Here how I see it 1942: September Melio Bettina: Size: 5'9 175lb Style: Southpaw counterpuncher Rating: # 4 in the world Joe Louis KO 10 Melio Bettina 1943: March Turkey Thompson Size: 5'8 200lb Style: Slugger Rating: # 3 in the world Louis TKO 11 Thompson- Wild Slugfest! Louis down twice in the first. Thompson out on his feet in the 11th after viscous combination. 1943- May Roscoe Toles Size: 6'2 200lb Style: Boxer-Jabber Rating: # 4 in the world Louis KO 6 Toles 1943: June Lee Savold Size: 6'0 190lb Style: Boxer Puncher Rating: # 7 in the world Joe Louis KO 4 Lee Savold 1943: September Jimmy Bivins Size: 5'9 180lb 80" reach Style: Defensive Counterpuncher Rating: # 1 in the world Joe Louis W 15 Jimmy Bivins. Scorecards 9-6, 8-6-1, and 9-5-1. Unanimous Decision. Great skill displayed by both men. Louis heavier punches the difference. 1943: December Jimmy Bivins II Joe Louis KO 7 Jimmy Bivins. Louis breaks through Bivins style in the rematch and puts him away in a closely contested battle for 6 rounds. A devastating 4 punch combination ends it. 1944: April Joe Baksi Size: 6'1 220lb Style: Brawler/Boxer Rating: # 4 in the world Joe Louis TKO 4 Baksi 1944: July Lee Q Murray Size: 6'3 210lb Style: Slugger-Boxer Rating: # 3 in the world Joe Louis KO 7 Murray- Louis down in round 3 for flash knockdown. Murray’s size and athleticism difficult early. 1944: November Lee Oma Size: 5'11 190lb Style: Boxer-Mover Rating: # 5 in the world Joe Louis KO 1 Oma 1945: February Elmer Ray Size: 6'2 195lb Style: Punching-Swarmer Rating: # 8 in the World Joe Louis KO 12 Ray- Louis badly hurt early, nearly out on his feet. Louis wears down Ray with uppercuts and short combinations inside. Ray down twice in 11th and knocked out cold in 12 with a viscous left right combo. Louis slightly ahead on all 3 cards. 1945: May Elmer Ray II Joe Louis KO 8 Elmer Ray- Louis dominates. 1945: Octobery Bruce Woodcock Size: 6'1 200lb Style: Brawler/right hand puncher Rating: # 5 in the world Joe Louis KO 2 Woodock Results: 12-0 with 11 knockouts Joe Louis ends up with 37 title defenses
Yeah, just like the Vietnam War took away Ali from 67-70, World War 2 took away Louis from 42-45. We were deprived of 3 years of Louis prime
Absolutely love it. Funny, when I saw Oma and Woodcock, I said KO 1 to myself and you picked the latter to hear the bell in round two — I’m skeptical, but I’ll allow it. I could kind of see Bettina going the distance being, as I gather, a kind of cautious lefty, but not in a competitive way. Just surviving and staying out of harm’s way. But of course Joe could probably break through with just about anyone on this list (or most lists) at any moment.
The only top fighters he misses in that timeline are Maurielo and Walcott whom he beats in 1946 and 1947/48 so it works out with the actual timeline. As others mentioned, the Conn rematch should happen earlier then it did, say, in the summer of 1942, then he goes on to fight Bettina in September and the rest as you have written.
That one’s trickier because Ali has what Louis doesn’t - an opponent in that timeframe who’s a huge chance of beating him, in Frazier.
The hand break only prevented the fight from happening when it was initially scheduled ... it was postponed for a later date until the war prevented both men from fighting.
