A Creaky Louis Stopping A Game Freddie Beshore

That fight Beshore was not Louis most impressive fight in his comeback but you used it to say imagine what Mercer would have done to litle Freddie, Louis always had trouble with short guys ( Godoy, Marciano, Beshore) as did Ali with Jones, Frazier, could you imagine what any version of Joe Louis would do to Jesse Ferguson

 

This is what I responded to, so I guess I am not the only one on the liquid

 

Checking film of Brion against Layne and Charles I think Louis handles Cesar as well as anyone. Especially the second time.

I've just watched both of Louis' fights with Cesar Brion. In The first fight Joe, whilst always in control, appears over economical at times and patient but is not missing. Cesar is a good opponent who wins the first round but from then on Joe contains him, biding his time as if wary of wearing out before the end. He has Brion hanging on at the end when he finally goes to work. It is a very careful defensive performance.

The second fight is so much better. Both seem to have improved. Joe is lighter and sharper. Whilst he is not using combinations of more than two or three punches he is able to beat Cesar to the draw and is more able to predict his leads, finding more space and time. Again Cesar is marked up and again Louis leaves enough in the tank to finish stronger.

Considering Brion is a good current young fighter who was robbed against Layne and held his own with Charles and others, I think this second Cesar Brion fight is Comeback Joe Louis' best win. He uses both hands too.

 

Sounds solid.

 

Look, the post Louis era was pretty weak , filled with blown up light heavyweights and weak cruiser weights for the most part .. by any account Ezzard Charles was an exceptional fighter at middleweight and light heavyweight but look at who he defended his own title against .. far and away the best challenger was an old Walcott. Lesnevich a light heavyweight, Valentino a nothing, Beshore a tiny nothing, Barone a tiny nothing, Oma a plodding small journeyman, Maxim a feather fisted light heavyweight .. a seriously weak gang of contenders for a heavyweight champion .. after losing to an even older Walcott his biggest wins against Rex Layne , seriously ? Walcott is flashy and showy with a great story but in reality he is known for the fights he lost, one Charles fight aside .. I am not saying Joe was not tricky , cagey and dangerous but I personally find him to be very over rated on this forum .. There is no doubt that the 1950's Joe Louis was not remotely close to the Louis of the late thirties and the very early forties, not even close. The fact that this slow, hittable, plodding old man was able to be a contender with essentially a solid left jab say more about the competition than any credit to him .. I personally think the Holyfield that destroyed Rickey Parkey at his cruiserweight prime thrashes any of these guys .. The 1938 Louis would destroy every one of these guys from Charles to Marciano and every challenger in-between ..

 

The level outside of champions Walcott, Charles and Marciano was good.

Layne was good. Brion was good. Lastarza was good. Film bares this out. Then there is Henry, Baker, Baksi, Bucceroni as well as wardogs like Bivins and Maxim still doing the rounds. Satterfeild, Valdes would break through too. Once you get past eventual champions they are no greater and no worse than most top tens throughout the decades. Decent contenders. Within reason of them would make a top ten in any era.

 

Layne and Brion and Lastarza were good compared to who ?

 

They are as good as any compared to the bottom half of most top tens through the decades.

Scott LeDoux, Chuck Wepner, Jose Urtain, Richard Dunn, Randy Neumann legitimately broke into the top ten of supposedly the best decade in heavyweight history.

 

Nick Wells was 5"11 and he KO'd Holmes 2X at the height of Larry's amateur career, so what does height have to do with it and Snipes was 6'2 = 3 inches taller than RM, Shavers was 6" ft even and despite his poor stamina still done well dropping Larry hard

...Archie KO'd 6'2 #1 contender Bob Baker and handled Nino 6"3 2X along with other 6'3.5 contenders Lovell,Henry 6'1,Dugan 6'4, and James Beatie 6'3....Big guys were not winning those days in fact Charles and Walcott had there fair share of Giant Kills

 

I think it was good. It was elegant, and technical. He landed it often, on everyone...even Ezzard Charles.