Joe Louis. The 8 black men who got away.

Joe Louis was a man who did a lot of good work for civil rights, and he went about it the right way. He was humble, and loved his county. Yet he only defended his title of 26 title defenses vs. two black men. Walcott who by ringside reporters should have won by 66% of the writers. He was robbed and the re-match proved 2 black men can most certainly draw. The other was John Henry Lewis. Joe Louis and John Henry were good friends. Lewis was almost blind in one eye and his eyesight was deteriorating. Louis gave his friend the title fight so he could have one big payday before the eye problem forced him to retire And retire he did directly after his pay day and fight with Louis which thankfully only lasted one round.

But where are the other black opponents? Are we supposed to believe there was some sort of lull in the talent? No, they weren't picked and by doing this Louis and his management split a weak era of heavyweights in half. Mind you it is not me who calls Joe Louis era weak, Ring Magazine rated the 1930's decade the worst for heavyweights. The 1940's was further fragmented as many men were fighting in World War II.

Here are some men who all would have made good title opponents. You can say they were unfairly ducked and passed over in favor of many not so good white opponents.

Larry Gaines. The 6'1" 79" Gianes beat fought some of Louis' opponents, most notably Primo Carnera who he beat. Active until 1942 he most certainly deserved a title shot. Ranked and highly thought of.

Obie Walker. Tough as shoe leather, Walker won 97 fights and had 64 Ko's. He was never Ko'd in 122 fights. Now that's some chin. He beat punchers like Elmer Ray and Tony Galento , and would make for a most interesting title fight. Active in the from 1931-1946

Wille Reddish, a solid contender forced to fight a who's who mostly black contenders he mixed it with Wallcot, Ray, Shepherd, Lee Q Murray, Abe Simon, Lem Franklin, had Curtis Sheppard winning his share.

Tiger Jack Fox, A big puncher with 93 Knockouts, he holds wins over Walcott and Rosenbloom. Active from before Louis started to the very end. Two punchers going at it would make for an interesting title fight.

Lem Franklin. Winner of 19 fights in a row, including wins over Bivins, Musto and Simon. Joe Louis didn't fight this contender. Highly ranked as high as #2

Lee Q Murray. Ranked as high as number 3 he fought many of the same men Louis did.

Turkey Thompson. A man who is described as flying across the ring, he was ranked and avoided. He beat Godoy and many of the black fighters Louis did not meet. Ranked.

Elmer Ray. Initially scouted by Louis management in a MSG fight they quickly changed their mind after seeing him. Highly ranked.

Now I'm not saying Louis should have fought all of them, but he should have fought some of them! At least four of them. He later fought Ezzard Charles and was badly beaten 13 -2 on one card. Another had it 12-4 Might Louis have lost if he fougt all 8 men? Yes, he would have and additional loss on his resume in my opinion. Maybe more than just once. And if he had fought then his legacy would be even grater. Some historian's don't consider Dempsey world champion for not fighting Wills and Godfrey. IMO Louis is guilty of the same ( expect he did fight two black men and IMO lost to one of them ) and the black competition was greater over all in the 30' and 40's compared to the late teens and early 1920's

There is a lot to chew on here.