Anyone Think Tiger Jack Fox Should Have FoughtLouis For Title?

Len Franklin was coming into his own just before the start of WW2. Like Bivins his title aspirations may have been quashed during those war years. Add 10 or more defenses to Louis reign without WW2 and both Lem and Bivins (certainly Bivins) may have gotten their title shot.

 

I think by fighting Conn who beat Bettina 2X and beating Gus Lesnevitch (who beat Bettina he eliminates Bettina and Franklin was KO'd by Bob Pastor (who Louis KO'd ) among others

I think we are picking hairs with Louis while many champions get a pass....reminds me of the Vlad Klitschko criticism but when Floyd does the same thing and wins its genius

 

I am not saying that Louis should have fought these men, I am saying that they have the most credible cases, of all the contenders that he didn't fight.

These are the few that might be worth looking at seriously.

 

Tiger Jack Fox was never rated at all at heavyweight, so this criticism makes no sense.

Fox did indeed get a shot at the title--the light-heavyweight title, the division in which he was rated in, and was stopped in nine by Bettina.

Why he should get a shot at Louis eludes me totally. Bettina would seem to have been the better contender, but he lost to Conn. The stabbing might or might not have been critical, but losing to the light-heavy champ for whatever reason is a pretty poor argument for getting a shot at the heavy champion.

By the way, why Joe Louis didn't defend between early 1942 and 1945 is obvious. It is the same reason that Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams (as well as many other major league players) did not play baseball between 1943 and 1945, and Clark Gable and James Stewart (and many other movie actors) did not make commercial films during the war years--all those men were in the military.

Louis should only be judged on meeting the top contenders from 1937 to 1941, and 1946 to 1948--

Of the men rated #1 or #2 during those years at heavy,

Louis fought--Max Schmeling, Tommy Farr, Lou Nova, Max Baer, Tony Galento, Bob Pastor, Arturo Godoy, Billy Conn, Tami Mauriello, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles

Louis did not fight--Lem Franklin (#2 at end of 1941) and Elmer Ray (#2 in 1946 and 1947)

Louis fought Baer before and Charles after his championship reign.

Of the top contender during the war, Jimmy Bivins, Louis fought him in 1951.

I think Franklin came and went so fast that Louis had very little real opportunity to fight him. Conn and Nova were the top contenders in the summer of 1941.

There is a case for Louis defending against Ray in 1947. The only fair case in my judgment.

 

I think his claim rested more on beating Walcott in 1946, but he lost to Walcott in a rematch in March of 1947.

Charles was a light-heavyweight when Ray beat him in July of 1947.

Walcott was definitely the #1 contender after his victory over Ray in 1947 and he got the deserved shot at Louis.

The window for Ray would have been in early 1947, and during that period Louis didn't defend against anyone.

No doubt the bottom line is that Walcott and Charles proved themselves clearly better than Ray in rematches.

 

Elmer Ray was the #1 ranked heavyweight contender in early 1947. He lost that ranking and a potential title fight with Joe Louis, when he was defeated by Jersey Joe Walcott on March 1, 1947. Ray would subsequently go on to defeat future champion Ezzard Charles on a split decision, before Charles knocked him out in the 9th round on May 7, 1948, ending his title hopes for good. Ray was a big guy and a hard puncher. His porous defense and questionable chin may have been troublesome fighting Louis.

 

Another issue which should be mentioned, is the decision to freeze the titles during the war.

I am not saying that ring Magazine were wrong to do it, but Bivins was the main looser out of it.

He put together an impressive body of work during the war years, only to see a lot of recently inactive men leapfrog over his head.

Obviously not Louis's fault, but it has to be looked at.