Joe Walcott vs Zora Folley, Clevelend Williams and Eddie Machen

If it is peak versus peak, then I am confident the best Walcott beats most or all of them.

 

Really prime Walcott could easily go 3-0 and I picked him to go 3-0 even though I think he could stumble against one of these opponents.

 

Machen Folley and Williams lost to a lot of 50s guys. Some of you deny simple realities you could see on boxrec.

 

Walcott at his best could likely beat any one of them. However, like others have mentioned, he tended to be inconsistent. And a lacksaidasal version of Walcott can lose to any one of them as well. All in all though, he was pretty consistent from 1945-47

 

Yes, they were good fighters, but let's not get carried away on two fronts. One, making them out to be equivalents to ATG world beaters simply because they lost to Liston who lost to Muhammad Ali. Second, making them the equivalent to the super heavyweight dreadnoughts that came along later. Size wise, Folley, Machen and Williams would not have been out of place in the 1930s and 1940s. They were no bigger than the heavyweights of those eras. Williams would be bigger than most like he was in his actual time but he's no Riddick Bowe or Anthony Joshua.

 

I think Walcott overpowers the defensive-minded Machen & outmaneuvers/outfoxes the counterpunch-minded Foley.

Perhaps surprisingly, I think Williams poses the biggest threat out of the 3, given his combined size & firepower.

 

I think he beats them all but of course it’s when he’s at his absolute best

 

No homo but I think I just bust a nut.

 

Walcott like Bernard Hopkins put it all together late in life but from the time he fought Joe Louis to the first Marciano fight he was prime. That version would beat them all.

I met him in the 70's he was a promotional salesman for my friends' company - He was strong, thick shoulders and scary head and neck - I met Holmes- Ali- and so many heavyweights over the years but Jersey Joe and Joe Frazier (although not tall were the most impressive physically)

 

On his best day, I’d pick him H2H against them, but I don’t believe he’d beat them all consecutively in a real life scenario.

 

It's pretty simple, substitute Folley for Joe Baksi, Williams for Elmer Ray, and Machen for Lee Oma. Walcott is clearly superior to all three but he sometimes overestimated how ahead he was and played it too safe. He losses a close decision and thrashes whoever he lost to in a rematch, the other two he beats convincingly.

 

Not only was Walcott inconsistent. He wasn't that good. But I do think he would pip one, likely Machen.

 

He would be favorite over all of them, in his prime, but he might lose to some of them.