Lou Nova vs. Gunnar Barlund (1st meeting)

Gunnar Barlund 204 lbs lost to Lou Nova 197 lbs by TKO at 1:42 in round 7 of 10

• Date: 1938-10-03
• Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
• Referee: Arthur Donovan

"Lou Nova strode into the heavyweight picture Monday night when he stopped Gunnar Barlund, Finland, in 1:43 of the 7th round of their 15 rounder on a TKO. Barlund's left eye was so badly cut referee Arthur Donovan refused to let him continue. The youngster from the west coast handed Barlund a bad beating in every round but the 3rd, when the Finn floored Nova with a short left hook to the mouth. Nova got up and had the 12,633 fans screaming with a two-fisted rally that put Barlund on the defensive. Nova's short rights opened up the cut in the 4th round after some furious milling in mid-ring. It was cruelly mangled by the end of the 6th and, when it started to bleed under the same sort of barrage in the 7th, Donovan walked between them and waved Barlund to his corner." -Associated Press

• Unofficial AP scorecard (through 6 completed rounds) - 5-1 Nova
• Donovan took the 5th and 6th rounds from Barlund for low blows even though Nova won them anyway.
• Nova was a substitute for Bob Pastor, who informed the promoter Mike Jacobs on September 19th that he would be unable to fight due an injured right leg that had failed to heal properly. Pastor had cut his leg with an axe while chopping wood on September 8th.