Joe Louis vs Lem Franklin- Early 1942

When? After he broke his hand on Simon's head?
When was he fit to fight Louis? Which was the earliest date?

ps Somebody else had already beat him Eddie Simms twice once by ko.

Two people actually as Tony Musto, Louis ko victim also beat Franklin
Simms fought Louis .

Below

Simms lasted 26 seconds.

1936-12-14

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Joe Louis

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Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio, USA L TKO 1 10
time: 0:26 | referee: Arthur Donovan
Referee Donovan stopped the bout because "another blow might have resulted fatally." This is the first time Simms had been knocked out in 52 contests. (AP

 

Hell, yeah. But certain little things got in the way.

 

There was a window of opportunity for Franklin after he beat Simon and Joe could have fought him instead but 4 months later Franklin was KO'd by Pastor and lost 8 of his next 10 fights 7 by KO and a draw so hard to think he would have a chance vs Joe

 

Franklin beat Simon on October20th 1941
He broke his hand in that fight

Franklin got back in the ring on Jan 29th 1942 to fight O'Gatty

He then fought Joe Reiss on 24th of Feb 1942
If we take the O 'Gatty date as the earliest date Franklin was fit to fight with two hands[,it was the second time he had broken the hand,] that gives us from 29th Jan 1941 till
the 24th of Feb 1942 when he fought Pastor and eliminated himself.
That gives Louis a window of opportunity to fight Franklin of
TWENTY TWO DAYS.:think

 

Louis still should have given Franklin that shot. Lem still would've probably lost, but Louis would have known he was in a fight.

 

Franklins window was so short its almost nil and had they fought Louis would have knocked his head off anyway. Its one of the biggest non controversies some people make of boxing.

 

My guess is you two didn't have Thanksgiving dinner together this year.

 

It is likely that Joe Louis would have wiped the floor with Lem Franklin on the latter's best day. In addition, Franklin had an extremely short shelf life as a heavyweight contender, only a few months at best. As a result, I can't believe that someone can even entertain the thought that Joe Louis was ducking Franklin.

- Chuck Johnston

 

I am not certain that he would have.

Franklin is exactly the kind of guy that Louis might just have walked through.

 

It should have happened. Louis stood up for equal sporting rights in golf but failed to apply the same vigor in terms of selecting black title opponents in boxing where he had the most control.

 

When exactly should Franklin's defeat have been scheduled?

Allowing for a reasonable training camp for both fighters?

 

1941 or 1942.

Franklin was the #2 contender in 1941 by ring magazine annual ratings, and quite possibly could have been #1 in the monthly rating for a period of time.

Franklin was on a roll. He won 18 fights in a row and defeated Bivins, Musto, and Simon!

Franklin KO over Simon 5 in and KO over Musto in 2!

It took Louis longer to stop the same guys. KO 13 and 6 ( Simon's last fight ) over Simon, and KO 9 Over Musto.

Hmmm....

Musto was a joke of a title defense for Joe Louis. Not only was he 29-10-1, he also lost 4 of his last 6 fights, then suddenly got a title shot from Louis.

 

Not specific enough.

Louis had a career schedule, just like Wlad today.

When is it logical for him to fight Franklin, as opposed to fighting somebody else, or recovering from his last fight?

 

Of those 29 wins, one was over Curtess Sheppard,one over Buddy Knox, a 3 rds ko over Johnny Risko,and a win over a guy called Lem Franklin.

 

Let's not forget that Franklin did also lose to Musto, and needed three attempts to beat Eddie Simms, whom Louis KO'd in 30 seconds.

In June 1941 Louis KO'd #1 ranked Conn and in September 1941 he KO'd #1 ranked Nova. Two men higher ranked than Franklin. The following month Franklin broke his hand in a win over Abe Simon, which put him out of action for several months.

Louis defended against Buddy Baer in January 1942. You could say Franklin was more deserving, except that would mean Franklin having to fight Louis whilst still recovering from his broken hand. Franklin beat two journeymen and then in February 1942 got KO'd by two-time Louis victim Pastor and was never in contention again. He went 2-7, 6 losses by KO after losing to Pastor.

There was only a small timeframe when you can say Franklin was in the hunt for a shot at Louis but in the mean time Louis fought two higher ranked men, then Franklin got injured, and then he lost to another contender and declined pretty rapidly. He was certainly no Harry Wills.