Let’s take 1937 Joe Louis and plop him into 1952. So vs Braddock version faces Walcott for title and go from there fighting all the same defenses. How does he do?
I know its a joke but I can see Louis getting kicked out of the sport for being too dangerous. The HWs of Marcianos period are just too delicate. If a fighter cripples half the top 10 at what point does the government step in?
You know Louis before he lost to Ali said Liston was on his way to becoming the greatest heavyweight of alltime. Said that on the TV broadcast of the first Ali Liston pre fight of course. Heres the thing if you say Louis would retire before he had to fight Liston he became number 1 contender in 1960 (of course Cus D Amato ducked him for 2 plus years) Louis would be only about 31. That fell during WW 2 so its the Louis we never saw but towards the end of the war but he wouldn't have had the ring rust. Still 31 seems young for him to retire espeically if hes knocking everyone out. Actually after Rocky retired the division got alot better in the late 50s with Floyd coming of age Machen, Folley, Big Cat Williams and of course Liston. These guys before they reached their peaks beat all the contenders that were left from Marciano era.