hey someone made a thread on the old could have should have been thing i think jersey joe walcott should be there remember how old he was when he got first shot at a belt also there stories of how he was straving etc when he was younger and fighting....also him giving joe louis hell in sparring... remember he started to fight in 1930, 2 years before joe louis image if he properly trained from the start and managed well what could have been?
Well, he would have benefitted from having good management, and not having to work full-time in labouring jobs during those times. But many of the pro contenders in those days were in the same boat. Most professional fighters in the 1930s had the same **** to deal with. Unless he was forced to throw fights or totally frozen out of meaningful fights, cant really say he had it worse than all the others. Admittedly, Joe Louis had great backing his whole career. But Louis was the exception, rather than Walcott.
As Legend X says there were other contenders in the same boat as Walcott such as Elmer Ray. It might be the case that Walcott had the defensive style to outlast the social problems of the era while Ray didn't. Even having said that, Walcott's situation stands out as one of the more desperate of the period, and his story as one of the more compelling human interest stories in the history of boxing. The answer to your question is, yes Walcott could have been a lot more than he was. You might however wonder if the entire era could have been a lot more than it was.
I my oppinion, if Walcott would have been managed the right way and everything we would talk about him in about the same hemisphere we are talking Ali and Louis. Perhaps even better.
Ol' Jersey Joe was a great fighter who persevered over age and the very thought of discouragement and defeat. He's an example..a role model really for everyone in how to triumph over the odds..no matter how daunting they seem to be. You don't give up and keep trying..dust yourself off after a defeat and who knows...to allude to his example, you may be just one miracle sneak left hook away from success.
