Jersey Joe Walcott in the 1970s

JJ would lose to Ali,Foreman,Frazier and Norton. I'd give him a good shot against everyone else. Even a green Larry Holmes, although I'd make Holmes favourite from 1978-79.

 

If he gets a Crack at champ Frazier, he does great for a while til Joe hunts him down.
Frazier wko 11.
Gets a shot at Ali post FOTC, does ok against Muhammed but loses a decision and gets dropped twice.
Takes a split decision over Quarry. Stops Bob Foster in 7.
Draws with Bugner.
Has an unexpected war with Lyle, both down, Lyle stops him late.
Loses to Jimmy Young on points.
Loses by ko to Norton.
Gets kod by Shavers in a shock first round.
Meets an up and coming Larry Holmes and nearly causes an upset when dropping Larry in the fifth round. But Holmes regains his lead and stops Jersey in the tenth.
He gets one more Crack at the big time, facing Foreman in around 1976. Actually has George looking bad for the first six round but Walcott gets to confident and gets laid out by a Foreman right from hell.
Jersey Joe recover s from the ko and announces his retirement the day after.

 

Think he beats everyone but Ali Frazier and Foreman. And even then competes with them all. Ali Walcott would have been real interesting. Walcott has the tools to beat them all. His chin may argue otherwise. Reading some of these threads it’s pretty obvious he’s severely underrated

 

Lol yep he had a bad day that day.
But to be fair, if Bugner has his good head on then I don't rule this out.

 

Ali admitted Walcott would be awkward for him. I could see a post Manilla Ali losing to a motivated Walcott. Walcott is better and trickier than Young

If i was managing Walcott, i would do my best to keep him away from Foreman and especially Frazier. The pre Ziare Foreman was a master at cutting the ring. Walcott may last the distance with the less experienced Foreman who fought Perelta. But the more experienced Foreman who destroyed Norton would destroy Walcott in 5 rounds. Foreman would cut the ring against him, trap him on the ropes, and knock him out. Walcott cannot take the punishment Ali can.

Frazier is the worst match up for boxers. Perhaps Walcott can beat the post Manilla Frazier (who fought Foreman the second time). Post Manilla Frazier was very overweight (at least 20 lbs overweight) and much slower. But a pre-Manilla Frazier cuts the ring against Jersey Joe, nails him with power hooks to the body and stops him.

Norton is also the perfect match up for boxers. I see Norton winning a close but convincing decision over Walcott

Summary

Ali UD 15 Walcott in a tricky fight (Walcott close UD Post Manilla Ali)

Frazier tko 10 Walcott (Walcott UD post Manilla Frazier)

Foreman tko 5 Walcott (i can't see even the Foreman who fought Young losing to Walcott because i don't see Walcott getting up after being knocked down; Foreman is too powerful)

Norton UD Walcott (Norton was good until 1978, i can't see Walcott beating him)

Walcott decisions Quarry, Bonavena, Bugner, Mac Foster. I also think Walcott has more offensive tools than Jimmy Young and would beat him.

I would slightly favour Walcott over hard hitters like Lyle and Shavers. That being said, if they catch him, Walcott does not have the chin to survive.

Walcott's best chance of winning a championship is to fight the Ali that fought Norton in their 3rd fight, or the Ali that fought Norton.

 

exactly my thoughts

 

Walcott would do well in any era and put on wars as he did in the 40s and 50s:
Ali-battle of two master boxers that I honestly think would be very close and could go either way or end in a draw
Foreman-poor JJ
Frazier-much like the Marciano fight; JJ leads in a war but gets stopped late; both down, Frazier early, Walcott late; spectacular fight
Holmes-very close, but I'm going with Holmes due to greater aggression; Holmes SD
Norton-it all depends; Norton would give JJ all he could handle, but was not as good of a finisher as Joe Frazier, and might win a decision; either one could win by SD, although styles are in Norton's favor
Lyle-Lyle stops Walcott in a good brawl, I agree with Fergy, both down
Shavers-Shavers has no chin and would be hopelessly outboxed and stopped like Holmes did to him; I give Shavers a small chance to land a perfectly timed shot and KO Walcott like the Rock did, but I have JJ a heavy favorite; another good fight
Young-Walcott was the more aggressive of the two and would win; interesting chess match, but probably the dullest of all these fights
Ellis-Walcott stops Ellis late cuz of much better stamina
Quarry-Walcott cuts him with counterpunches and stops him in the middle rounds; good even fight for a while
Chuvalo-Walcott may be subject to occasional body punishment, but easily outboxes the Canadian
Bonavena-Walcott has trouble w/ Ringo's wild style, but eventually figures it out, drops Oscar a couple times from counters, and wins a UD
Bugner-Walcott UD
Spinks-close fight which could sway either way by SD, but I favor Walcott

 

I think that some people confuse Walcott with some kind of cute outside boxer. Walcott was a counter puncher who didn't mind to go to war with his opponent. Look at how he fought against Marciano - he didn't box with him, he slugged with him with considerable success given his age.

Walcott would not try to run from Frazier, Norton or Foreman. I think he'd get stopped by Joe and George (but he'd give them excellent fights, his chin just isn't good enough) but I see Norton fight as 50-50. Looking at Ali fights is misleading, Walcott didn't fight like Ali at all.

 

By the way, I'd pick peak Walcott over Lyle.

 

I think Norton and Walcott fights could be much like the Norton-Ali trilogy, Norton would win one on body punching, confusing guard, and aggression, Walcott would win another on speed, agility, and counterpunching. Anybody who mixes with Norton will make for a classic, and Walcott would be more than willing.

 

I think that he would have been a very different fighter.

If he had fought in the 70s, then a major promoter would almost certainly have invested in him, early in his career.

His style would very likely have ended up being less defensive in nature.

That aside, his style was suited for longevity, and it is very likely that he would have been able to capitalize on a weak point in the division.

 

Id like to see Walcott/Ellis. That would be an interesting tactical battle.

 

Really good post friend.