Anyone Think Tiger Jack Fox Should Have FoughtLouis For Title?

Fox fought Henry Lewis only months after he was stabbed in the back...he had not fully recovered from these wounds....fox was only 50 percent for the fight.


I think Louis should have defended his title against Fox over roper Thomas McCoy paycheck. tiger fox was a legitimate opponent at his best

 

Fox was a lt hwt contender not a hwt or a world champion. There was no reason to give him a title shot.

 

This I did not know. So the loss to John Henry Lewis has an * next to it.

 

It's not a question whether who was a better or worse fighter. The issue is was Fox even on the radar? He was a west coast fighter and campaigned at a lower weight division. Did he even want a title shot since he was doing nothing to obtain one!!!!

 

Ring Magazine had him rated #1 at light heavyweight.

Back in those days it was common for light heavies to fight heavies. Fox had a very good record while Louis was champion for a few years, and was a hall of fame level fighter. Ring Magazine lists Fox in their all time top 100 list.

 

So what if there were?

Just because somebody is better than one of Joe Louis's tune up's, doesn't mean that he owed them a shot at the title.

If you are going to level criticism against a champion for not fighting a given contender, there has to be a specific window where they were a highly ranked contender.

 

No one disputes he was a lt hwt contender. That in of itself does not warrant a hwt championship title shot! Do we blame Holmes for not giving Yaqui Lopez a title shot?????

 

There is absolutely no obligation for a heavyweight champion, to meet somebody ranked in another weight class.

Louis was more than within his rights to look elsewhere.

 

We are talking about different things.

Question for you, do you think Louis should have fought more than two black men in his 26 title defense OR do you think the white heavies of the time were that much better and he should have skipped over the entire group, save Henry Lewis who was ill and Walcott?

 

What group?

 

Walcott was a leading contender and Lewis lt heavyweight champion. Both valid reason to give them title shots.

 

I think that Louis should have fought the best contenders, regardless of color, with the exception of the odd tune up fight.

I couldn't care less how many black contenders Louis fought, I judge it on a case by case basis.

Yes Farr, Schmeling, Pastor and Nova were much better than the available black contenders, at the height of Louis's title reign.

Yes there were not many black contenders who established a strong title challenge, during the period while Louis was active.

The fact that Lem Franklin probably has the best case, speaks volumes.

 

I thought Franklin was #1 at some point, but lets put a pin in that for now. Louis was a lot more active when Franklin was being discussed as a contender, than he was when Ray was being discussed as a contender.

I think that when you cut through the fog of time, the serious names to look at are Bettina primarily, Franklin, Bivins and Ray.