I'm now convinced that prime Joe Louis may have stopped AJ

You’ll never get the hero worshippers to admit that Louis had any glaring weaknesses or limitations. They pretty much want you to believe that he shuffled around and struggled for 12+ rounds against little guys like Walcott and Conn by choice.

 

And you seemed unable or unwilling to admit that he deployed footwork, despite the evidence of your own eyes.

I don't have to prove that it was sublime, in order to prove that he could use it to close distance!

 

That is basically what happened.

Rightly or wrongly, his strategy was to make them move around more than he did.

In the case of the Conn fight he probably should have forced matters more, but in the case of the Walcott fight's he made exactly the right call.

 

Lewis is still well above AJ and then some. I would also back Louis.

 

Another perfect example of you being unable to provide actual, specific examples. It’s almost as if you don’t actually watch his fights...

And for the record, almost any fighter “can” use footwork to close distance. It’s a lot harder for some fighters though, particularly those who are naturally most comfortable taking small, shuffling steps forward.

 

No offense but this is nonsense. The right call would have been for him to deploy his stealth footwork to close distance against the smaller, older Walcott, to knock him out early. It most certainly was not to not shuffle around after him round after round, losing the fight in the eyes of many viewers.

 

Not at the same point in their careers he isn't.

 

Louis was a past prime champion, taking on the best defensive heavyweight in the world.

If he had gone after Walcott early in the fight, he would have tired himself out, and Walcott would have taken over in the second half.

If Louis had been ten years younger, then a more aggressive strategy might have been advisable.

If Walcott had made a mistake early, then fair enough, but you don't gamble everything on getting him early as an older fighter.

Louis made the right call, and won the fights the only way he could.

 

I have told you which fights to watch in the past.

You only need to use your eyes.

 

It's literally downnright unfair to compare AJ at this stage of his career to the brown bomber. Louis would literally pummel him. I honestly don't think it'd be particularly close. How about wait till his career's over before we start matching him against greats let alone, quite possibly the greatest heavy of all time.

 

Louis probably wouldn't even be a HW if he were around today.

 

Wise words.

 

With Louis defense, and chin, I have the same questions. Joshua could pick his range and have an stationary target.

But one thing I'm sure of, Louis would not opt out of a fight he's losing, his effort to win would be strong. Parker's wasn't

 

Maybe so but that would probably leave him laying on the canvas.

 

If Louis were around today he would be at a fighting weight slightly bigger (but not a great deal) than in his own era. So maybe you're right for the first part of his career. He could be the greatest cruiser ever. But I think he would make a great heavy, too. Certainly good enough to see off many pretenders today.