Barbados Joe Walcott, top 5 at 147?

I think that there is a strong case.

A lot of people would have had him at #1 before Ray Robinson came allong.

 

Again, a case can be made.

In some ways its hard to be sure how good he realy was, because he so often wore the cuffs. Also, his prime was cut short after he blew his thumb off with a revolver.

 

He also killed sombody with that shot.

 

Depends how you view his fights with gans and langford.

H2h, his win over choynski is massive.

 

Hard to be sure but by all accounts in his prime he was a monster ... so strong, so tough, such a hard hitter ... Langford said in his career no one hit him harder than Walcott ..

 

He's difficult to rate. Like Pacquiao, he seems to have been more of an out and out physical marvel than anything else, i.e. more impressive as a multi-weight force than as someone who would've beaten the very best at any particular weight.

 

J,it is rumored after his accident in which his gun blew off his thumb, he became a lightweight ?

 

I disagree. Top10, yeah, there is a very, very good case for that but not Top5, I don´t see how he anks over those 5:

My Top5 would be:
1. Armstrong
2. Robinson
3. Napoles
4. Ryan
5. Gavilan

but I think there are good arguments to rate also R. Leonard, Britton and Ross above him. And decent arguments for Walker and Griffith. So, in the end he even could get squeezed out of the Top10.

 

He definitely has a strong case for top 5, perhaps even top 3. Longevity and great names on his record. It's very difficult to compare him to modern fighters what with the limited footage and the era in which he fought. I think it's a toss up between everyone for top 5 except Ray Robinson. By everyone i mean Leonard, Walcott, Gavilan, Barney Ross and Napoles etc.

I would have him just outside the top 5. I just can't put him above others i know and have seen MUCH more of. I would be going too much on others accounts and even that's sketchy.

 

How big was the thumb?

 

Big enough to effect his hangnail ! atsch