fire" by allowing the bout to go fifteen rounds. Dundee successfully defended his junior lightweight crown three times before losing it to Jack Bernstein on May 30, 1923. They fought at the Coney Island Velodrome, in front of a crowd of 15,000. Dundee was expected to win; however, he lost a unanimous fifteen round decision despite knocking Bernstein down in the third round knockdown. Less than two months later, Dundee was given the opportunity to fight featherweight champion, and war hero, Eugene Criqui. He lost 28 pounds in four weeks in order to fight him, making 126 pounds on the days of the fight. Criqui had beaten Johnny Kilbane two days after Dundee's fight with Bernstein, with a sixth round knockout. However, part of the contract for this fight required that he give Dundee a shot at the title within sixty days. Fifty-four days later, on July 26, 1923, Dundee fought Criqui. He knocked him down four times and beat him by a fifteen-round decision. Controversial decision On December 17, 1923, Dundee fought Jack Bernstein again at Madison Square Garden. The fight ended in a Split Decision. Several newspapers, including the New York Times, wrote that the judges made the wrong decision. Author Ken Blady wrote that several of the judges may have been influenced to vote against Bernstein. The Milwaukee Sentinel echoed by printing "By probably the worst decision in local boxing history, Johnny Dundee of Jersey City regained his Junior Lightweight championship from Jack Bernstein." In contrast, the Milwaukee Journal noted that Dundee finished strong in the bout, and agreed with the decision. The paper also noted "the sentiment of the crowd, based on the fighters' round by round showing, was that Bernstein had won easily." With the win, Dundee had unified the featherweight title and the junior lightweight title. Later career Less than a year after unifying the title, Dundee lost the junior lightweight title to Steve "Kid" Sullivan on June 20, 1924. He then relinquished the featherweight crown, on August 10, 1924, at his manager's urging because he had outgrown (in weight) the 126 pound weight limit. The last significant fight of his career was in 1927 when he challenged featherweight champion Tony Canzoneri, but lost a 15-round decision. After a three year retirement, Dundee tried to stage a comeback in 1932. However, two fights into it, he officially retired after posting a six-round decision win