Today in Boxing History: Joey Maxim KOs Freddie Mills
Maxim had been fighting as a professional for nine years and had faced some of the best of his era, including Ezzard Charles and Jimmy Bivins, when he signed to fight Mills. The British Mills had won the title with a decision over Gus Lesnevich in 1948. Maxim was his first defense of the belt.
The bout was an exercise in facial damage, and Mills’ handlers had to fish loose teeth out of his mouth following the seventh and eighth rounds. Midway through the tenth, Maxim nailed Mills with a left to the solar plexus and followed it with a short, smashing one-two. The champion went to the canvas for good.
Mills retired after the bout, while Maxim held the title for more than two years before losing it to Archie Moore in 1952.