Jersey Joe Walcott beats Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, where does he rank?

Certainly higher. Maybe not that much higher though, as I think the first fight with Louis is controversial and he was close to winning a decision over Rocky anyway. He would have just accomplished what he was so close to accomplishing anyway.

Being the only guy to beat Marciano would go a long way though...

If he's still 2-2 with Charles, Ezzard's stock goes up as well.

I'm interested in the smarter people to expound....

 

Hmm interesting. Honestly it would make his overall rating higher but not by an astronomical amount because some felt he did beat louis and some people do not have rocky in their top 5. So basically, at the very least it would bump him up from the top 15-25 to a 7-10ish range for most people id imagine. Losing the rematch to Louis like he did in the original timeline would severely weaken his legacy as he'd be seen as a 1-off Ingemar Johanson/hasim Rahman type who couldnt keep his belt. And splitting the series with Charles would also weaken his legacy since he is unable to remain convicingly dominant over his era like joe louis did.

But even winning a ud over rocky wouldnt be enough for me to place him above guys like Lennox, Wladmir, Holmes, etc. He would still have 12 losses and several poor performances that guys in my top 5 would never have to deal with imo.

Charles would indeed get a boost since he was a guy in his mid 30's moving up from light heavy and giving 3 guys who are arguably in the top 10 hell (rocky, old louis, and in this universe a top 7-10 rated Walcott). Charles would seemingly deserve a top 10-15 rating bare minimum.

 

Man Jersey Joe could fight. He is one of those guys that was a pro's pro. He was so close to knocking off Louis and Marciano but either way he is remembered fondly by those in the know. The guy had exceptional footwork.

 

Now had he won a narrow or even controversial decision over Louis and then stopped Louis, so a mirror image of what happened, then we be talkin'...

This could snowball into an avalanche of wouldda couldda shouldda stuff. At the end of the day, he was in lockstep with Charles and a clear step behind Louis and Marciano. But its fun to think about.

 

Oof. There goes the legend...

 

I dont think any of them will improve much on your reply.

 

If JJW beat Louis & Marciano I don't think JJW's historical standing would change much unless Marciano rebounds from the loss and becomes a long standing champion. So much of Marciano's legacy rests on his '0' and his come from behind victory in his 1st fight with JJW, if Marciano had lost the 1st fight with JJW and not become champion after, the historical perspective of Marciano would have been lessened. Marciano would not have had the big championship fights against the likes of Charles & Moore, he would not be perceived as the legendary figure he is seen as by many today.

JJW's victory over Marciano would be viewed as a good victory against a solid contender who was not quite good enough to take the championship, not as a victory over a legend of the ring.