Fight:231689

Bert McCarthy 128 lbs beat Dencio Cabanela 125 lbs by TKO in round 13 of 20

• Date: 1921-07-02
• Location: West Melbourne Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Referee: Val Quirk

"The contest was full of incident up until the 10th round. Dencio submitted to a great deal of punishment, but in that round after McCarthy had given him a severe trouncing, the Filipino sprung into the fray and hitting hard and often had his man down and beaten. The gong saved McCarthy. The Victorian won the next two rounds and in the 13th Dencio suddenly fell back on the ropes. His arms hung limply by his side and he was quite unresponsive to McCarthy's blows. The counter-attack was too long in coming and to prevent undue punishment the referee stepped across to Dencio and the Filipino mumbled something about his head. The fight was stopped and after being taken to his corner, Dencio, under medical treatment recovered somewhat, but suffered a relapse in the dressing room". He died in hospital early the next morning (Sydney Daily Telegraph) (See Dencio biography)