Jersey Joe Walcott

One of the more compelling human interest stories in boxing history.

The film "Cinderella Man" should have been about his life story.

 

Jersey Joe was a sweet boxer/puncher par excellance..and I'm glad to see his status, atleast in this Classic forum be elevated from days past when he sure as hell wasn't quite as appreciated.

 

:good

 

Joe Walcott was a poorly matched fighter throughout the early to middle 40's...... He was blue collar...... Worked a regular day job and trained at night....... His '47 loss to Joe Louis was a robbery, but, Walcott also jacked off the final 3 rds by running and jiving; he needed to close the show in convincing manner...... The rematch of '48 also had Walcott doing very well until he got caught jiving in round 11 by Louis and was KO'd......

Joe Walcott was about 8 years older than Buzzard Charles and a good 10 pounds heavier and a hair or two slower than Charles........ Charles beat Walcott pretty easy in the first two meetings they fought in 1949---circa..... By the time Walcott KO'd Charles with a well timed left-hook in 1951, Walcott was in great shape for a man aged 37....... Walcott won the fourth fight at the end of '51 in a boring encounter......

I also liked Joe Walcott cuz he trained hard and had to work his way to the top........ He never had a silver spoon........ BUT! He is lucky the division was hurting by the late 40's and early 50's..... Otherwise, Joe Walcott never would've received 6 title shots in his career......

Walcott got 2 shots at Louis; 3 title shots at Charles & 1 shot at Marciano in '53 in a contracted return bout.... But, hey, a shot is a shot......

MR.BILL

 

Old stager Walcott was a copy-book boxer who learned his trade on the 'chitlin circuit' pretty much in obscurity where most of the talented black fighters without connections came up, unfilmed, unmeritted and avoided by protected established pro's who were wary of being made to look bad against a faceless journeyman who could turn a few tricks.

Early opponents of note

1936
Al Ettore
Willie Reddish (who would later gain fame as trainer for Sonny Liston)
WKO3 Vs Phil Johnson (father of future light heavy champ Harold who Walcott would also KO in 3 14 years later)

1937
LKO 8 vs Tiger Jack Fox
WKO 3 vs Elmer Violent Ray

1938
L PNTS 10 vs Tiger Jack Fox

1939
W PNTS 8 Vs Curtis Hatchet Man Sheppard

1940
L KO 6 Vs Abe Simon (Simon would later say "Walcott hit me harder than Louis did."

1945
W PNTS 10 Vs Joe Baksi
W DQ 9 Vs Lee Q Murray
W KO 10 Curtis Hatchet Man Sheppard

1946
W Split Dec 10 Vs Jimmy Bivins
W 10 Vs Lee Oma

1946
L10 Vs Joey Maxim
L Split Dec 10 Vs Elmer Violent Ray

1947
Went 2-0 (pnts) Vs Joey Maxim
went 1-0 Vs Elmer Violent Ray
L15 Vs Joe Louis
LKO 11 Vs Joe Louis

1950
WKO 3 vs Harold Johnson
L10 Vs Rex Layne

Then came the series of matches against Ezzard Charles - the title win and then the epic against Rocky Marciano

In my book Walcott first won the title from Joe Louis in their first fight - one of the worst decisions in history then lost it in the return after bamboozling Louis again for 10 1/2 rounds - looking back at how he tyed Louis up in knots - nobody ever dominated the seasoned Louis like Walcott did - Billy Conn may have been competetive in 41 but he didn't control Louis or make him look so stupid, he just tried to out gut Louis and failed. Walcott actually toyed with the Brown Bomber at times. Not even Shcmeling did that in 1936, he did it by breaking a naive Louis down with counter right handshe was throwing with everything he had. Walcott looked to have a lot in reserve and still put on (in my opinion) one of the best pure boxing displays ever - a masterclass of slick jabbing, switch-hitting and counter punching. His crafty footwork was amazing and his beautiful jab one of the best ever.

Interesting footnote: Back in 1936 aged 22 Walcott was hired as a sparring partner by the Joe Louis camp in the run up to the first Schmeling fight. A story was leaked in the press at the time about Louis being floored by a sparring partner but it was a bit hushed up - it was Walcott - Billy McGraw for The Philadelphia Record quoted Jersey Joe as saying "In two days I floored him three times, with 16 ounce gloves! With light gloves I'd tear his head off. He's too easy to hit." He was let go with the excuse that he 'Wasn't Louis' kind of fighter'

 

That is a bit like saying that christians who were fed to lions in the Roman arenas were imprudently matched.

 

Janitor,

For Christ sakes, the point was, Walcott was NOT taken seriously by the time he was challenging Louis for the title in 1947..... I know damn well Walcott was a good fighter, based on his overall career, but back in the day nobody outside his immediate family and team gave him much of a chance to become the Champ..... Still, he was top-notch.........

MR.BILL:hat

 

Walcotts run to his first title shot is one of the great untold stories in boxing.

He basicaly cleaned out the top 10, more thoroughly than Sonny Liston did.

 

I guess history gave out its harsh judgement.

 

So true:good. He even dropped him multiple times! I remember him saying if he doesn't beat Marciano, take him out of the record books. Jersey Joe will stay in mine though...:smoke

 

Good man Techks - One thing I would like to say about that first Walcott-Marciano classic is that Walcott, in my opinion, in that fight was so good that maybe it would've taken nothing short of the best punch in history to beat him that night. Old Joe had a great chin, Marciano was looking for the KO every second of those 13 rounds but Walcott stood and traded with him and matched him. Looking back clearly Marciano's toughest fight - Walcott speaking to Marciano's biographer said, "I felt the great, deep hurt of losing a fight that was so one-sided, no fight that I ever fought did I ever feel better or more confident. But after a few days of thinking it over, I realised that I was fortunate to have had the title and to have lost it to a guy who proved to be a great champion."

 

Walcott WAS a GOOD fighter in '47, but nobody really knew or understood it..... He was seasoned, however, he had several losses on his record that were held against him...... Still, we all know now that Joe Walcott was the goods......... Agreed?

MR.BILL

 

Thanks for the info:thumbsup. I forgot how good Jersey Joe was.(Of course from the footage I've seen from him because he was fighting WAY before my time). I'm thinking about getting some of his fights.