Taking the title recently won from Graziano into the ring against the challenge of Cerdan, the French "Casablanca Clouter," Zale put up a powerful defense, but was overcome in the 11th and left the championship in his opponent's hands when he did not return for the 12th.  For the 3rd year in a row, the "Man of Steel" was involved in the Fight of the Year, the 1st two against Graziano, and lost all.  This defeat proved his last professional fight, while it was the pinnacle, in professional boxing at least, the the Frenchman's career, for he would lose in his first defense to Jake LaMotta in Detroit in mid June the next year.  Though a rematch was scheduled, before the bout could take place, the flamboyant Cerdan, as the tragic story went, would die flying to New York in that November to meet his great love, the French singing icon of the era, Edith Piaf, who was touring the states, when his Constellation airliner was lost in a crash attempting to land in the Azores in the Atlantic. 
  Despite the heavy promotion of the local angle in the heavyweight contest, boxing records do not show the scheduled Walcott-Lesnevich fight as coming off.  The undercard actually offered one long bout and series of short matches, though the 8-rounder was a bit abbreviated, as Mount Vernon's middleweight Cartier knocked out Mangia in the 1st and the New York boxer sought other work.  Of the 4-round contests, Brooklyn heavyweight King and "Red" Wilson, out of Baltimore, battled to a stalemate over the distance, and the other matches were won by Berman, Gabriel and Dugan, respectively.