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Wrapping up the key bouts from August 1929:

Aug. 17, 1929: Next European fight card is at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden. Co-main event has former WBA HW Champ Gene Tunney matched with a highly regarded young Swedish HW, Harry Persson. Not much of note happens until round four, when a cut is sliced open over Persson's rigth eye. Tunney takes full advantange of the situation, pummeling the hapless Swede against the ropes until the ref has no choice but to call a halt. TKO 4 for Tunney, who moves to 44-10-3 (26) with the win. Persson, who drops to 23-7 (15), may need to set his sights a bit lower for his next outing. Then, it is on to the main event, for the WBA FW title featuring defending Champion, Jose Lombardo, against the current EBU titleholder, Dom Volante. The bout is fairly close for the first few rounds, but Volante is on the receiving end more often than he would like, and his right eye is starting to swell at the end of round three as a result. Lombardo continues to outhit his opponent, taking an early lead (48-46 according to the unofficial ringside observer) after five. Then, in round six, the Champ unloads with a big hook that causes Volante's knees to buckle. Volante tries to work inside but can't seem to be able to land any telling blows. Lomb ardo's lead is even greater (97-93 on the unofficial card) heading into the last third of the bout. Then, in round 11, he staggers Volante with a strong cross, working over the challenger's now badly swollen eye until the ref steps in to call a halt. It goes as a TKO 11 win for Lombardo, with the swollen eye listed as the cause of the stoppage although Volante appeared to be very much on the defensive as well. Lombardo's second successful defense moves him to 28-8-3 (17) while Volante is now 21-6-2 (15).

Aug. 17, 1929: Mammoth Gardens in Denver is the setting for the next fight card, and the main event sees popular NABF LH Champ "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom defending the belt against rugged Cuban slugger Roleaux Saguero, who has racked up 25 KO wins thus far in his career. From the opening bell, Saguero proves to be a difficult opponent, putting Rosenbloom on the deck with a sharp combination. Maxie arises, and things start looking up in round three when Saguero sustains a severe cut over his left eye. Then, in the following round, Rosenbloom is once again in trouble, as the Cuban goes on the offensive, catching Rosenbloom with a big left and then opening a cut over Maxie's right eye. Rosenbloom tries to cover up but the relentless attack of the Cuban is too much for Maxie; he succumbs to a barrage a blows that cause the ref to call an early halt. Saguero takes a TKO 4, and there is little protest from Rosenbloom supporters. Rosenbloom is stopped inside 10 rounds for the first time in his career. Post-fight, Saguero moves to 28-10-1 (26) compared to 22-3-4 (10) for Rosenbloom.

Aug. 23, 1929: Next fight card in the Friday night series is at Atlantic City's Convention Hall. Featured bout is for the USBA JWW title, currently held by the long-time WBA Champion, Pinkey Mitchell who faces the challenge of Spug Myers. On paper, it should not be that tough a test for Mitchell, who took a UD 15 from Myers for the WBA title belt, but several years have passed and aging effects have begun to take their toll on Mitchell. Myers battles a split lip from the very early stages of the bout. In round seven, however, he springs to life, nailing Mitchell with a strong hook. Mitchell arises and covers up, lasting the round. A second cut, this time over his left eye, adds to Myers' difficulties. He continues to battle, however, and some swelling appears under the Champion's right eye as a result of the accumulated blows. Nonetheless, when the scorecards are read, it is Mitchell who takes a narrow but UD 12 (115-113, 114-113, 115-113) to retain the belt. The win moves Mitchell's career totals to 33-13-4 (14) after the win while Myers emerges from the bout at 23-19-4 (9).

Aug. 24, 1929: Back to the Olympia in London, UK, for the next series of bouts; the six feature bouts are billed as a "US versus UK" although, in one case, one of the fighters is claiming dual citizenship in order to contend for a European title belt. The US fighters start off well, with Jimmy Dundee takes a UD 10 from former GBU LW Champ Ernie Rice. Then, a cuts stoppage leads to a TKO 6 win for Flyweight Emil Paluso over former WBC Champ Kid Socks. Then, it is three in a row for the US contigent as aging vet, former WBA BW king Joe Lynch holds off Nat Pincus for a SD 10 win; after the bout, Lynch announces that he will retire after his next bout, later in 1929. Then, FW Petey Sarron makes it four in a row for the US fighters, taking a UD 10 from ex-WBA Champ Young Johnny Brown. Then, the tide begins to turn as #1 ranked BW, USBA Champ Memphis Pal Moore, struggles against Nipper Pat Daly, the former GBU BW Champ, who puts in the performance of his life to score a huge upset, taking a MD 12 verdict (96-94, 95-95, 96-94). Daly emerges from the bout at 23-9-2 (11) compared to 49-16-6 (14) for the much more experienced Moore.
Finally, it's on to thee main event, which sees LH Len Harvey taking on Mike McTigue for the EBU LH crown. Though historically a US-based fighter, matchmakers seize on McTigue's Irish heritage to claim a tenous dual citizenship which allows the bout to be sanctioned as a European title contest. None of this seems to matter much to Harvey, who methodically goes to work and piles up a solid points lead in the first half of the bout. McTigue tries to get more aggressive in the later rounds, but Harvey's defenses are just too strong. No KDs, cuts or swelling, as the bout goes the distance -- and it's a lopsided UD 12 win for Harvey (120-108, 119-109, 119-108) who emerges with a 33-4-1 (14) career record and a solid #1 ranking that makes him a likely challenger for Tommy Loughran's WBA title. The loss leaves McTigue at 36-22-5 (22).

Aug. 30, 1929: Final Friday night card is at the Uline Arena in Washington, DC. No titles on the line, and only one featured bout of note -- top 10 LH Ad Stone takes on "Cuban" Bobby Brown. Stone won all three of their prior meetings, but now both men are at Post-Prime career stage. Action right from the start in the opening round, as Brown is cut over the right eye, and Stone takes advantage, nailing him with a hard cross right before the bell. In round two, Stone is cut over his right eye. The third round sees Stone continuing to press home the attack, clocking Brown with a big left that forces "the Cuban" to cover up. The bout goes to round four, and Stone continues to find the range, putting Brown on the deck for a nine-count with a wicked hook to the head before finishing matters later in the round with another hook. Brown takes his second trip to the canvas and, after arising, he takes more punishment that causes the ref to call a halt. The TKO 4 for Stone runs his career totals to 31-4 (20) while Brown drops to 23-12-1 (18) with the loss.

Aug. 31, 1929: Final card of the month is at the Boston Garden, where former WBA HW Champ Jack Sharkey is on the comeback trail, taking on Commonwealth Champ Larry Gains in his first bout since losing his title earlier in the year. Preamble to the main event is an interesting battle between two unbeaten LH prospects, Tiger Jack Fox and Joe Knight; each man enters the bout with 10 wins in 10 bouts and a combined total of 18 KOs (10 for Fox and 8 for Knight). After a bruising opening round of action that sees Fox emerge with a cut over his right eye and Knight with a swollen left eye, the bout settles into a pattern and goes the distance, with Fox taking a UD 10 to run his record to 11-0 (10). In the main event, the hometown crowd fires up an early explosion from Sharkey, who lands a big hook that forces Gains to cover up in round one. More action in round two, as Sharkey uses his jab to put the Canadian on the defensive. Just when it looks like Sharkey is running away with the bout, his right eye starts to puff up, leaving him vulnerable to a straight right from Gains in round four. Sharkey struggles to survive, but Gains relies on his killer instinct to land blow after blow. Over a strong protest from Sharkey's corner, the action is halted four seconds from the end of round four, going into the books as a TKO 4 win for Gains. The victory moves Gains' career mark to 25-5 (16) while Sharkey dips to 21-4 (19).