¶"I'll take him out in the seventh or eighth round," said Lightweight Champion Joe Brown just before he climbed into the ring in Houston to defend his title against nimble, light-punching Challenger Ralph Dupas. As good as his word, the lean Louisiana Negro put Dupas on the deck three times in the eighth, finally stepped back politely to let Referee Jimmy Webb announce what everyone in the arena already knew: Brown was still the boss of the 135-lb. division.
¶After two months of chess, during which both contestants begged off for occasional bed rest, Challenger Mikhail Botvinnik demonstrated the...