.. If there had being no Marciano? Iyo realistically, if there had being no Marciano, so no gruelling war for Jersey Joe, how long does he hold the title?
he was up there in age and had been through a lot of tough fights and could be pretty inconsistent. Could see LaStarza or Moore beating him. Could even see him lose to Charles in yet another rematch. I think Floyd Patterson definitely beats him up (bad matchup for Jersey Joe imo).
Yep I get your points. He was getting on no doubt. But also bear in mind that against Marciano, he was around 8mins from retaining the title. So maybe against some other challengers he'd do OK. But hard to say with Joe. A fifth fight with Charles! I'd make Joe a slight favorite. Moore. Intresting fight. A Patterson V Walcott fight would be passing of the torch fight perhaps.
Revitalized and motivated version of Walcott, but aged nonetheless. He could make a few defenses, but they would all be a risk.
As another talented poster pointed out, Jersey Joe Walcott would have not held the title much longer if there had not been a Rocky Marciano to challenge him. I do have to agree, Walcott had been in wars against Joe Louis and Ezzard Charles and his physical age would be a factor.
With no Marciano a third fight with Joe Louis is a strong possibility. I think you'd have to favour Walcott to finally get the win.
He either loses it back to Charles or perhaps LaStarza upsets him. I do not see him making it all the way to 55 for the Moore fight.
someone mentioned Patterson who wouldn’t come around till years later. He realistically Had two or three good fights left in him. The Ko Marciano put on him would have ended many people’s career. I could see him beating Lastarza and a fight with Moore would have been a classic. Maybe a rematch with Layne? They fought a nail biter previously which saw Layne the winner. The only immediate danger is Layne but he probably runs over the likes of Nino or Baker.
Joe lost four of his final six fights and went 7-7 over his last 5 1/2 years in the ring. Yes a lot of good names in there but he wasn’t head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, he had absolutely no business getting yet another title shot against Ezzard when he finally won the championship. His mob ties made that happen. If there’s no Marciano, there’s plenty enough talent around that someone would have bested him, just as there was before he won the title.
The guys who beat him were as follows. Louis2 Marciano2 Charles2 Layne 1 Plenty of guys lose those. He also has wins owner Charles 2 Maxim 2 Harold Johnson 1 Agromonte 1 Elmer Ray 1 Nail bitters w Layne, Louis, Marciano and Charles. If fighters today actually were this active over their careers one would see a win loss ratio like this…think Evander Holyfield. But he was coming towards the end id imagine he would have a few good fights left. He certainly looked good in Marciano 1.
