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Here's the report for the first half of action from May 1929 (some competitive bouts thus far this month).

May 3, 1929: Plenty of fight action for May 1929, starting out with a solid fight card at the Forum in Montreal. The co-main event has two top 10 LHs facing one another, as "Bright Eyes" Jack Delaney takes on Young Tony Marullo. Delaney starts well, and by the end of round two Marullo is sporting a bloody nose as he is nailed by a straight right from Delaney that forces him to cover up. Marullo's left eye starts to swell a couple of rounds later, but Delaney lets him off the hook as he steps off the gas in the later rounds. The bout goes to the scorecards, and the judges rule it a majority draw (96-94 Marullo, 95-95, 95-95) much to the chagrin of the pro-Delaney crowd. Post-fight, Delaney ends up 34-6-2 (21) while Marullo emerges at 24-10-3 (15). Then, in the feature bout, two Canadians battle for the NABF BW crown, as Vic Foley, the reigning Commonwealth champ, takes on Harold Mayberry, the NABF titleholder -- Foley's CBU title is not on the line in this one. Foley holds a prior UD 10 win some five years earlier, but both men have progressed up the ranks since then. Mayberry gains the early edge, and by the end of round three Foley's right eye shows signs of swelling. A big right hook from Foley gets through in round six, rocking Mayberry. The bout is a close one into the final rounds, when Mayberry pulls out a UD 12 win (117-114, 118-113, 117-114) to keep the belt. He moves to 28-10-1 (13) overall, while Foley slips to 27-10-1 (10).

May 4, 1929: Gran Stadium in Havana, Cuba is the scene of the next card, with a World title at stake in the main event. First up is the unbeaten young MW, Freddie Steele, who accepts the challenge of Spaniard Ignacio Ara as he goes for his 15th career win. Steele is the aggressor right from the start, and in the second round he staggers Ara with a big uppercut that causes the Spanish fighter to cover up. Steele follows up with KDs in rounds four and six, and in the final two rounds he coasts to a UD 10 win (100-88, 100-88, 99-89) to run his record to 15-0 (13), good for a top 20 debut spot in the MW rankings. In the main support bout, top 20 German MW Hein "Spider" Domgorgen puts Billy Shade on the deck twice en route to a UD 10 win.
Finally, fans are ready for the main event, which has Panama Al Brown defending his WBA BW crown against Eddie "Cannonball" Martin. Not much action for the first five rounds, as Brown quietly builds a slight points edge (48-47 after five). Martin steps up the pace in the middle rounds, and in round eight he nails Panama Al with a big uppercut that forces the Champ to cover up. However, the challenger suffers a cut over his right eye that becomes more problematic as the bout continues. Brown, the more accurate puncher, takes a points lead into the late rounds. Blood from the cut begins to flow into Martin's eye, interfering with his vision. By round 13, the cut has become too severe to allow the bout to continue. Panama Al Brown retains the title via a TKO 13 on the cuts stoppage. Post-fight, his record is now a stellar 32-3 (14) while Martin is 25-10-2 (14).

May 4, 1929: The action moves to Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis for what is, frankly, a rather pedestrian fight card -- no title bouts, no Top 10 confrontations. Not much too report except for a few quick highlights. Johnny Indrisano battles to a draw with #8 WW Willie Harmon in one of the two main support bouts. In another bout, LW Sammy Fuller pounds out a SD 10 win over aging vet Solly Seeman; Fuller moves to 24-2 (8) with the win but is still a few spots short of a top 10 ranking. In the main event, former LH king Tommy Gibbons, now at the tail-end of his career, takes on Leo Lomski. In round three, Gibbons tumbles to the canvas, the victim of a Lomski hook. Nonetheless, Gibbons manages to last the distance and receives a sympathy vote from one of the judges, dropping a SD 10 to Lomski (94-95 Gibbons, 98-91 and 99-91 Lomski) in what turns out to be the swansong of a 19-year career dating back to 1911. Lomski moves to 22-8-3(6) with the win, while Gibbons closes out his career at 44-21-3 (18).

May 10, 1929: Friday night action is back at the Stadium in Liverpool, England. The fight card has two co-main events, with a title at stake in each. In the main support bout, the crowd gets a chance to see up-and-coming young British FW Nel Tarleton, taking on former WBA Champ Eugene Criqui. Although at the tail end of his career, Criqui puts up a good fight and denies Tarleton the win, taking a UD 10 to the disappointment of the pro-Tarleton crowd. Then, the first of the two title tilts, Johnny Cuthbert is defending the Commonwealth FW crown against former Champ Leo Roy from Canada. Cuthbert gets off to a quick start, flooring Roy with a nice combination in the opening stanza. A head butt near the end of round five causes a mouse to form under Roy's left eye. After that, the bout settles into a rather pedestrian pace, which seems to suit both men. The crowd cheers when the decision is announced, a solid UD 12 win for Cuthbert (118-110, 119-108, 119-111) although the bout seemed a bit closer than the scores would indicate. The win -- in his third successful title defense -- lifts Cuthbert to 23-14-1 (8) while Roy ends up the bout at 26-12-2 (8). Final bout of the evening is the first defense for GBU HW king, "Fainting Phil" Scott, since regaining the title slightly over a year ago. His opponent is a young hopeful, Don Shortland, stepping up to face the challenge of his first title contest much in the same way Tarleton stepped up in the preliminary bout -- but is Shortland in over his head against Scott? After a close opening four rounds, Scott picks up the pace in the middle rounds. The bout goes the distance with no significant events, no cuts, KDs or swelling. In a bit of a surprise, Scott escapes with a SD 12 (116-113, 114-115 Shortland, 116-114) -- this observer thought it was a solid three or four-point win for Scott. Scott improves to 25-16-2 (6) with the win, while the loss is only the second blemish on Shortland's career slate, which now reads 16-2 (5). The win actually improves Scott's PP totals, and there is already talk of a rematch in late July.

May 11, 1929: Atlantic City's Convention Hall is the scene for the next fight card. In one of the preliminary bouts, crowd favorite Jimmy Braddock tries to get his flagging career back on track in a 10-round bout with veteran HW TC Carl Wheeler. Nothing fancy in this one, as the no-nonsense workmanlike Braddock pounds out a UD 10 win to move his career mark to 14-3-1 (6) -- two more bouts and he hits Prime career stage. After several other minor preliminary bouts, it is on to the main event -- a WW non-title affair featuring #4 ranked ex-WBA Champ Young Johnny Thompson against Johnny Adams. Thompson is looking to set up another title contest while Adams, who once briefly held the USBA WW title, has struggled since. It is Thompson who breaks through with a solid hook to deck Adams for the bout's first knockdown in round four. After a lull in round five, the action heats up in round six, as Thompson, battling a cut eye, rallies strongly to stagger Adams with a straight right. Thompson continues to dominate, finishing with a flurry in round nine, scoring two more KDs before the ref calls a halt to save Adams from further punishment. The TKO 9 win moves Thompson to 26-3-4 (16) while Adams is now 27-12-3 (10).

May 11, 1929: Next fight card is at the OIympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. Main event has JWW USBA titleholder Mushy Callahan putting that belt on the line against former WBA JWW and WW king, Pinkey Mitchell. In a preliminary bout, California crowd favorite HW Frankie Campbell floors former top contender Fred Fulton in just one round; the KO win moves Campbell to 24-4-1 (11) and a spot among the top 15 HWs. Then, in the main event, Mitchell -- in his first try for a lesser (non-World title belt) holds his own for the first six rounds against the younger Callahan. Then, in round seven, a cut appears over the right eye of Callahan. Mitchell, who has to battle a swollen left eye late in the bout, starts to target the cut which reopens in round ten. The cut is in a bad spot and proves difficult to control, leading to a stoppage in the final round. Mitchell is declared a TKO 12 winner to take the belt. Post-fight, he moves to 32-13-4 (14) compared to 19-7 (8) for Mushy Callahan.