A friend of mine sent me a book review of a biography, Toy Bulldog: The Life and Times of Mickey Walker, by John Jarrett. Unfortunately, the publication which had the review wasn't listed. According to the review, Walker netted in the region of $20,000. a month for about three years while paving the way for New Jersey bootleggers by paying off local cops to the tune of ten dollars per case of hooch starting about 1924. While Walker may have been involved in a bootlegging operation, I find it hard to believe that he was netting in the region of $20,000. a month for about three years. That was a tremendous amount of money during the 1920s. If Walker was making that type of money, why did he continue being a professional boxer during that period of time? After all, I doubt if Walker was netting that type of money in the fight game after training expenses, the manager's cut and taxes were deducted. - Chuck Johnston
Id find anything in Jarretts book hard to swallow considering he didnt use a single source from Elizabeth (which had two good newspapers that covered Walker and boxing extensively) and unless Im mistaken he didnt even use any sources from New Jersey.
I'm not saying it true but .. It is plausible because there was a tremendous amount of money in the bootlegging. He was already champion of the world in that period, so why would he quit boxing? He was getting good purses and maybe he enjoyed fighting. Walker was a big attraction and I'm guessing he netted comparable money. Every bit of money helps. Even if his net income from boxing came in at equivalent of $5000 month, he'd be stupid to quit. Also, boxing provided legal income.
Mickey Walker certainly was a fine gate attraction for a non-heavyweight at the time, but I don't think he was a great one. I have read that Walker was angling for a bout with Benny Leonard before the latter retired. Of course, Leonard was a tremendous gate attraction, especially in New Jersey and New York. - Chuck Johnston
The individual who wrote the book review of Toy Bulldog, The Fighting Life and Times About Mickey Walker got the following impressions: 1. "As a fighter, Walker appears to have been something of a pocket Dempsey, his ring tactics involving nothing more complicated than hounding and pounding his opponents into submission." Note- According to many other sources, Walker had plenty of boxing skill. 2. "His (Walker's) decision to take on the big boys in the wake of Gene Tunney's abdication as heavyweight champion proved to be a limited success; though capable of beating second-raters like Johnny Risko, Bearcat Wright and Paulino Uzcudun, and of earning a draw against Jack Sharkey (of which Mr. Jarrett concludes that, "It is possible that Sharkey was under wraps," following a suggested intervention by long-time Walker admirer, Al Capone), he was so badly beaten by Max Schmeling in 1932 that Walker's trainer, Teddy Hayes, promptly quit boxing altogether." Note- Despite the loss to Schmeling, Walker had an astounding amount of success against heavyweights, especially for a fighter who once held world titles in the welterweight and middleweight divisions. Risko and Uzcudun could be very tough customers even if they may have fallen short of being top contenders. Moreover, how could Al Capone, who was based in Chicago and fighting a charge of tax evasion at the time, could have any influence on the outcome of the Sharkey-Walker bout, which took place at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York in 1931? - Chuck Johnston
This guy is an idiot if he thinks Walker just "hounded and pounded" his opponents into submission. Walker was extremely versatile. He could box as well as punch and was an excellent athlete. Anyone who thinks he was just a straight ahead slugger should watch the film of his fight with Hudkins. He had a really tough time with Hudkins the first time around and in the rematch he made it a much easier time by just moving and boxing.
I didn't think that Mickey Walker could compete with bigger fighters if he was a "straight ahead" slugger. J. J. Johnston told me that he saw the film of the second bout between Mickey Walker and Ace Hudkins, noting that Walker won with his boxing skills. Walker trained for his second bout with Hudkins at Pop Soper's camp, which was located near Ojai, California. Dave Shade also trained Soper's for his bout with Hudkins, which he won handily with a fine boxing performance. I myself live in Ventura, which is located about fifteen miles south of Ojai. - Chuck Johnston
