Fisticuffs

Sharkey v. Loughran. There is a rule in New York that a fighter who is champion in his class must renounce his title before trying for the championship in a heavier class. Because of this rule Thomas Loughran was no longer light-heavyweight champion of the world when he climbed into a ring at the Yankee Stadium to fight Jack Sharkey (Josef Cukoschary) of Boston. In the third round Sharkey ran out of his corner and forced Loughran against the ropes and hit him high on the jaw. Loughran sat down. Five seconds later he got up and began to walk along the side of the ring, holding onto the top rope, and feeling his mouth with his glove. Something about his attitude suddenly gave the people at the ringside the shocking realization that he was unconscious. Later that night after Sharkey, jubilant, had gone to a nightclub with his wife, the rumor that Loughran had died of the punch on his way out of the stadium led friends to call up his manager, one Joseph Smith, who said "Oh my God, no, no, no." Sharkey claims the world's heavyweight championship, but to make his claim good must beat Max Schmeling, now resting at home in Germany.

Campolo v. Scott. After elaborate efforts of his backers to establish him as ferocious, Victorio Mario Campolo, Argentine, stuck his thumb into the eye of English heavyweight Phil Scott in Manhattan. Until then Scott had been winning. Closing his hurt eye, he asked the referee to disqualify Campolo but the latter, misunderstanding his wink, told him indignantly to go on. Through that round, which was the ninth, and one more, Scott continued pushing and shoving sleepy Campolo, effectively enough to win the decision. He must now be considered a rival of Schmeling, Sharkey.

Battalino v. Routis. In Connecticut, to make draws unlikely, fights are scored by points instead of round by round. A fighter can win a maximum number of five points in each round, points for being the most aggressive, for landing the cleanest punches. In Hartford little Christopher Battalino, local boy with black curly hair, scored 75 points to 56 and won the world's featherweight championship from Windmill Andre Routis by holding Routis' whirling arms when he got close and hitting him when he backed away.