Excerpts from a random article with postfight comments from Layne and Walcott, in case anyone's interested. Jack Hand, Utah Youth Upsets Dope in Upset Win Over Joe Walcott, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, Nov. 25, 1950 Rex Layne, a 22-year-old bruiser from the Utah sugar beet farms, has become a heavyweight contender overnight by his upset-of-the-year win over Jersey Joe Walcott. […] “I went out to bust his guts from the beginning,” said Layne. “And I guess I did.” That about tells the story. Layne punished Walcott’s body with straight right hands throughout the fight. Despite a smeared eye that became a circle of blood in the late rounds, he pressed the attack all the way. Walcott, a peppy guy of 37, was a 5 to 1 favorite to whip this kid who had been fighting pro only 18 months. But Jersey Joe was not at his best, to put it mildly. Walcott’s jabs were not sharp. Neither was his vaunted right hand that he usually throws at the end of his little dance of retreat. In the dressing room, Walcott said he hurt his right hand when he hit Layne on top of the head in the third round. Jersey Joe was not too generous in praise of Layne. “He’s a rough strong kid but he’s definitely not a fighter,” Walcott said. “He’s about a year or year and a half away. It’s too bad he got past me. Now he’ll be in trouble.”
In fairness to Rex, it seems like Walcott always had excuses and bad things to say about his opponents after they beat him.
Walcott had probably lost to lesser fighters than Layne, but maybe he wasn't at his best for the fight. Anyyhow, if I remember rightly, Walcott was rewarded for losing this fight with another shot against Charles !
