In a world with no Joe Louis, how great could Conn have been?

Conn insiders will always tell you Billy motivated vs Billy unmotivated was night and day so this is actually a good question.

 

It depends who the champion is, Conn in a way got a very good style match up against Louis who could be ponderous with his movement. He'd do well against bigger slower men, unless they caught up to him ofcourse or just mauled him

I think larger pure boxers would handle him with relative ease. So I think Charles/Walcott both beat him.

It's certainly no given that he wins the title

 

I honestly think Conn would have been heavyweight champion, if Louis had not been born.

Hard to see who else would have beaten him, unless he had come up againt a very bad sylistic match up.

What relay ruined Conn's resume was not Louis, but the war. He lost his best years to the war, and would have built an incredible resume with or without wining the heavyweight title.

 

He would likley have had the title long before they were in a position to derail him.

 

This is what Conn would be up against:






1940 Joe Louis, Champion

1. Max Baer
2. Arturo Godoy
3. Red Burman
4. Abe Simon
5. Buddy Walker
6. Buddy Baer
7. Pat Comiskey
8. Lee Savold
9. Otis Thomas
10. Lem Franklin

1941 Joe Louis, Champion

1. Billy Conn
2. Lem Franklin
3. Bob Pastor
4. Melio Bettina
5. Abe Simon
6. Turkey Thompson
7. Buddy Baer
8. Lou Nova
9. Arturo Godoy
10. Roscoe Toles

1942 Joe Louis*, Champion

1. Jimmy Bivins
2. Tami Mauriello
3. Turkey Thompson
4. Roscoe Toles
5. Harry Bobo
6. Big Boy Brown
7. Lee Savold
8. Lou Brooks
9. Tony Musto
10. Joey Maxim

He likley makes his move in 1941. With Louis out of the picture it is hard to see who the champion is, but the top three fighter that year are Pastor (who he beat), Betina (who he beat) and Franklin (who Pastor beat). That looks prety good for him, but those rankings reflect the fact that Louis had eliminated some key players, notably Godoy. You are also going to have Lou Nova at the top of the rankings in 1941, and no Louis to eliminate him. It should also be noted that Louis nipped Buddy Baer 's rise in the bud, and he would have been a very bad stylistic match for Conn.

So who holds the crown when Conn makes his move?

Probably either Pastor Godoy or Nova.

 

He would have been KOd by Cream / Wright / Bivins / Marshall / Charles or even much earlier by Nova / Baer / Braddock / Sharkey / 1 of those or even their predecessors .

N over8ed fighter .

Louis was another circus show , a showbiz stunt , needed 4 American propaganda and nationalism . Like Schmelling was 4 Hitler .

Clay , William Harison , Joe Louis , Max Schmelling , Billy Conn were all hype jobs . Of course that they had a clue about fighting , but they were not any better , and sometimes even much worse than much more obscure and lowly regarded fighters whom get dissed by d homo erotic worshipers in this type of forums .