[JCWeb]

1924 MW Title Bouts

WBA

Mickey Walker CH (22-0) vs Al Grayber #7 (32-18-4)

Walker holds a prior win (UD 10) over Grayber, who has gone 6-2 since that loss back in 1921, including two wins in his last two outings.

After a strong opening round, Walker pounds away with a strong inside body attack to take the second as well. Grayber tries to work inside in round three, but it just makes for a more inviting target for the Toy Bulldog. The left eye of the challenger starts to swell in round four, and Walker is pitching a shutout (50-45) according to the unofficial scorecard. Walker continues as the aggressor, repeatedly finding the target. Grayber is literally out on his feet after round eight, and Walker connects for his first KD in round nine, following up with a right to deliver the coup-de-grace a round later. Walker wins via KO 10.

Mickey Walker CH (23-0) vs Rene DeVos #4 (26-3-2)

Walker puts his unbeaten record and WBA title on the line against the EBU Champ, DeVos. First meeting of the two.

After another strong start for the Champ, DeVos stays on the outside and takes round two. Walker rocks DeVos with an uppercut to take round three, although DeVos rallies late in the round to keep it close. Round four, huge surprise, Mickey Walker hurts his hand and cannot continue. Big surprise, huge upset, DeVos is declared the new Champ via TKO in the fourth.

Rene DeVos CH (27-3-2) vs Johnny Wilson #7 (32-15-1)

DeVos takes on a relatively "safe" opponent for his first defense, Wilson, whom he defeated previously. It's Wilson's second try for the WBA title, having lost to O'Dowd back in 1919.

Not much action in round one, the "Little Fox" (DeVos) moves inside and holds a slight edge for round two. Both stay on the outside for round three, another close round. Wilson switches to the inside in round four, and he causes bleeding from the mouth of the Champ. Wilson gets the best of it in round five, which sees both men pounding away on the inside. DeVos' right eye also starts to swell. Wilson follows up, pressing the Champ throughout the middle rounds. DeVos falls victim to a Wilson uppercut in round six, taking an 8-count before arising. Wilson follows with a second KD in the ninth, and he coasts the rest of the way as DeVos is unable to battle back in the later rounds. Wilson by UD 15 (145-140, 145-139, 146-138).

Johnny Wilson CH (33-15-1) vs Frankie Schoell #8 (21-5-3)

First meeting of the two; Schoell is coming off a UD versus Mike Gibbons.

Usual feeling out process in the opening round, edge to the Champ. Both fire away from long range in round two, and Schoell sustains a cut over the left eye. Wilson targets the cut in round three, but it is patched up by Schoell's corner between rounds. Schoell moves inside to take round four. Wilson puts Schoell on the defensive with a strong attack in round five. Wilson maintains control in round six, and the cut over Schoell's eye is reopened in round seven. The cut is patched up, reopened a second time in a round nine. And, in a familiar story, the third time the cut is reopened -- in round 11 -- leads to a stoppage. Wilson by TKO 11 (cut).

NABF: Mike O'Dowd starts the year off with this belt, but runs into Bryan Downey who consistently outboxes the aging St. Paul Cyclone to take a UD 12. Downey takes on USBA champ Joe Borrell, building an early lead before ending it with a KO in round eight. Then Panama Joe Gans is the challenger, and this time it's a controversial foul call -- DQ win for Downey in the seventh. A rematch occurs two months later, and in a very close bout the steady Gans lifts the belt via a UD 12. Finally, in the year's fifth NABF title bout, Gans defends versus Gordon McKay,who pulls off the TKO 8 upset as Gans suffers a broken jaw and is forced to abandon the bout.

USBA: By contrast, USBA Champ Joe Borrell defended the belt only once, taking on veteran Al McCoy. It was a good action bout, two sluggers pounding away at each other, and Borrell recovered from a cut lip in round one to deliver three KDs in round three, enough to result in a stoppage. Borrell by TKO 3.

CBU: Brit Frank Moody defended versus Canadian Eugene Brosseau, eking out a narrow SD 12 in what was frankly, a rather boring bout.

GBU: Moody also put his GBU belt on the line, versus newcomer Billy Bird, who put up a spirited challenger until being decked late in the bout by a Moody cross. This one also went the distance, UD 12 for Moody.

EBU: This title was vacated by DeVos when he won the WBA crown. Ted Moore of the UK and Italian Leone Jacovacci squared off for the vacant crown, and the result was a stalemate and the belt remained vacant.