Joe Louis vs Lem Franklin- Early 1942

This seems to be a long burning question. It's debatable but I agree with the parameters that were laid out - had he defeated Pastor yes. But he lost.

 

If he had beaten Pastor yes why not?










But








He







Didn't

 

Franklin broke his hand for the second time against Simon in1941 and had 3 months off.
His return on 29th of Jan 1942 saw him stop Joe O Gatty 7-23-3. O Gatty had lost his last 9 fights ,6 by ko,he would have 2 more lose both and retire.

Next up for Franklin was Al Reiss 11-6-1 , on the 10th of Feb
Reiss had won 2 of his last 6 fights, he would have 5, more lose them all by ko and retire.
So, 2 patsies to test the broken hand, understandable.

Now ,back in the deep end.
Franklin was kod in 8rds by Bob Pastor in Feb 1942.
Franklin then fought Harry Bobo in March 42 and was kod in 1 rd.
In the light of this , the window for Louis to fight Franklin in 1942 was January, was Franklin's hand healed in January?
I don't know.

Louis defended against Buddy Baer in January koing him in 1 rd and donating his purse to the Naval Relief Fund.
After Franklin was kod by Pastor in Feb ,Louis signed to fight Simon in March and ko'd him in 6rds,donating his purse to the Army Relief Fund.
The stick to beat Louis with for not defending against Franklin is therefore a very short one, imo.

 

It was the war years first of all and every aspect of life was upside down. Even if Lem deserved a title shot and he did not get one in this time period why would this be held against Louis? In a normal time Louis may have fought 5 or more times per year and probably everyone and their brother would have gotten a shot. To answer you direct question.....NO!

 

In a word, yes. Franklin was the #2 contender in 1941 by ring magazine annual ratings, and quite possibly could have been #1 in the monthly rating for a period of time.

Franklin was on a roll. He won 18 fights in a row and defeated Bivins, Musto, and Simon!

Franklin KO over Simon 5 in and KO over Musto in 2!

It took Louis longer to stop the same guys. KO 13 and 6 ( Simon's last fight ) over Simon, and KO 9 Over Musto.

Hmmm....

Musto was a joke of a title defense for Joe Louis. Not only was he 29-10-1, he also lost 4 of his last 6 fights, then suddenly got a title shot from Louis.

I would argue both Franklin or Ray were worthy of title shots from Louis, but Louis clearly selected easier marks.

 

He definitely had more of a case to getting that title shot than probably about a third or more of Louis's opponents. Whilst its true that he blew his chances by losing to Bob Pastor in 1942, fighting pastor was a hurdle that he probably shouldn't have had to jump by that point. Man had been unbeaten in his last 20 bouts and even defeated a few guys who DID get shot(s) at Joe's title.

 

No one is stating the obvious. Four months after beating Simon he was koed by Pastor. His next two bouts he was koed in the first round by BoBo and Muscato. Thus ended Lems credibility and any push he had from the public for a fight with Louis. Simon got a rematch due to the great fight he put up the year before in fight 1 closing Louis eye in the process.

 

I researched this a bit and the fight with Simon was signed only hours after the Pastor-Franklin fight. Now, like Perry said, state the obvious that he was stopped by Pastor, which eliminated him. But using that logic, why wasn't it Pastor that deserved the shot then instead of Simon? Forget that rematch scenario. Simon's last two fights which was a disputed draw against Turkey Thompson (the UP scored it 7-3 Thompson) and then getting his ass absolutely handed to him by Lem Franklin in October. This alone should have eliminated him completely, but the months tick by with no signature on paper and then Joe signs to fight a well-chewed retread right after Lem loses. Guys, we'll never know what went on behind closed doors. My feeling is Lem Franklin absolutely deserved that shot at the title. But having said that, I think Joe would have taken him in 4 or 5 rounds.

 

Perhaps he did not fight Pastor because he had fought and beat him twice previously the last time by one sided Ko? Had Lem beaten Pastor and I am sure he was the overwhelming favorite he more than likely would have fought Louis. This is why the return match with Simon was not signed until it was known Lem lost to Pastor.

 

Franklin would have made a fine addition to Louis's resume, but I feel that his window on top was a bit too narrow to say that Louis should have fought him.

Franklin took an inadvisable, and ultimately fateful career decision, when he signed to fight Pastor.

 

I would rebutt your post on the grounds that you are a ***************

 

Five weeks!!!

 

Not good enough!

In order to have a serious case here, you need to say when exactly he should have fought them, and based on what credentials.

Why were these contenders such standouts, that he had to initiate a major training camp to meet them, and when?