Fight:44333
Jackie Graves 128 lbs beat Jimmy Joyce 130 lbs by UD in round 8 of 8
- Date: 1945-12-13
- Location: Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Referee: Britt Gorman
No one in the crowd of 8,747 paid fans could say they weren't treated to one of the best punching duels of the winter season in the main event. It was a corking fight from start to finish. It wasn't a hometown decision. It was a clear-cut triumph for Jackie with the advantage switching from one fighter to another often enough to leave the outcome in doubt until the final bell. The speedy and hard-punching contestants were anything but cautious at the start as they swung freely. In the second round, the excitement really came in large gobs. Joyce caught Graves just as he came out of his corner with a terrific straight right. Jackie was dazed and staggered a little. He recovered, only to run into the same kind of punch a minute later. He was groggy again, but pulled out of it before the bell. Then Jackie took the offensive in the third. Landing a left hook first, followed by a left uppercut, the Austin boy had Joyce in trouble. Graves failed to follow up and a knockout opportunity escaped him. Graves was even better in the fourth. he slowed up his foe with a straight right and then uncorked two powerful lefts, but once again he became cautious to pass up another knockout chance. The heated exchanges continued from here through the last round, with neither boy inflicting serious damage. Graves reverted to his old tactics of hitting on the break in the third and fourth sessions. In fact, he was warned five times for rules infractions. Joyce got so mad about these illegal activities that he decided to get a little rough himself during the last half of the mix. He began Hitting on the break and resorting to wrestling, but no serious damage was done. Graves landed only two body punches all night, once in the first and again in the eighth. [The Minneapolis Star]