If Joe Louis Had Never Come Around?

Jersey Joe Walcott would perhaps have gained sooner attention & opportunity... He is an Elite Fighter anyway.

 

I can't see anybody holding the title for very long, and you would expect it to change hands a lot.

Nobody was a standout, and champions of the era were expected to fight strong contenders.

 

That's about it in a nutshell!

 

Schmeling wins it back, after that it gets fuzzy

 

I kind of think the same Politics would still apply and Schmeling gets no shot at Braddock. I'm thinking Braddock either rematches Baer or starts his march down the Joe Louis list, skipping over Schmeling if he gets that far. Farr, Mann, Thomas...

 

So who are the likely winners in this scenario?

I think it is quite likely that either Max Schmeling or Max Baer, would have become the first two time world champion, but I doubt that either of them holds it for very long.

After that the title changes hands a lot.

Farr, Pastor, Goddoy, Conn, Nova, Baer Jr and Bivins could all plausibly hold the title before the war, or just as plausibly never hold it.

If there is one of them who simply too good not to hold it at some point then it is Conn, but the timing is not on his side.

After the war the picture muddies even further.

The titles are frozen, so whoever holds it before the war might hold it after, and they might be oven ready to be taken.

Men like Bettina, Bivins, and Mauriello might be able to exploit this chaos.

After that brief honeymoon, Ray is coming for them, then Walcott is coming for them.

Frankly Walcott is probably too good not to hold it, significantly earlier than he did in the actual timeline, then Charles is coming for him.

Their rivalry might even see one or both of them become a two time champion.

Whichever of them comes out on top, is on a collision course with Marciano, then the actual timeline reasserts itself.

 

Difficult to say. Schmeling was ageing, Baer too. I think Lee Savold would have been in the mix.

 

Ray?

 

No one defines the era. It'll be chaos.

 

Elmer Ray.

I'll stick with a JJW possibility though.

 

Elmer Ray split a series with Walcott and Charles, and he was the #1 contender before either of them.

It is not far fetched to imagine a scenario where he holds the title briefly.

 

Almost 20 yrs of the championship changing
hands with no truly dominant champ until
Marciano arrives.

 

Boxing would be a lot less interesting.