Sept. 8, 1950

This is the third bout in a grudge-match series between popular featherweights Willie Pep and Sandy Saddler. Saddler had won the first fight, Pep the second. Before a crowd of 38,781 at Yankee Stadium, 8-5 favorite Saddler regains the title from Pep on an eighth-round TKO.

Saddler registers a knockdown with a looping left hook in the third round, but Pep rebounds to take control of this nasty bout, with each boxer committing his share of dirty tactics. In the seventh round, the fighters scuffle along the ropes. Wincing in pain, Pep returns to his corner with a dislocated shoulder. Though he is ahead on all three cards, he doesn't answer the bell for the eighth round. Pep says Saddler beat him with a double arm lock; Saddler says a punch to the kidneys made the difference.

They will fight a fourth time, in 1951, and Saddler will win on a 10th-round TKO in one of the dirtiest bouts in history. Both fighters subsequently were suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission.