Joe Louis. The 8 black men who got away.

it is FACTS like these, that Prove the value, worth and credibility of ALL TRUE Top fighters, there are HUNDREDS of Potential World Champions from every division throughout the Years.

as I always say "Among the Greats" is the better way to describe Great Fighters, because there are 1000s of them.

Boxing History could indeed be Re-Written,

 

Its a very sound post and it’s clear Louis didn’t fight everyone. I’m sure it was money, the political climate and risk management. Worth a much closer look.

 

It is not just a question of whether these men were viable title challengers, you also have to ask whether they were really more deserving than the top white contenders.

You have to ask when these men were ranked at heavyweight, and why they would have stood out against the other potential challengers.

If they are anything other than one of the most qualified available challengers, then it is entirely at the champion's discretion whether he fights them or not.

 

But it SHOULDN'T Be, it should be up too, a Completely Impartial & Honest Boxing Board...

NOT the Champ, nor his Manager, nor a Promoter,,, NO! the Board.

 

Well you have to think of money also. Black champ vs black contender??? Or would you make a bit more money with black champ vs white contender in the hopes the white man wins???

 

You have to love posts that throw these names out and offer zero context. I mean, Franklin, as an example, was Louis top contender for about two months and literally the night he was going to be signed to fight Louis he got knocked out by a guy Louis had knocked out twice and then his run as a contender completely collapsed. Bivins became a contender during the depleted war years when Louis was on the shelf. When he got his chance to fight Louis Louis was way more shot than Bivins was and still dominated the fight with Bivins running and clinching most of the time to avoid trouble. Ray, who also came up during the war, likely would have gotten a shot but he lost to both Walcott and Charles when he was at his closest point and instead that shot went to Walcott. Lee Q. Murray was wildly inconsistent and usually lost to the best fighters he faced. He could rarely string an impressive winning streak together long enough to maintain a rating particularly after the war. Frankly you could say that about most of the men on here. Simply throwing out names and saying they were black and had a couple of decent wins here and there while Joe was in the service or before Joe became a contender doesnt make them legitimate contenders much less men that Joe avoided.

 

Interesting points from both sides. I had only heard of a few of these men but didn't know much about their history or the context of their rankings. What I do know is that it was quite common for management to avoid potentially dangerous black fighters even if their records weren't that great. Louis wasn't afraid of anyone, but his management certainly were analyzing the risk/reward factors while scouting for potential opponents.

Some contenders, tragically, never get their shots because the powers that be are literally waiting and hoping for their downfall so they'll have an excuse to turn them down. Other times it's because they simply weren't that good and someone else was picked.

 

I heard about that two and I pay some merit. But Ray was still a better contender in the professional ring than some of the other guys around at the time.

 

Franklin shouldn’t have had to fight Bob Pastor to get a title shot. He was already well within range and beating men who not only got title fights but in at least one case got TWO.

 

You would not encounter any opposition from me in setting up this board, but you might encounter some practical difficulties.

While it would be relatively straightforward to identify the strongest contenders, how would you go about selecting a tune up or a stay busy opponent for the champion?

Would you even want to, given that you would effectively be bestowing a massive favor, on somebody who had not earned it?

I can see a scenario where your board orders Louis Franklin, or Louis Ray, but I doubt that it would order Louis Fox, or Louis Reddish.