[JCWeb]

Second half of December, final in-year fight reports concluding the year's action with three World title bouts ...

Dec. 15, 1928: Action moves back to the Sports Palazzo in Rome, Italy, and a series of non-title bouts are on tap, leading to the feature bout of the evening, a 10-round non-title affair featuring EBU LW king Benny Valgar, taking on Solly Seeman who is making a second trip overseas to take on the popular veteran "French Flash," having lost to Valgar before a hostile crowd in Cannes in 1927. Not much action in this one, as the methodical Valgar comprehensively outboxes Seeman from the start. Solly tries to step up the pace in the latter half of the bout, but meets with little success as the French Flash takes a lopsided UD 10 win (99-91 on all three cards). Valgar is now 39-12-2 (13) while Seeman, who will hit Post-Prime in 1929, dips to 28-12-3 (11).

Dec. 15, 1928: The Cow Palace in San Francisco is the scene of the next fight card, and the main event sees new USBA JLW king Benny Bass defending the belt against Jack Bernstein. Not much to talk about, as midway through round three Bass decks Bernstein with a strong combination. The one-sided affair is over just as quickly as Bernstein is unable to beat the count. The KO 3 win for Bass moves his career totals to 30-7-3 (11) while Bernstein winds up the year at 22-14-1 (6).

Dec. 21, 1928: Action moves to the Rizal Arena in Manila, and the feature bout has Petey Sarron facing the challenge of Filipino Ignacio Fernandez in a 10-round, non-title FW matchup. There is not much happening until round five, when all of a sudden Sarron unleashes a barrage of low blows -- enough to cause the ref to call a halt and award a DQ-5 win for Fernandez. (Fernandez was up on all the judges' scorecards at the time). Fernandez, who is now 17-3 (10), is preparing to move ahead to Prime career stage in 1929, while Sarron, who is 15-3-1 (7), still has some lessons to learn.

Dec. 22, 1928: Big fight card at Madison Square Garden in New York City -- highly anticipated WBA LH title bout has slick boxing Tommy Loughran defending versus veteran Mike McTigue. Can McTigue -- dogged by bad luck throughout his career -- pull off the big upset in his first ever try for a world title? For Loughran, it is his ninth title defense plus he has the confidence from an earlier TKO win over McTigue. Plus, it turns out Mike has just his Post-Prime career stage, rendering him a step or two slower, something that is definitely going to put a crimp in his effort to unseat Loughran. Tommy gets off to a strong start, firing away with long-range jabs and alert counterpunching. McTigue recovers from a slow start with a strong effort in round three. Loughran reasserts himself in round four, dominating the action for this and most of the middle rounds. McTigue starts to tire, plus both his eyes start to swell from the accumulated effect of Loughran's very accurate punching. McTigue is unable to mount an effective rally, and Loughran registers an impressive UD 15 win (149-136, 146-140, 148-137) to maintain the WBA title into 1929. Tommy moves to 35-4-2 (12) while McTigue is now 36-21-5 (22).

Dec. 26, 1928: Traditional Boxing Day fight card in London, UK, at the Olympia. Hugh McIntosh referees the feature bout, for the WBA FW title as Lou Kaplan defends against British hopeful and FW Commonwealth Champion Johnny Cuthbert. Two strong boxers meeting in the ring for the first time. Kaplan starts well, and by the end of round two, Cuthbert's left eye is starting to swell. Cuthbert recovers to stage a brief rally in the middle rounds, but Kaplan reasserts himself as the British challenger starts to wear down in the later rounds. Late in the bout, Cuthbert is cut over the right eye but the cut does not become a factor in the outcome. No knockdowns, and the bout comes down to the scorecards after going the distance -- it's a UD 15 win for Kaplan (147-141, 147-141, 146-141) over the game but overmatched Cuthbert. Kaplan's successful defense runs his record to 33-6-1 (10) while Cuthbert is 22-14-1 (8).

Dec. 28, 1928: Final fight card of 1928 is on Friday, at Sydney, Australia. Jack Sharkey has traveled down under to give Tom Heeney a crack at his WBA HW crown in the feature bout. It is the first meeting of the two, and Sharkey's second title defense. For Heeney, it is his first try for the WBA crown after having been moderately successful in challenging and winning lesser belts, like the Commonwealth and OPBF titles. The early edge goes to Sharkey, who quietly builds a solid points advantage while Heeney struggles with his timing. Finally, in round eight, the Kiwi rallies, taking the round with a strong effort. Two rounds later, the crowd roars its approval as Heeney decks Sharkey with a short, clean uppercut. After this, the Champ is alot more careful, focused on defense, meaning Heeney finds few openings to exploit. Nonetheless, with one round to go, it's Sharkey who shows signs of wear and tear as his right eye starts to balloon up. The bout goes the distance, and the judges go for Sharkey, a solid but unspectacular UD 15 (146-137, 145-140, 146-137) which in at least two instances seems much too generous as Heeney's strong effort (not to mention scoring the only knockdown of the bout) goes for naught. Post-fight, Sharkey is now 21-2 (14), with Heeney at 28-10-1 (8).