Feb. 11, 1949

Only 3 1/2 months after being knocked out by Sandy Saddler, Willie Pep regains the featherweight crown when he takes a unanimous 15-round decision at a sold-out Madison Square Garden.

Pep, a wily nine-year veteran at 26, comes out strong and shows a dazzling array of jabs, hooks and right crosses as he builds up a big lead. The artful dodger's counterpunching cuts up Saddler, who needs seven stitches to patch the wounds over his eyes.

Pep doesn't come away unscathed. He looks as bad as Saddler after the bout, which Ring Magazine calls the "Fight of the Year." He has a mouse under his right eye and needs 11 stitches -- three over each eye and his left cheek, and two on his right cheek.

"I don't think he'll fight me again," Saddler says.

He's wrong. They will fight twice more, with Saddler winning both in bouts considered among the dirtiest ever.