1948 Joe Louis vs prime Jerry Quarry

Believe it or not, I’d still say that version of Louis was within his prime range, I’m not saying he was in his absolute prime, but I’d say he was at least 70% of what he was at his absolute best, and that was one of his better performances.
Louis batters Quarry in with the jab and stops him mid-late, Quarry is stuck on the end of it and gets pummelled when he tries to commit as he can’t lead, he’s best when he has counter punching opportunities.

 

Eventually Joe pins him down and wrecks him.

 

No imo he was well past prime.
Plus the years he took off didn't help.

 

IMO, that version of Walcott beats every one of Louis’ previous opponents.
Louis looked sharp, not just his reflexes on the counter, but also his decision making, he would duck and anticipate Walcott’s movement and punch accordingly, he was closing the ring off well and was very sharp all around.
He used the jab well offensively, yes he got dropped, but that’s because Walcott was quality, he lured him in, he was a master baiter, he’d get opponents thinking they were safe, he’d back up when they jab and get them to become careless because he wouldn’t punish the the first few times.
For the most part, Louis fought a very smart fight and was very sharp all around, quick hands, great footwork in terms of closing the distance and closing the ring off, great anticipation in terms of thinking steps ahead.
IMO it was one of his best performances.

 

I think Joe Louis would've split Quarry's face wide open before KOing him.

Quarry ate jabs. Louis had a powerful jab. Quarry didn't move like Walcott. Once Louis caught Walcott, it was over.

Louis-Quarry would've been brutal.

Louis by KO in the middle rounds. As one-sided as Dubois-Joshua, but bloodier.

 

I still think Louis wins but at that point it would have been a harder fight. Prime Joe Louis stops quarry inside of three

 

I'd say Schmeling and Conn handle both Walcott and 1948 Louis, but Walcott should beat every other Louis opponent.
Of course, given his propensity to drop fights he should have won, he could very well be losing to guys like Nova or Farr before beating them in rematches.

 

Louis was shot at this point, but it still took an exceptional fighter to beat him.

He might very plausibly have had enough left to beat Quarry, albeit it is not going to be easy for him.

 

Louis mid to late, when he’s likely trailing behind on the cards

 

Take a step back from that observation, and ask yourself how plausible it is in practice?

 

Trailing based on what? Quarry's superiority in jabbing and footwork? Lol

 

That's not true though. Shot Louis would be the one who stepped in with Charles. The one who managed to knock out a prime Walcott was obviously not shot simply by virtue of being able to not only deliver a knockout but fight evenly against the best version of Walcott we have on film.

 

On the cards, judging from how slow Joe was during the period mentioned, he just looked like a shell of the ‘35-42 Louis in every facet. Given how well Quarry looked against Frazier first time around I’d say he would beat Louis to the punch until he wouldn’t.

 

Prime Louis would’ve gotten rid of Walcott far more quickly imo, I think those two fights being so competitive were a result of Louis’ recline even if it weren’t as radical as his 50-51 decline.