[JCWeb]

Wrapping up June 1928 action with two of the top talents in my Uni (Mickey Walker and Benny Leonard) on display in a couple of the main events. Will take a brief hiatus for a few days but am generally pleased that the pace in running and reporting these bouts has picked up since the beginning of the year.

June 16, 1928: Next up is a top-flight European fight card at Cannes, France, headed by twin bill European title tilts. First up is the EBU HW title matchup featuring Ireland's Bartley Madden, another aging veteran (like Dempsey, Tunney and Wills) who faces the challenge of Belgian Jack Humbeeck. Humbeeck, despite his limited ability, puts up a spirited performance, rocking Madden with a jab/uppercut combination in round three. The Belgian suffers a cut lip in round seven, but battles back to stagger Madden with an uppercut once again in round eight. Madden is bothered by a swollen left eye late in the bout and seems sluggish, particularly in the later rounds. The end result is a draw (114-all, 115-114 Humbeeck, 116-113 Madden) which enables Madden to keep his belt. His record now stands at 45-14-6 (18) and the surprsising Humbeeck is now 18-8-2 (11). Second fight of the co-main event features the "French Flash," Benny Valgar, former WBA LW king, who looks to regain his EBU LW crown in a bout with reigning GBU Champion Ernie Rice. Rice is in difficulty right from the start, as Valgar nails him with a big uppercut in round one, following up with a knockdown in round three. Rice, who is now at Post-Prime career stage, is no match for the Frenchman, who finishes well with a second KD that flattens Rice. Valgar by KO 6 to move to 37-12-2 (13) while Rice is now 26-14-1 (15).

June 16, 1928: Action moves to New Orleans, at the Coliseum Arena, and the main event has Chick Suggs defending the NABF FW title against Danny Kramer. Suggs draws first blood -- literally -- ripping open a cut on Kramer's forehead in round two. After focusing on protecting the cut against further damage, Kramer suffers a second cut under the left eye. A round later, after the second cut is patched up by his corner, the first cut is reopened. It proves too much for the challenger to contend with, and the bout is stopped a round later. It goes down as a TKO 6 for Suggs, who retains the title and improves to 30-9-4 (11) while Kramer slips to 35-12-4 (9).

June 22, 1928: Friday night fights are on tap for the Cow Palace in San Francisco, and the feature bout matches all-time great LW Benny Leonard with WW Jack Sparr for Sparr's USBA title. The "Ghetto Wizard" gets off to a strong start, repeatedly finding the range and causing Sparr's right eye to puff up by the end of the first stanza. However, in round three, Leonard suffers a setback when he sustains a cut over his right eye. Leonard builds an early points lead, and he decks the hapless Sparr with a combination in round five. For the rest of the bout, Sparr poses little challenge to the irrepressible Leonard, who waltzes to a lopsided UD 12 win (120-107, 118-109, 119-109) to earn his first title belt at WW. Leonard moves to 70-3-1 (40) while Sparr slips to 29-12-1 (15).

June 23, 1928: Harringay Arena in London is the venue for the next fight card, and the feature bout has WBA WW king Young Corbett III making his second defense against Bermondsey Billy Wells. Thus, two strong boxers battle it out with a world title at stake. Corbett appears to have the better of it in the early going, but in round six he is slowed by a cut over the left eye. Nonetheless, Corbett keeps pounding away, and in round 10 it is Wells, the hometown favorite, who suffers a cut on the forehead. Corbett has a solid lead heading into the final round of the bout, when the cut over the challenger's eye leads to a late stoppage. Wells' corner protests, but Corbett was likely to receive the unanimous nod from the three judges in any event. Corbett by TKO 15 on the cuts stoppage to keep the belt. The win moves Corbett to 28-5-2 (12) while Wells falls to 43-11-1 (16).

June 29, 1928: The final Friday in June sees the scene of the action shift to the Rizal Arena in Manila, Philippines, and two local boxers are featured in the main event in a battle for the OPBF FW crown -- Young Nationalista and the even younger Ignacio Fernandez, who is still at Pre-Prime in his first title bout. Not much action in this one until round six, when Fernandez sustains a cut over his left eye. Then, Nationalista connects with a strong shot, putting the challenger down for an eight-count in round eight. Fernandez recovers and makes a late surge but winds up on the short end of the scorecard. Nationalista by UD 12 (115-112, 115-112, 116-111) to keep the belt. He moves up to 23-5-2 (9) overall while Fernandez, who is now 15-3 (10), may need to set his sights a bit lower until he reaches Prime career stage after a couple of more outings.

June 30, 1928: Final fight card of the month sees an exciting evening of pugilistic action at Yankee Stadium in New York, headlined by a MW WBA title clash, but first up is a co-feature matching two top LHs, Jack Delaney and Lou Bogash, the current USBA titleholder. Delaney does not waste any time, nailing the "Blonde Italian" with a huge shot for the bout's first knockdown in the second. Later in the same round, he follows up with a hook for a second KD, and Bogash barely lasts the round. Things get worse for the "Blonde Italian" a round later, when he is decked for a thrid time by a sharp cross. After absorbing more punishment, ref Ruby Goldstein steps in and declares Delaney a TKO 3 victor. Strong effort by the Canadian, who lifts his record to 33-5-1 (21) while the defeat leaves Bogash at 32-15-2 (17). The MW title bout follows, featuring fan favorite Mickey Walker, who is defending against Brian Downey, a long-time contender who is now past his Prime. After a close opening round, Walker asserts himself, dominating the action in the second. He continues in round three, decking Downey with a combination. More trouble for Downey in round four, as his left eye starts to puff up. Walker administers the coup-de-grace with another strong shot in round six, and this time Downey goes down for the count. Walker by KO 6 for his 12th successive title defense. Walker moves to 38-1 (29) while Downey dips to 45-16-4 (20) after the loss.