Since the color line/racism was still effective in those days, I thought I would rank the top black heavyweights of this era. Some of these men were very talented fighters who for one reason or another(mainly due to the color of their skin), never received the big opportunities so they ended up not maximizing their potential. 1. Joe Louis- 6'2 200lb 76" 2. Jersey Joe Walcott- 6'0 195lb 73" 3. Ezzard Charles- 6'0 185lb 72" 4. Elmer Ray- 6'2 195 78" 5. Archie Moore- 5'11 185 76" 6. Jimmy Bivins- 5'9 185 76" 7. George Godfrey- 6'3 225lb 80" 8. Lee Q Murray- 6'4 210lb (?) 9. Lem Franklin- 6'2 200lb 76" 10. Roscoe Toles- 6'2 200lb 11. Larry Gains- 6'1 205 77" 12. Turkey Thompson- 5'8 210lb 73" 13. John Henry Lewis- 6'0 180lb 76" 14. Tiger Jack Fox- 5'11 175lb 75" 15. Obie Walker - 5'9 230lb 16. Harry Bobo- 6'4 220lb 78" 17. Eddie Blunt - 6'0 220lb 18. Hatchetman Sheppard- 5'11 180 19. Leroy Haynes - 6'1 210lb 76" 20. Jack Trammell- 6'6 185lb 80" 21. Ed Bearcat Wright - 6'1 210 22. Buddy Walker - 5'11 195 23. Al Hart- 6'1 225lb 24. Big Boy Bray- 6'1 215lb 25. Willie Reddish- 5'11 190 26. Johnny Haynes- 6'4 220 27. Sid Peaks- 6'3 215 28. Henry "Snow" Flakes- 6'0 195 29. Lou Brooks- 6'0 190lb 30. Clayton Worlds- 6'6 195 31. Big Boy Brown- 6'1 250lb 32. Lorenzo Pack- 5'11 200 33. Yancey Henry- 6' 195 34. Perk Daniels- 6'0 190 35. Tiger Ted Lowry- 5'10 180 HM: Otis Thomas- 5'11 205
35 men listed, and Louis only fought two of them in his 26 title matches. One of them #12 was going blind and Louis gave him a favor. The other arguably defeated him on point in the first match. While not all of these men were active enough for a title shot from 1937-1948 ( Example Godfrey ) the majority were. The excuse that two black fighters would not draw in Louis day is false, as evidenced by the attendance and gates from the Walcott fights. Louis vs Walcott 2: A crowd of 42,667 at Yankee Stadium produced a gate of $841,739.
check out the men that beat the guys on the list and you will see Louis fought the winners such as Pastor and Conn and Galento and Walcott and Charles
Three, two of them the top two, and the only other fighter that made the #1 contender's slot was there for a matter of weeks. Your obsession with the colour of the opponents of Joe Louis is one of the most bizarre things i've ever encountered on this forum. And that's saying something.
Unknown Winston was involved in a lot of fixed fights. That's why I left him off. It's just too "Unknown" whether Unknown was going to show up or not.
Louis fought a lot of big fellows. The three who beat him weighed 192, 181, and 184 respectively. I don't understand this obsession with size. Big and good are two different words, and there is a reason for that.
I accidently left out Henry Snow Flakes. I am updating my list now with SnowFlakes in the new rankings for anyone interested.