Tony Zale vs. Marcel Cerdan

Marcel Cerdan 158 lbs beat Tony Zale 159 lbs by RTD in round 11 of 15

• Date: 1948-09-21
• Location: Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
• Referee: Paul Cavalier 8-2

• World Middleweight Title
• Attendance: 19,272
• Gate: $242,840

Fight was named Ring Magazine Fight of the Year
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Zale was floored with a left hook to the jaw at the close of the 11th round and was helped back to his corner by his trainer. Cavalier stopped the fight in between rounds. Cerdan, a 2-1 underdog, becomes the first non-American to hold the Middleweight title in the 20th century. Before the fight, Zale had predicted he would knockout Cerdan within seven rounds.

Zale won the 3rd and 4th rounds, on the scorecard of referee Cavalier, with the 9th round even. Cerdan was awarded the other rounds.

• Also scheduled for this card was a 10-rounder between Jersey Joe Walcott and Gus Lesnevich. However, four days prior to this card Lesnevich tripped and broke his small toe on his right foot and withdrew from the contest. The promoters of the card, Tournament of Champions, Inc., could not provide a suitable substitute for Walcott and scratched the fight from the card in lieu of a preliminary bout. TOC, Inc., also reduced ringside tickets from $40 to $30 due to losing that bout.