Ken Overlin vs. Billy Soose (2nd meeting)
Billy Soose 158 lbs beat Ken Overlin 159 lbs by UD in round 15 of 15
- Date: 1941-05-09
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
- Referee: Arthur Donovan 8-7
- Judge: Marty Monroe 8-7
- Judge: Bill Healy 9-5
Although the decision was unanimous, "it was a mystifying one, mysteriously arrived at, and so unexpected that it left the onlookers stunned for several minutes. For 11 of the 15 sessions Overlin held an edge over his rival and in several the margin was so great he may as well have been in the ring by himself so little was the damage he suffered at the hands of his foeman. Ken knew all the tricks, and he brought them into play. At times he had Soose looking more puzzled than a retarded high school freshman writing a thesis on the quantum theory... In Soose's favor it must be said he forced the going... In the matter of holding, too, Overlin was often at fault, and it might have been this inclination to cling to his rival in the hope of weathering stormy passages that influenced the arbiters in their decision." Scores : 8-7, 8-7, 9-5-1 all for Soose. New York Times
The New York Daily News felt Soose deserved the win by 7-6-2 in rounds and contradicted the Times with "The verdict was popular with the majority of the crowd" but added "many of the ringside experts thought the margin too close to cost Ken his title."
Jack Cuddy of the Brooklyn Citizen scored it a draw.
Harold Conrad of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle scored a close win for Soose.
Referee Donovan stated "You can't win a fight holding and stalling. Overlin fought only in ten-second spurts when he did fight. And you can't give a man points on that kind of a performance."