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Here’s a summary of the ring action around the world from the first half of May 1932, covering a total of 56 bouts.

May 6, 1932: The month starts off with a strong Friday night card at Buffalo’s Memorial Auditorium. Vying on the undercard are two top young HW prospects, each with one loss on their career slates, as Patsy Perroni faces King Levinsky. The action starts in the opening stanza when Perroni staggers Levinsky with a big hook to the head and follows up with the bout’s first knockdown later in the round. Levinsky battles back in round three, picking off a Perroni combination and landing a huge shot of his own to send Perroni toppling to the canvas. Late round four, however, Levinsky is troubled by a cut over his right eye that slows his progress heading into the later rounds. Perroni takes advantage of the situation to open a solid points lead. Levinsky battles to the end, but cannot close the gap. The UD 10 goes to Perroni (96-92, 95-93, 96-92). Post-fight records: Perroni (already ranked in the top 20) is 21-1 (3); Levinsky is 17-2-1 (10). The feature matches two Flyweight contenders, with USBA Champ Izzy Schwartz challenging Ruby “Dark Cloud” Bradley for the latter’s NABF title belt. Schwartz is confident, having registered a MD 10 win over Bradley in a prior bout, but he may be handicapped by the effects of aging, having hit Post-Prime career stage in 1932. After a close couple of early rounds, Schwartz gradually pulls ahead in the middle rounds of the bout. Bradley, seeing the title slipping away, presses home the attack in the later rounds, but to no avail. Schwartz takes a rather convincing UD 12 win (117-112 on all three cards) to capture the belt. Post-fight marks: Schwartz, 29-12-2 (7); Bradley, 22-11-4 (5).

May 7, 1932: Next card is at the Palais des Sports in Cannes, France. Headliner is for the EBU MW crown, currently held by Brit Len Johnson. Ex-Champ Rene DeVos, who has been stopped by Johnson in two prior EBU title affairs, is seeking to regain the belt. Things get off to a rocky start for the challenger, who suffers a split lip in round one. However, the cut is patched up and the “Little Fox” is able to gradually build a points lead as the bout wears on. However, when the scores are announced, it is a SD 12, with DeVos barely doing enough (114-116, 115-114, 116-113) to take the title as one of the judges favored Johnson. Post-fight, DeVos is now 48-13-2 (18) while Johnson’s career totals dip to 28-13-2 (16) with the loss.

May 7, 1932: Next card is in Canada, at the Forum in Montreal. A couple of key bouts worth noting here. In the main support, two top 10 HWs collide as Canadian favorite Larry Gains faces Jim Maloney. It’s a non-title affair, but a key “crossroads” fight in the careers of both. Both men start slowly, but the pace picks up in round five when Gains tumbles to the deck after a delayed reaction to a solid hook from Maloney. Maloney, who is suffering the effects of some swelling under his left eye, is unable to follow up, however. Gains is able to regain some momentum in the later rounds, and he goes on to take a popular – with the home crowd – UD 10 win (96-93 on all three cards) but his chin obviously remains a question mark when facing top caliber HWs. Post-fight marks are 31-8 (19) for Gains, and 24-9-1 (22) for Maloney. Then it’s time for the main event, as the vacant Commonwealth BW title (vacated by Johnny King who won the WBA title earlier in the year), with NABF titleholder Bobby Leitham favored against veteran Howard Mayberry. Leitham builds a solid early points lead, peppering Mayberry from all angles, but there is little in the way of dramatic action until the ninth round, when Leitham catches Mayberry with a big uppercut for the bout’s first knockdown. Mayberry arises, struggling on to the finish despite a rapidly swelling right eye. Leitham goes on to take a lopsided UD 12 (120-108, 119-109, 120-108) to add the CBU title belt to his NABF one. The victory moves Leitham’s career totals to 22-4-1 (8). Mayberry, now 32-17-2 (14), is definitely on the downside of his lengthy career.

May 13, 1932: Next Friday night card is at Manila’s Rizal Arena. Several top Filipino BWs, past Champions and potential future stars on the card, headlined by an OPBF title contest. One of the key bouts on the undercard matches ex-WBA kingpin Pete Sarmiento with unbeaten BW prospect, K. O. Morgan. With Morgan well ahead on all three cards and headed to victory, the bout ends suddenly on a TKO stoppage in the final round when Morgan injures his hand and is forced to retire. The TKO 10 lifts Sarmiento to 34-16-6 (21), compared to 16-1-2 (12) for Morgan, who is licking his wounds after suffering his first career defeat. Then, in the main event, Speedy Dado defends the OPBF title against ex-WBA Champ Pablo Dano; both men have held the WBA title in recent years, and Dano is 2-0 in prior meetings. Dado builds an early lead; however, in round eight he walks into a Dano uppercut and drops to the deck in the bout’s first and only knockdown. Despite the knockdown, Dado manages to recover and goes on to take a narrow UD 12 (114-113, 114-113, 117-110). Dado moves to 21-8 (11) with the win; for Dano, it is just his second career loss, leaving him at 22-2-2 (14).

May 14, 1932: The scene shifts to Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis for the next fight card. Not much of interest on the undercard, but the main event has USBA LW Champ Sammy Fuller defending that title against challenger Jack Portney. Fuller builds a slight lead coming out of the first four rounds. Then, Portney digs in, outboxing the Champ through most of the middle rounds. The outcome remains in doubt through the final rounds. In a minor surprise, Portney takes a UD 12 (116-112, 115-114, 116-113) and takes the title. Post-fight records: Portney, 22-3-2 (14); Fuller, 31-6 (8).

May 14, 1932: Another card that day on the West Coast, at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The main support bout features two top five MWs, as Johnny Romero faces Vince Dundee. Not much action in the early rounds, as Romero pounds away and Dundee begins to show the effects, with swelling noticeable under his right eye starting from the bout’s midway point. Near the end of round seven, Romero rocks Dundee with a big hook that finds its target. A round later, Romero follows up with a huge shot to score the bout’s only knockdown. Dundee manages to last the distance, but the judges call it a UD 10 for Romero by a wide margin (97-91, 98-90, 98-90). The win moves Romero to 22-4 (15) and enhances his call for a title shot. Dundee slips to 29-7-1 (13) with the loss. The main event is a USBA JWW title bout, with Mickey Cohen defending against top-ranked contender, Battling Shaw. It’s a bruising battle, and both men show signs of swelling as a result of the accumulated blows. As it turns out, Cohen confounds the experts as he manages to keep the belt via a UD 12 (117-111, 115-113, 116-112), and Shaw must go back to the drawing board. Post-bout records: Cohen, 18-12-1 (9); Shaw, 19-2-2 (11).