round 9 stoppage, TKO for Britton. Britton then took on long-time contender Eddie Shevlin, built an early lead but was dethroned when called for flagrant holding and hitting -- DQ win for Shevlin in round 11. An immediate rematch was arranged, and this time Britton piled up a huge points lead that he put in jeopardy when Shevlin knocked him down in round 10. Britton held on to score a narrow SD 12 victory to regain the belt.

CBU: Basham defended the belt once in 1918, versus Aussie Tommy Uren. Basham had the bout well under control, when an overly-aggressive Uren was cut above the left eye in round 10. The cut led to a late stoppage for Basham (TKO 12), who was well ahead on points anyway.

GBU: Johnny Summers defended versus Ted Kid Lewis, who outboxed Summers throughout most of the bout and appeared to be headed toward an easy points win, until in a real shock, Lewis was called for holding and hitting, and Summers awarded the win on a DQ in round 12.

EBU: Dick Nelson defended versus his fellow Dane, Waldemar Holberg. Holberg was cut early but built up a points lead; however, the cut became too severe to continue, and Nelson kept the belt via a TKO 11. Nelson started well in his next bout with Johnny Summers, but Summers rallied in the middle rounds to register a UD 12 win, adding the EBU title to his GBU belt.