How competitive was Joe Louis at age 37?

Lets put it this way,I think he would be able to regain at least one title today and proberly more than 1

 

Top10 for sure.

Yes he was. It's been a while since i saw it, but i believe he won rounds 2, 3 and 4. It was a typical case of winning the battle but not the war, though. A bit like Quarry's early succes against Frazier, only then Louis had somewhat more success. But at this point he simply couldn't take Marciano's punches too long and keep his workrate up.

I don't think so. Charles busted him up pretty bad in their meeting a few years earlier. Walcott gave him hard fights when he was younger. Charles and Walcott were still going strong in 1951, i think another title was not meant for him anymore.

Maybe he could've beaten a Bob Baker, but he could've also aged over night. He certainly wouldn't be the first to decline after a Marciano beating.

 

Years ago, I watched the rebroadcast of one of his ten rounders with Marciano stablemate Cesar Brion. He looked good, although no longer delivering combinations like he had in earlier days. Very aggressive, hardly giving Brion a chance to breathe. By the end of the bout, Brion was visibly fading. Even with that early television technology, that huge tumor on Louis's left arm, preventing him from extending it fully to deliver a pain free jab, was plainly visible, hampering his performance. Take away that tumor, and who knows how far he would have come back? Louis was much better in the rematch with Brion than he was in their first meeting, then handled Jimmy Bivens pretty convincingly over another ten rounds, prior to facing Marciano (coming in at 203 for Bivins).

Could Louis have been able to regain at least a share of the HW Title? Prior to his rematch with Brion, Louis knocked out Lee Savold with a left hook in six rounds. This was actually a superior result to what Marciano would achieve in Savold's next and final match. (Unlike Louis, Rocky couldn't take Savold off his feet.) He was certainly a top five heavyweight after Marciano, had he continued on, but he would not have had any chance at regaining the title. Louis's knockout over the younger but more experienced Savold showed how dangerous the Bomber still remained. Nobody had knocked out Savold in five years, since Violent Ray in 1946, and Ray had been the only one to take out Savold in the previous ten years, spanning 54 fights.

Going into his match with Louis, Lee Savold was recognized by the BBBC as Heavyweight Champion. The argument could be made that British recognition should have then been transferred to Louis, but instead, they then shifted their recognition to Charles.

Louis was far from shot, but he was clearly fading, and although he could have probably remained a top ten heavyweight for a few more years, what would be the point without a championship within reach?

He did manage to inflict significant facial damage in his comeback against Charles, but erred in not getting a few competitive outings under his belt first, to shake off some rust. (Exhibitions are just not the same thing.) Louis would have done much better against Charles if he'd taken on Ezz after Bivins, although he still would have lost the decision.

 

Joe Louis was the number one contender in the first half of 1951 and was penciled in as Ezzard Charles' next opponent in Yankee Stadium in the fall when Charles was upset by Walcott. I assume Louis then dropped to the number two contender position behind Charles after Walcott's win.
Savold was actually recognized as champion by the British Board of Boxing Control when he fought Louis, but when Louis won, they switched their recognition to Charles. In the modern era, Louis would have at least been recognized as an alphabet champion.

Louis had clearly gone back, but was impressive knocking out Savold, had won eight straight, seven against men either ranked or who were or would be ranked within a year or so of Louis fighting them. He gave Marciano a decent fight and I think would have a fair shot at beating Charles if he had fought him. He was a year older but in much better fighting trim than in the 1950 fight.
Louis went into the Marciano fight a 7-5 favorite.

 

Hey, we were typing our posts out on the same wavelength at the same time! (Cool!)

 

Yeah, I was typing mine when you posted yours. Oh well.

 

But as usual, you took up less space than I, so I guess you win.

 

Yes he was competitive with Marciano but for awhile Rocky was not going at his best since he didn't want to hurt Joe.

And Rocky had trouble with Savold because of having the flu.

 

He was among the top of the division. As noted, he had a good streak. He looked better against Savold than Marciano did. He put up a good fight against Charles. Charles battered him, but he battered Charles, too. Charles face was a mess. He might very well have upset Walcott. Keep in mind that Walcott lost twice to Charles and, from what I hear, should have lost his title to Charles in the fourth match. He did well against Marciano in the early rounds, but Marciano wore him out in the end. Louis' problem with Marciano was Louis' problem throughout his career: his chin. With age no longer on his side, he couldn't recover fast enough to survive Marciano's onslaught. Louis remained competitive to the end, although he had obviously slowed several steps.

 

37 year old joe louis knocked out future top contender nino valdez out in 1 round.

marciano and charles both commented on how hard joe louis jab was "like running into a telephone pole"

 

Sam Silverman ,who promoted a lot of Marcianos fights said,Rocky would look just the same against a "Ham and Egger "opponent as a world class guy,he did look bad against Savold ,and got a bad press in the Ring magazine because of it.By the time of the Marciano fight Louis waas relying on his once immaculate jab,his reflexes had eroded,you can see in this fight he wairs for Rocky to come in,in his prime years he would be atacking,his legs were shot andhis resistance to punches wasnt the same,Ruby Goldstein,the referee for that fight said when Rocky floored Joe ,Louis went down heavily ,like an old man,not like a young fighter with that "I gotta get up reflex".Louis was still a force but no longer the Brown Bomber.

 

welcome back suzie

 

Maybe powerwise. Joe Louis success was a success of management.