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On to the reports for December 1928 ...

Dec. 1, 1928: Continuing with the fight action into the final month of 1928 -- first up is a fight card at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. A light card tonight, no titles at stake, featured bout has two ranked LH contenders seeking to move up in the ranks. Young Tony Marullo, currently ranked #8, is paired with the rapidly improving up-and-comer Lou Scozza, who has won 19 of his first 20 and is now stepping up to take on his first top 10 ranked contender in his initial bout at Prime career stage. Should be a good bout. Marullo's right eye starts to puff up as early as the end of the second, and after the first four or five rounds Scozza has outworked Marullo and built a solid points lead. Marullo steps up the pace and makes a late surge. It comes down to the final round, and the nod goes to Scozza who takes round 10 for an impressive UD 10 win (96-95 on all three cards). The win moves Scozza to 20-1 (16) while Marullo, who still has some good years ahead of him, is now 23-10-2 (14).

Dec. 1, 1928: More early December fight action to report, this time at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Headliner is a 12-round bout for the NABF Fly title, with Lew Perfetti making his first defense of the belt he won earlier in the year; he faces Willie LaMorte. First meeting of these two boxers, and it turns out to be a close bout. Perfetti pulls ahead to a slight lead after four rounds, but he and his corner must deal with a rapidly swelling left eye. LaMorte stages a comeback in the middle rounds, but Perfetti remains aggressive. He lands a big right hand in the ninth round, forcing LaMorte to cover up. LaMorte battles back, landing a big cross to take round 10. The bout goes the distance, and it turns out to be a draw (116-112 LaMorte, 114-115 Perfetti, 114-even). Perfetti, who keeps the belt, is now 21-8-3 (10) while LaMorte emerges at 22-7-4 (10). There is already talk of a rematch in 1929.

Dec. 7, 1928: First Friday night fight action for December, this time at the venerable Stadium in Liverpool, UK. A series of preliminary bouts leads to the headliner, as Canadian Vic Foley defends the Commonwealth BW title against crowd favorite, Brit Nipper Pat Daly. Daly holds a SD over Foley in their one prior outing, also at Liverpool, back in 1926, and he proves to be a difficult opponent. Foley suffers a split lip in round two and battles a swollen right eye starting in the middle rounds of the bout. Nonetheless, the Canadian champion piles up an early points lead. A frantic late surge by Daly nets him a majority draw (117-113 Foley, 115-115, 115-115) -- a result that enables Foley to keep his belt. The two maintain similar career marks -- Foley is now 27-9-1 (10) compared to 22-8-2 (11) for Daly.

Dec. 8, 1928: Action moves to Miami Stadium for another action-packed card featuring several Cuban fighters on the undercard. The main event is for the vacant USBA WW crown, with veterans Jack Sparr and Tommy Robson battling for the belt that was vacated by Benny Leonard once he won the WBA crown. Sparr, who had lost the title to Leonard, seemed ready to regain it, ripping open a severe cut on Robson's forehead in round two. Robson battled back in the third round, nailing Sparr with a straight right that forced him to cover up. However, the cut was reopened in round four, and this time the blood began flowing freely into both of Robson's eyes, a severe enough situation to cause an early stoppage. TKO 4 for Sparr to take the title. He moves to 31-12-1 (17) as a result, while Robson -- who will reach End career stage in his next bout -- drops to 37-22-1 (19).

Dec. 8, 1928: Double feature main event at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, with two interesting title bouts on the menu. First up is Commowealth WW title, defended by crowd favorite Jimmy "Baby Face" McLarnin, who takes on Brit Hamilton Johnny Brown. Brown is in difficulty from the start, as his left eye starts to puff up in round one and then a cut is opened under the right eye in the third round. McLarnin asserts himself, building a solid points lead in the middle rounds. In round seven, he nails the Brit with a huge shot for the bout's only knockdown. The cut is also reopened, but "Baby Face" is unable to finish matters in the seventh. The cut is once again opened in round 10, leading to a stoppage. TKO 10 win for McLarnin to keep the title; the win moves the Canadian to 24-2 (18) while Hamilton Johnny drops to 19-13-5 (9). Final event of the evening is a long-awaited battle for Jack Delaney's NABF LH title, where he faces a strong challenge from "Slapsie Maxie" Rosenbloom. The two battled to one of the four draws in Rosenbloom's career in a prior encounter. This time, Maxie gets on top early, firing stinging jabs that cause Delaney's left eye to start swelling after just two rounds. By the end of round four, Rosenbloom's left eye starts to puff up as well. Rosenbloom gradually pulls ahead in the middle rounds of this bruising battle. In round eight, Delaney sustains a cut under his right eye. No knockdowns, and the bout goes the distance, with Delaney bothered by a second cut, under the other eye, late in the fight. The verdict goes to Rosenbloom via a UD 12 (116-112, 115-113, 115-113). It is the first title ever for "Slapsie Maxie," moving him to 22-1-4 (10) overall compared to 34-6-1 (21) for Delaney.

Dec. 14, 1928: Friday night fights moves to Boston, where aging veteran HW Harry Wills faces Floyd Johnson in a 10-round non-title bout in the main feature bout of a packed fight card. Wills holds a TKO win over Johnson in an earlier bout, back in 1926, but Harry is now at Post-Prime and starting to show the effects of aging. Wills starts strongly enough, building an early points lead and scoring a KD with a strong shot in round four. However, Johnson stages an impressive rally during the second half of the bout while Wills tires visibly. By the end of round six, Wills' left eye is starting to swell and, a couple of rounds later, the other eye shows signs of swelling as well. The bout goes the distance, and Johnson takes a narrow but UD 10 win (97-94, 97-94, 96-95). The win lifts Johnson to 26-6-1 (21) overall, while Wills slips to 58-11-1 (46). The loss may signal the end of Wills' lengthy time as a serious HW title threat.