Where was Jimmy Bivins Title Shot

I think the guy peaked during the frozen title period of the war years. He was certainly better than many men who fought for a title, but I understand how he missed out.

 

James Louis Bivins. alias, Cleveland Spider-Man:
Bivins fought an Exhibition with Joe Louis in 1948, then actual fight in 1951:

"A couple months after Bivins beat Mauriello (1943), Louis presented Bivins with a cardboard crown and bestowed him with the honorary title of "duration" heavyweight champion.
"You're the champ while I'm gone," Louis told Bivins.
It was a spectacular moment. Bivins, who later joined the Army himself, knew Louis respected him as the No. 1 contender. The two men would surely fight for the title when the war was over.
But it never happened. Louis refused, choosing to fight lesser-ranked boxers instead.

Bivins grew increasingly bitter and, as the years passed, obsessed with the idea of whomping Louis.

"All I wanted was a chance. I deserved a chance," Bivins told people.

In the late 1940s, Bivins finally sparred with Louis in a meaningless exhibition. A few days later, Bivins' wife told police her husband had beaten her unconscious.

Dollie Bivins said the violence erupted while Bivins was telling her how he could earn $500,000 in a fight with Louis. When Bivins paused and asked his wife what she was cooking for dinner, she told him they had no money for food.

Bivins, she said, punched her in the head.

When a reporter called Bivins to get his side of the story, Bivins was watching a film of Louis battling another boxer. He denied hitting his wife. "Maybe our prosperity has gone to her head," Bivins said.

Bivins and Joe Louis wouldn't meet again until 1951, when Louis was trying to make a comeback. Louis bet his whole purse that he would knock out Bivins in four rounds.

Louis lost the bet.

After the fourth round, Bivins was undaunted. Showing off his 76-inch wingspan, he taunted the champ, "I'm still here, I'm still here." Outraged, Louis punched Bivins in the back so hard that he broke a rib.
more:
https://www.cleveland.com/obituaries/index.ssf/2012/07/jimmy_bivins_was_a_top_clevela.html

 

Good article. I always felt bad for Jimmy when he was found years later locked in a loft somewhere as an old man, but I feel less bad if he knocked women around. I know Archie Moore despised him.

 

None of this additional information appears in any bio of Louis I have read.Im not saying it didn't happen but I do find it rather strange that this is the first I've heard of it. having said that its always good to read stuff,thanks for putting it up.

 

Thanks, I learned a few new things here.

I think that what really shafted Bivins, was Ring Magazines decision to freeze the rankings for the duration of the war.

Fighters who had been inactive for years, simply leapfrogged over his head.

 

To be clear, he was duration light heavyweight and heavyweight champion. And do you think he could have got a title shot at at least one of them? Here is a report on his non-title 10 rounder with reigning champ Lesnevich.

1942-03-11 : Jimmy Bivins 176¼ lbs beat Gus Lesnevich 178 lbs by UD in round 10 of 10

• Location: Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
• Referee: Joe Sedley

"Jimmy Bivins, hard-punching Cleveland negro, saw his hopes of a light-heavyweight title match with Gus Lesnevich fade today despite - or perhaps because of - the decisive whipping he gave the champion in a non-title 10 round bout last night. Despite the NBA edict that Bivins be given a title match "within 60 days" if he should win, Lew Diamond, manager of Lesnevich, effectively spiked any future bout. Bivins battered Lesnevich into the ropes with a heavy right in the 1st round - a punch acknowledged by Gus to have slowed him throughout the fight. Bivins dumped Lesnevich on the seat of his trunks in the 2nd round, but the champion got up before a count and successfully evaded Bivins' attempts to land a knockout punch." -United Press

• Unofficial UP scorecard - 7-2-1 Bivins

Post fight comment

• "Gus joins the Coast Guard March 15th. He won't be able to fight for two months while he's in training. And when he does fight, he'll defend his title against a serviceman in a General MacArthur benefit boxing show. There isn't a chance of Lesnevich fighting Bivins again." -Lew Diamond, Lesnevich's manager

 

You would expect him to beat Lesnevich but, like Lloyd Marshall he never got the chance. for the title

 

Theoretically true. However, Conn's ranking of number one was smoke and mirrors. The Ring had frozen the titles but not the ratings. Conn held no title and should have been held to the same rules as the others. But the big Louis-Conn rematch was something everyone wanted to see, and despite not having laced up a glove in 4 years, Conn was suddenly elevated to the number one contender according to Ring. It was total BS and Ring was wrong for doing this. Call it a title fight if you will, but don't bestow a ranking on someone without earning it. As for Mauriello, I can't say Tami didn't deserve his title shot because he did. Bivins dropped three in a row by '46 after an undefeated 4 year run and despite beating Tami twice in recent years Tami was now more prominent. But still, it kinda sticks in your craw seeing a guy that you beat twice getting the shot. As for Walcott, he beat Bivins in '46 and did deserve his shot so I can't say much for that one. The Bivins prime was probably from '42-'44 and although I would always feel Louis would win. it would have been great to see, if not for the war years.

 

Bovins didnt get a title shot because the war froze the titles. He would never have beaten Louis anyway. Despite what that article says Bivins ran like crazy when he faced an old shot Louis who had nothing left but a jab. He would have been better served staying at 175 and Im not sure he beats Conn there. Thats thing. The war may have benefitted Bivins because without the war the talent pool of the divisions he fought in would have been much deeper. Bivins won his bogus duration title by two close wins over Mauriello who Louis knocked out easily in one round after getting out of the service. He drew one, lost one, and won one with Bettina in their fights but Conn had defeated Bettina twice in title fights earlier. So its not like Bivins is this monster looming on the horizon that these guys were lucky to avoid. Both would have been favorites to beat him.

 

Bivins got screwed over. He would've given Joe Louis a good fight in his prime. Had a real shot of winning either the Light Heavyweight or Heavyweight title.

 

Fleischer and his “ratings committee” (which was nothing more than his old fronies from his newspaper days) ranked fighters however it suited them, new york boxing, and magazine sales. Ive never understood why people consider Ring ratings the gold standard.

 

I don't give him a realistic chance with Louis and I think Conn beats him too.

 

I suppose most of us of a certain age grew up with them,them and Boxing Illustrated,whose rankings. rightly or wrongly were seen as those of the B teams.

 

How exactly did he get screwed over?