[JCWeb]

OK, been busy the past couple of weeks away from TB but finally here's the first of the year-end reports.

1924 HW Title Bouts

WBA

Gene Tunney CH (30-6-2) vs Harry Wills #2 (43-5-1)

First meeting of the two. The Fighting Marine is riding a 6-bout unbeaten streak, winning all his bouts since moving up from LH. Wills is coming off a TKO over veteran Frank Moran.

After a close opening round, Tunney has the best of the outside exchanges in round two. Round three sees Wills as more aggressive, but Tunney's jabs are too effective. The Black Panther tries to work inside in the fourth, but it's another strong round for the Champ. The Fighting Marine moves inside in round five, another good round as Tunney is now ahead (49-46) on the unofficial card. Tunney backs up an aggressive Wills with a sharp combination to take round six. Wills has better results in round seven, and remains on the attack in rounds 8 and 9. Wills begins to tire, and Tunney remains on the defensive. (The unofficial scorer has it even, 95-all, after ten, although the punch count stats favor Tunney.) Tunney dominates the action in rounds 11 and 12, and an increasingly desperate Wills tries to lunge at a defensive-minded Tunney. Wills' fate is sealed when he is decked by a Tunney cross in round 14, and then there is a second KD late in the round. No cuts, and the bout goes the distance. Tunney keeps the belt, via a UD 15 (143-139, 145-137, 143-139).

Gene Tunney CH (31-6-2) vs Fred Fulton #6 (32-10)

First meeting, Fulton is fresh off wins over Miske and Fighting Bob Martin.

Tunney dominates the early action, and Fulton moves inside to press the action in round two, an even round. Both work outside in round three, and Tunney piles up an early lead. More good action in rounds four and five, favoring the Champ who rocks Fulton with some strong shots. After a lacklustre round six, Fulton seizes the initiative with a strong round seven, his best of the bout. But a Tunney cross finds its mark in round eight, and Fulton is down briefly. Tunney turns defense into offense, and after failing to convert his advantage in round nine, he lands repeated blows to the head of a defenseless Fulton that leads to a stoppage in round 10. Tunney by TKO 10 to keep the belt.

Gene Tunney CH (32-6-2) vs Bartley Madden #4 (40-10-3)

Irishman Madden, the reigning CBU titleholder, challenges Tunney for the title.

Action is slow to develop in round one, slight edge to the Champ. Tunney outhits Madden in a close round two, where both men elect to stay outside. Madden bounces back with a strong round three, taking away the inside from the Champ. Round four, another close round, sees Tunney work on the inside. Some exciting toe-to-toe action in round five results in a huge round for Tunney, who leads 49-47 on the unofficial card, and there is a mouse forming under Madden's left eye. After two more even rounds, Madden presses the attack in round eight, but the Champ's defense holds firm. After another strong round in the ninth, Tunney drops Madden for a 5-count in round 10; at this point it's a huge lead (98-92) for the Champ, with five rounds left. Madden tires badly in the final rounds, and a cautious Tunney does just enough to keep the belt. Tunney by UD 15 (146-138, 147-137, 148-136).

NABF: Ex-Champ Jack Dempsey retained the NABF belt with three successful defenses, while biding his time for another crack at Tunney. He turned in a strong round five performance for a TKO 5 over Martin Burke; then he handed Homer Smith a major beating, leading to another TKO win in seven; finally, Sully Montgomery was a four-round KO victim in another one-sided affair which saw two KDs in round three followed by the coup-de-grace in the fourth.

USBA: Fighting Bob Martin defended the belt with a six-round KO over Agile Andre Anderson, as a sharp combination ended the Swedish imigrant's title hopes. Then Martin met his match in veteran Fred Fulton, who reinvigorated his career with KDs in rounds three and four, followed by a KO when an uppercut put Martin down and out for good in the sixth.

CBU: Fred Storbeck made a defense versus the higher rated Madden, who dominated en route to a UD 12 to take the belt. Madden defended once, versus New Zealand's Albert Pooley, who was victim of an early cut that led to a TKO 4 win for Madden.

GBU: Long-time GBU Champ Joe Beckett defended versus lightly regarded Tom Cowler. Both men were down early in the bout, but Beckett connected with a big combination for the final hurrah as Cowler was counted out in round eight. Then "Fainting Phil" Scott got his first GBU title shot, and he made the most of it, recovering from a fifth-round knockdown but dominating the action the rest of the way for a UD 12 to take the crown.

EBU: German Paul Samson-Korner made two more title defenses, first versus Scott, who nailed the German with an 8th round KD but couldn't follow up as Samson-Korner escaped with a UD 12 win. Next, it was converted LH Georges Carpentier, who suffered an early cut and then two knockdowns before the ref called a halt in the fifth. But, Samson-Korner finally met his match late in the year, as Italian Erminio Spalla swarmed all over the German to register a surprising TKO 2 win to lift the belt.