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Wrapping up action from November 1928 ...

Nov. 16, 1928: Friday night fight action goes back down under, to Melbourne, Australia. Former HW Jack Dempsey is the key attraction, as he is matched with local fan favorite George Cook. Cook surprises the "Manassa Mauler" with a strong combination that leads to a KD in the opening round. Dempsey, aggressive as ever, appears to lack the firepower of his younger days, and the bout drags on into the later rounds. Late in round five, Dempsey manages to put Cook down with a big shot but the Aussie quickly regains his footing and clears his head in the minute break between rounds. Dempsey continues to struggle, until a huge uppercut in the final round delivers Cook to the canvas in the final round for the fight's second KD. Thus, Dempsey has to settle for a UD 10 (96-91, 96-91, 97-90) when he was clearly hoping for a knockout or stoppage win. Dempsey ends up the bout at 52-9-1 (47) while Cook moves to 34-16-2 (17).

Nov. 17, 1928: Action moves to the Waldbuhne in Berlin, and the talents of the "Black Uhlan," Max Schmeling, are on display in a 10-round non-title bout against veteran Dutch HW Piet Van der Veer. Schmeling, appearing just three weeks after his last outing in London, takes a couple of rounds to get warmed up before unleashing a powerful cross to put the Dutchman on the defensive just a few seconds into round three. Van Der Veer covers up to survive the round, but he is in trouble a round later when Schmeling traps him in a corner after delivering another big cross. A couple of more shots, topped by a nice uppercut, and the bout is called to a halt to save Van der Veer from further punishment. TKO 4 for Schmeling, who is now firmly entrenched in the top 20, moving him to 18-1 (16). Van Der Veer dips to 30-13-6 (18). Schmeling's managers plan for another bout at Pre-Prime in early 1929 before hoping to challenge for the EBU title and, eventually, a WBA title.

Nov. 17, 1928: Action is back in the States at the Coliseum Arena in New Orleans. The main event is a long anticipated matchup for the WBA WW title, as Young Corbett III defends versus long-time LW king Benny Leonard. A large crowd has gathered for this bout, as the big attraction here is Leonard's bid for a second world title at a higher weight class. Leonard, the "Ghetto Wizard," gets off to a slow start, and by the end of the second round his left eye starts to puff up. Corbett retains a narrow points edge into the middle rounds, when Leonard's slick boxing and greater stamina begin to work in his favor. Corbett gets more aggressive in the later rounds, but he falls short in his effort to try to keep his title. No KDs and the bout goes the distance; Leonard impresses, taking a UD 15 (144-141, 144-141, 146-139) to add the WW crown to his LW title. He moves to 72-3-1 (41) while Corbett is now 28-6-2 (12).

Nov. 23, 1928: More Friday night fight action, this time at the St. Nicholas Arena in New York City. Headliner tonight is a WBA JLW title clash between Eddie Wagner, the champion, and challenger Dick "Honeyboy" Finnegan, who is moving up from the FW ranks (where he is the reigning USBA Champion) to challenge Wagner. First part of the bout is very slow paced, not much action. All of a sudden, Finnegan winces in pain, having injured his right hand. After checking with the ring physician and his corner, Finnegan cannot continue and it goes down as a TKO 6 for Wagner. Wagner's successful defense runs his record to 38-16-1 (17) while Finnegan is 26-9 (8).

Nov. 24, 1928: Back to London, in the UK, this time at Earls Court for an attractive fight card. Co-main event has long-time crowd favorite, WW Bermondsey Billy Wells matched against Young Jack Thompson, in a battle of former WBA Champions in a 10-round, non-title affair. Wells, who still holds the Commonwealth title, dropped a close SD to Thompson for the WBA title in early 1927 and is seeking to avenge that loss. It turns out to be a fairly boring bout, as Thompson -- the slugger -- is unable to hunt down Wells and deliver a telling blow while Wells -- the boxer -- lacks the firepower to seriously worry Thompson. Wells gradually gains the upper hand as the bout wears on, and Thompson's right eye starts to show signs of swelling after eight rounds. Wells takes a UD 10 (97-95, 98-92, 96-94) with the one 98-92 coming from a hometown judge seeming a bit out of line. Wells moves to 44-11-1 (16) with the win, avenging the earlier loss and handing Thompson just his third career loss, leaving him at 24-3-4 (15). Final bout of the evening is for the GBU Flyweight crown, which has been held by Kid Socks for over two years without a title defense. In this bout, he faces CBU Champ Elky Clark, who is looking to add to his collection of titles while Socks is hoping to move up the rankings (note that neither Clark's CBU nor Socks' EBU title belts are on the line.) Clark holds a TKO over Socks in a prior bout for the WBA title, but he is now at Post-Prime career stage. Clark gets on top early, causing Socks' right eye to balloon as early as round three. Kid Socks battles back in the middle rounds, keeping the bout close. Clark plods forward and is the more aggressive fighter as the bout -- a close one -- heads into the late rounds. No knockdowns and not much to choose between the two. Scorecards are read, and the verdict is a MD 12 for Clark (115-114, 114-114, 117-111) after taking the final round from two of three judges. Clark moves to 28-7-1 (15), and Socks slips to 21-9-1 (8).

Nov. 30, 1928: Final fight card of the month is at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix, and it's a packed fight card with two top HWs, Young Stribling and Gene Tunney, both former WBA kingpins, matched in a non-title bout, in the main support bout -- Tunney has recorded a MD win and a draw in two prior encounters, but now he is at Post-Prime and Stribling is hoping to even the score. Not much in the way of action until round four, when Stribling rips open a gash over Tunney's right eye. By the end of round seven, Tunney is also battling a split lip and a rapidly swelling left eye as well. Tunney is unable to mount a comeback, and when the cut over the eye is reopened a round later, the ref decides to call a halt. TKO 8 for Stribling on the cuts stoppage. The win moves the "King of the Canebrakes" to 29-5-1 (18), with Tunney dropping to 42-10-3 (25). The featured main event has Panama Al Brown making the eighth defense of the WBA BW title won in early 1927. His opponent is Archie Bell. Near the end of round three, Panama Al stuns Bell with a big hook, and a round later, Bell's left eye is starting to show signs of swelling. However, Bell comes back strongly in round five, when he surprises the Champion with a big shot that causes the first knockdown. Panama Al is definitely struggling with his timing, enabling Bell to mount a solid challenge for the title. The unofficial card shows Bell ahead by two (96-94) after ten rounds, but other observers (including this one) see a narrow edge for Brown. After some tense moments in the final rounds and awaiting the reading of the judges' scores, Panama Al escapes with a close but UD 15 (144-142, 144-142, 144-142), enabling him to keep the belt into 1929. Brown moves to 31-3 (13) with the win, while Bell, now 22-3-2 (7), remains a serious title threat.

Will be taking a break of a week or so, then hopefully wrap up with December's bouts leading up the exciting year-end reports ...