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WW Titles and Title Bouts

WBA: Young Corbett III began the year with the title, defended once versus Lope Tenorio (UD 15), but then he lost it to Jimmy McLarnin (UD 15) who began his second reign as WBA Champion.

NABF: Jack Sparr held the title coming into 1931, but then Jimmy McLarnin took the title from him (TKO 7). McLarnin vacated the belt after winning the WBA title. Then, in a matchup for the vacant belt, Joe Dundee bested Benny Leonard (UD 12).

USBA: Jackie Fields held the belt coming into the year, defending three times, versus Baby Joe Gans (TKO 6), Willie Harmon (UD 12) and Tommy Freeman (KO 10). Then, in December, Johnny Indrisano upended Fields (MD 12) to claim the belt.

CBU: Jimmy McLarnin unseated long-time Champ Bermondsey Billy Wells (SD 12) to add this title to his collection. Since McLarnin moved up to take the WBA title, this belt has been declared vacant.

GBU: No title defenses from Jack Hood, who won the title in 1930.

EBU: The Swiss fighter, Cleto Locatelli, retained the belt by making one successful defense in 1931, against Hamilton Johnny Brown (UD 12).

OPBF: No title defenses for the second consecutive year by Lope Tenorio, who has held the belt since 1929.

WW Division Profile

Total: 116 RL: 76 TC: 40

RL by Career Stage:
End - 1
Post - 23
Prime - 31
Pre - 15
Beginning - 6 (1 New)

Rated: 61
800+: 14
500+: 32
200+ : 57

Jan 1932 Rankings (Perf Points and Changes from Jan. 1931 in Parens):

Champ: Jimmy McLarnin 33-4 (20) (1397) (+2)
1. Joe Dundee 35-11-6 (12) (1364) (+3) (NABF)
2. Benny Leonard 81-5-2 (42) (1363) (-1)
3. Young Corbett III 34-8-3 (12) (1353) (-3)
4. Irineo Flores 34-12-2 (18) (1277) (-1)
5. Jack Sparr 34-16-1 (19) (1082) (+1)
6. Cleto Locatelli 23-5-1 (8) (1049) (-1) (EBU)
7. Johnny Indrisano 23-4-4 (10) (1033) (+5) (USBA)
8. Jackie Fields 25-1-2 (14) (1032) (-1)
9. Young Jack Thompson 30-8-4 (17) (1015) (-1)
10. Tommy Freeman 27-12-2 (12) (971) (+1)

Others: 13. Lope Tenorio 25-10-6 (7) (809) (NC) (OPBF)
23. Jack Hood 22-6-5 (8) (632) (-5) (GBU)

Top Ten: Leonard, Sparr and Thompson enter 1932 at Post-Prime, everyone else at Prime. Not a lot of new faces in the upper echelons of this division, as the top six traded places and there were just two additions to the top 10 (Indrisano, replacing Bermondsey Billy Wells, and Freeman, at #10). McLarnin went 4-0 for the year, starting with a UD 10 over Quintero and then adding the NABF, CBU and WBA titles. Joe Dundee started the year badly, suffering a UD loss to Freeman, then eked out a MD win over JWW Mushy Callahan and was held to a draw by Abe Goldstein, before turning in a huge upset win over Leonard. The loss to Dundee snapped a nine-bout unbeaten string for Leonard, who had impressed with a UD 10 wins over JWW king Jack Kid Berg, EBU Champ Locatelli and OPBF kingpin Tenorio. Corbett split two title bouts but remains a top contender. Ex-Champ Flores struggled to maintain his status as a top contender, posting a UD over Jack Carroll and taking a SD over Young Jack Thompson. Sparr bounced back after losing the NABF title with a DQ win over Willie Harmon. Locatelli retained the EBU title, but suffered UD losses to Leonard and Jack Kid Berg. Indrisano scored a TKO win over Latzo to set up his USBA title shot where he handed Fields his first loss. Fields battled to a draw with Jack Kid Berg, in addition to going 3-1 in USBA title action. Thompson won two of three 1931 encounters, dropping a SD to Flores but defeating Quintero (UD 10) and Levine (SD 10). Freeman moved into the top 10 by virtue of an early season win over Dundee, and a later draw with Baby Joe Gans after falling short in his USBA title try.

Other Notables: Bermondsey Billy Wells fell out of the top 10 for the first time since 1919, after losing the CBU title to McLarnin; he did manage a UD win over Levine. Cuban Manuel Quintero dropped five spots to #14, after going 0-3 for the year. Tenorio, still OPBF Champion, lost to Leonard, drew with GBU Champ Jack Hood, and defeated JWW Mickey Cohen to retain his position. Hood failed to build on his prior success, losing to Don Fraser after defeating Sergeant Sammy Baker and drawing with Tenorio. Two unbeaten prospects are ranked in the top 20: German Gustav Eder, 18-0 (7), debuts at #15, with 1931 wins over Eddie Ran, Andy Callahan and Johnny Adams, and Barney Ross, 16-0 (7), at #20, whose recent conquests included Frankie Britt and Billy Alger. Andy Callahan is the third highest ranked newcomer, at #32, with a 14-2-1 (8) career mark, having lost to both Eder and Ross but recovered with four straight wins, including Eddier Roberts (UD 10) and Pete August (MD 10).

Prospects: Cocoa Kid is one bout away from being ranked, making a perfect 14-0 (9) career start that included wins over Eddie Ran (via TKO), Georgie Ward and Kenny LaSalle (both via UD). Frankie Britt ended the year at 11-2-1 (6), suffering a UD 10 loss to Ross after registering a SD win over Steve Halaiko. LaSalle had been unbeaten until his most recent outing (a loss to Cocoa Kid) lowered his record to 11-1-1 (8); he numbered Halaiko and Baron among his KO victims. Halaiko had run through his TC opposition before back-to-back losses to LaSalle (TKO) and Britt (SD) lowered his record to 11-2 (3). Still unbeaten after facing only TC opposition at this point: Werther Arcelli, 11-0-1 (6); Kid Azteca, 9-0 (5); and Chuck Woods, 8-0 (6). Wildcat O’Connor is off to an impressive 4-0 (3) start.

Retirements: Only two retirements from the WW ranks in 1931.

Morrie Schlaifer (USA) 1920-31 24-16-2 (17) No Titles Highest Rank: 15
Ted Krache (USA) 1921-31 20-17-2 (9) No Titles Highest Rank: 36

Looking Ahead: McLarnin regained the WBA title in 1931, while an era may have come to an end, when Benny Leonard suffered an upset loss to Dundee who moves up to the #1 contender status while “the Great Bennah” hits Post-Prime career stage. Fields also hit a snag in his bid to move up, suffering his first career loss at the hands of Indrisano. Locatelli continued to dominate the European scene, while Bermondsey Billy lost the CBU title he had held for most of the prior decade. German Gustav Eder and American Benny Ross are two hot prospects that have been brought along carefully up to now, but both are well-positioned to challenge for top 10 status in the next year or so. Izzy Jannazzo is the only newcomer set to join the WW ranks in 1932.