Who was the better heavyweight Tami Mauriello or Elmer a Ray?

Ray did fight Turkey Thompson. Thompson ko'd him in the first round.
I found this interesting though I have no way of knowing how accurate it is.

https://thegruelingtruth.net/boxing/elmer-ray-the-humble-man-of-hastings/

 

11 guys ko'd Greb but the films were lost. Now go back to bed and get up the right side for once.

 

What makes you think I'm not in a good mood?

 

I can feel the negative vibes from across the Atlantic.....

 

Impressive!

 

Thanks for posting this. A lot of interesting info on Elmer Ray.

I noticed that according to this article it was Ray who KO'd Burley, which does make more sense considering the size difference.

Ray was in my opinion one of the outstanding contenders never to fight for a championship.

Nice to know he had a positive post-fight life.

 

"Walcott and Charles would go on to win the lineal heavyweight title"

"Without that factoid"

Aren't the two men later becoming champions just facts. Why dismiss either as a factoid?

"Mauriello as being more deserving of a title shot than Ray"

In September of 1946, yes. I don't think Louis merits any criticism for defending against Mauriello. He had been a contender for years. Ray didn't get his first big win until he took out Savold in August, 1946. Mauriello had already beaten Savold twice. The win over Walcott came in November. The win over Charles in 1947.

But the issue in this thread is whether Ray or Mauriello was the better fighter. For me, it is pretty clear that Ray reached a much higher peak than Mauriello did. And I also think Mauriello was overrated in the Ring rankings to some extent. Who was the best he beat? Savold? Oma? Woodcock? Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but with hindsight these were not the most dangerous foes out there.

Ray managed wins over the best he fought, who were better than anyone Mauriello beat. Louis aside, Mauriello went 0-7 against Bivins, Lesnevich, and Baksi, the best he fought.

 

In Ottey's book of Burley he says Ray,annoyed at Burley making him look silly, went for blood and Burely kod him with a single right hand Burley was under 160lbs at the time.I made a thread about it.

"According to Harry Ottey ,in his excellent biography of Charley Burley ,which I took for holiday reading on my kindle.Burley, weighing under 160lbs ko'd the 200lbs plus Ray in a sparring session with a single right hand , this occurred when Ray got too frisky and wanted to put on a show for the spectators.After Burley made him look foolish by effortlessly slipping his big punches ,he grew frustrated and pushed Charley through the ropes. Burley wearing no head gear ,[he seldom did,] climbed back in the ring ,drew another big swing from the Violent one,and countered with a perfectly timed right hand that sparked him for several minutes. I recommend the book, it has a lot of detail and facts about Burley and the Murderers Row. "

mcvey, Apr 8, 2017 Edit Report

 

1947
JJoe Louis, Champion

1. Jersey Joe Walcott
2. Elmer Ray
3. Lee Q. Murray
4. Pat Comiskey
5. Joe Baksi
6. Tommy Gomez
7. Joey Maxim
8. Turkey Thompson
9. Bruce Woodcock
10. Phil Muscato

Why was Ray rated above Thompson at the end of 47 when Thompson ko'd him in one round in March/April of that year?

 

Thompson KO'd Ray in 1943, not 1947. Ray was rated higher by this time because he had beaten Walcott and Charles. I think Ray had gone something like 57-1 since that Thompson loss, while Thompson had suffered several losses.

 

Yes you're right and I'm wrong ,I think my point to Suze still stands though, a fighters status is always in a state of flux depending on their respective results.

 

My point is that nobody knew that it was going to happen while Ray was a contender, so a win over Walcott or Charles when you had also lost against them, probably didn't look all that impressive.

Mauriello's win over Lou Nova probably looked a lot more compelling at the time!

Then we are on the same page with this.

Again in hindsight.

The best that Mauriello fought apart from obviously Louis would be Bob Pastor, who he held to a draw. Pastor was coming off wins over Franklin and Bivins, and was a 6-1 favorite over Mauriello, who was only in his sixth outing at heavyweight. It is said that Pastor was slated for a third meeting with Joe Louis in July of 1942 before this encounter.

When Mauriello met Lou Nova, Lee Savold had already beaten him, and Savold would likely have got Joe Louis next on the strength of this win, had Louis not gone into the army. Mauriello then beat Lee Savold, and Lou Nova back to back. After this there was some talk of him being the interim champion instead of Bivins. The bottom line is that if Louis had not gone into the army, he might have crossed paths with Mauriello sooner. The likely candidates for his next fight would have been Savold and Mauriello.