A Backward Glance-1931, The Year in Boxing: Jeby Upsets Harvey at Garden, Divodi & Walker Battle in L.A.
A week-by week look at the world of boxing in 1931. By Andrew Fruman of The Cruelest Sport.
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Harvey Goes Winless in American Sojourn
March 20… The struggle continued for Len Harvey (155) at Madison Square Garden, with the Englishman falling short once more on the scorecards, this time to unfancied Ben Jeby (157 ½).
Jeby and Harvey Images Courtesy of Antiquities of the Prize Ring
A crowd of 8,176 witnessed the middleweight clash. The relatively low turnout was likely not helped by NYSAC Chairman James Farley’s insistence that the contest would be “a very uninteresting affair.” While it wasn’t the most spectacular of fights, it was certainly interesting and well-balanced – with the styles of the two fighters meshing to produce a bruising encounter.
Jeby, a grinding, hard-nosed fighter from New York’s east side, successfully harried his more polished opponent with a relentless body assault throughout the twelve rounder. Despite smashing home hard counters at times, Harvey was continuously pushed back and was also forced to resort to holding tactics to to try and stem his adversary’s pressure in close.
Len Harvey
Unlike Harvey’s previous two outings against Vince Dundee, there was no real controversy when the decision was read. There were a few ringside observers that had Harvey in front by a very slight margin, though the vast majority felt Jeby was a worthy winner, with some writers feeling the underdog’s margin was fairly wide.
Having arrived on American shores amid much fanfare four months earlier, the defeat at the hands of the local middleweight was a stinging blow to Harvey’s reputation. The fighter came under criticism for his casual manner in the ring, with Les Conklin of the International News Service going as far as to say that New York boxing fans were “disgusted” by Harvey’s “I don’t care” attitude.
Given that the British champion’s performances against Dundee were well received, the scathing remarks were perhaps more of a backlash against the hype surrounding Harvey’s arrival, than a real assessments of his fighting spirit. Either way, Harvey decided it was time to head home and within a week was on his way back to England.
Walker Tops Divodi in Bloody Brawl
March 24… A contentious week between Andy Divodi and the California State Athletic Commission ended with the New Yorker losing a punishing ten rounder to fellow Paulie Walker at the Olympic Auditorium. Hailed as “the bloodthirstiest scrap of the year” by Paul Lowry of the Los Angeles Times, the bitterly contested bout washed away the memory of the previous week’s encounter between the visiting welterweights.
Andy Divodi
The first bout had ended in unsatisfying fashion, with Divodi winning via fourth round disqualification after repeated low blows from Walker. With Divodi reportedly less than eager to mix it up, and Walker seemingly intent on fouling out, the performances did not sit well with CSAC Chairman Dr. Harry Martin. Neither man was paid for their outing, with the fighters ordered by the chairman to immediately go at it again in order to receive their original purse – and nothing more – or face further sanction.
Image Courtesy of Antiquities of the Prize Ring
While Walker was likely less than thrilled with having to fight a second time for what amounted to one payday, he offered no public objections to going at it again – even suggesting to the Los Angeles Times they make the rematch a winner-take-all meeting. Divodi, however, was less accommodating – and not surprisingly, since the charges against him were blurry at best. According to Divodi, he’d been sick with a bad cold in the days leading up to the first fight, and was still unable to train due to his illness. The fighter requested a week’s reprieve to prepare for the rematch, only for the plea to be turned down by Dr. Martin, who ordered Divodi to immediately return from his base of San Francisco for the bout.
The rematch proved rough sailing for Divodi, with the fighter’s struggles perhaps giving credence to his claims of being unwell. Walker broke through early, dropping Divodi heavily with a right to the jaw in the third round. Two more knockdowns followed in the fifth round, with body shots doing the damage on both occasions, before Divodi was floored again late in the seventh for a nine count.
Looking like a beaten man, Divodi turned the fight around in stunning fashion with a game stand in the eighth. After hammering away with a furious two-handed barrage, the desperate fighter very nearly won it when he dropped Walker with a crunching right. Walker managed to just barely beat the count and survive, before hanging on over the final two sessions.
Given the early action, the decision was a mere formality, with Walker – who finished the fight with his left eye swollen shut and blood pouring from his nose- taking the fight by six points on Referee Abe Roth’s scorecard. While Divodi wasn’t nearly as marked up, he was clearly exhausted and still feeling somewhat aggrieved by the whole situation. The fighter leaned wearily over the ropes to address reporters before he left the ring, letting everyone know that he’d been legitimately ill but still gone through with the fight to appease the commission.
In the originally scheduled headliner, Tod Morgan took a one-sided ten round verdict from Goldie Hess to claim the vacant California State lightweight crown. Using a swarming attack to overwhelm Hess, the former world 130lb champion won by a count of 7-2-1 on the Los Angeles Times scorecard. In recognition of the title victory, actress Joan Blondell was on hand to present Morgan with a gold title belt.
More boxing news for the week of March 19 – 25
March 19… A crowd of 10,000 spectators packed Public Hall for the conclusion of the Cleveland Plain Dealer’s third annual Golden Gloves tournament. The fans were treated to sixteen fights in all, with eight final bouts in the open class along with an additional eight novice finals.
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The best bout of the night according to the Plain Dealer was the flyweight final between Babe Triscaro and Johnny Wood. The 112lb battlers went at it hard, with Triscaro dropping Wood for a nine count in the second round before almost falling victim to exhaustion in the third. The fans were in a frenzied state throughout, with Triscaro a worthy winner on points at the close.
Other winners included defending National champion Jack Pallat, who claimed a close but clear verdict over Ernie Young in the heavyweight final. Bantamweight Joey Kushner won his third straight title – the previous victories coming at flyweight – with a win over Joey Boldin. The crowd loudly booed the verdict, though the Plain Dealer had Kushner taking all three rounds.
Southpaw Don Gonzalez was a repeat winner as well. The defending featherweight champion, who also won the Chicago Golden Gloves a couple weeks earlier, easily handled Henry Scarpuzzi of Canton. Scarpuzzi was dropped twice in the opening session, and three more times in the second round before the towel came flying in.
March 20… A chance at meeting Jack Sharkey was once more dangled in front of Tommy Loughran, with reports that the Boston fighter had agreed to meet the winner of Loughran’s upcoming clash against Tuffy Griffiths. Having originally been offered $50,000, Sharkey’s manager Johnny Buckley is said to have negotiated an outdoor stadium fight for $75,000 with the contest to take place in Chicago during the summer.
*****
Andy Callahan
A crowd of over 8,000 spectators watched southpaw Andy Callahan (135) take a wide decision from featherweight champion Battling Battalino (132). The ten rounder at the Boston Garden was reportedly a tedious affair, with Referee Jimmy Welsh forced extricate the fighters from one clinch after another. The fans hooted and hollered for more action, and while Callahan tried to make a fight of it by wading forward throughout, he found a less than willing partner in Battalino.
Image courtesy of Boxrec.com
March 20… Welterweight contender Young Corbett (147 ¼) was an easy winner over Paul Pirrone (147 ¾) of Cleveland at Dreamland Auditorium in San Francisco. A full house watched the Fresno fighter win eight of ten rounds, while waging an aggressive battle against the hard hitting Pirrone. The impressive victory kept Corbett near the top of the list at 147lbs, with some believing the talented southpaw to be the best man at the weight.
March 20… My Sullivan (157 ¾) of St. Paul knocked out Izzy Grove (162 ½) into the opening round of the main-event at the Detroit Olympia. Grove came out of the gate very quickly with a two-handed barrage, only to be decked for the full count by a left hand. The fight lasted all of 72 seconds.
Pete Sanstol
March 23… Pete Sanstol (115 ¾) won a ten round unanimous decision over a game Bobby Leitham (118) at the St. Denis Theatre in Montreal. It was a scrappy battle with the aggressive Leitham fighting on even terms over the first half of the bout, before eventually wilting under the talented Norwegian’s punishing body attack and superior skills.
Image Courtesy of Antiquities of the Prize Ring
March 24… Chicago was confirmed as the location for Tony Canzoneri’s upcoming lightweight title defense against junior-welterweight champion Jack “Kid” Berg. The fight, set for April 24, was originally announced on March 20, with Berg signing contracts with Chicago Stadium matchmaker Nate Lewis for the championship contest – though arrangements had been up in the air for several days due to reports that Madison Square Garden was looking to stage the bout.
According to the New York Times, the Garden was forced to bow out of the running due to Canzoneri’s exorbitant asking price for a match-up with Berg. The NYSAC suggested Sammy Fuller as an alternative opponent, though Garden matchmaker Tom McArdle told the Times that Canzoneri’s management were not interested in meeting Fuller. Billy Petrolle was also suggested by the Garden, but had already been turned down by the NYSAC.
Chicago and New York had not been the only cities bidding for the champion’s next defense, with reports out of Detroit indicating Canzoneri had turned down an offer of $35,000 to meet Ray Miller at the Detroit Olympia.
Quote of the Week…
“Divodi did not do his best against Walker, is not hurt, and is trying to work every angle to dodge the rematch and our anti-foul rules!”
- Dr. Harry Martin, CSAC Chairman