Joe Louis vs Rex Layne and Roland Lastarza 1951

Layne was crude as hell........Past prime Louis would knock him out....inside 6 rounds....

 

rex was crude but he could fight for fun, id give old joe louis the edge in class but he would have to fight full rounds all the way to keep rex off.

lastarza could have given old louis more trouble, i dont see old joe louis knocking him out. Its a pity lastarza didnt face more name fighters before he was knocked out by rocky, roland was tough and could realy box, a bigger billy conn. jimmy bivins was a good boxer and louis still got past him, id give lastarza a good chance but old louis would deserve to start as a favorite to win.

There is no getting away from in marciano beat a genuine top contender when he KOd old joe louis.

 

I'd expect Louis to beat Layne and LaStarza in 1951.
Louis was washed-up by then but maybe there were only four or five heavyweights at most who could beat him then, and Layne and LaStarza wouldn't be among them.

 

I would pick Charles and Walcott to beat that old Louis but nobody else deserved to be favoured against the old bomber in 1951. Even Marciano quite rightly was not fancied to beat the bomber since there was nothing on his resume at the time to deserve being favoured to win that show down. Going in I would have picked Louis myself. Joe Louis was no longer a phenomenon but he was a still a proven, genuine top contender and IMO the 3rd best heavyweight at that time.

Marciano won and Louis is all washed up...

 

Well, Louis became a slight betting favourite but there were lots of commentators fearing Marciano could give him a beating. And Louis had been tagged as washed-up for a couple of years. He was washed-up.

Anyway, in 1951 Marciano did knock him out, so we have to pick him to do so.
Charles would have beaten Louis too. Walcott probably too.
And I'd throw in Clarence Henry as the other young dangerous young fighter to pose a real threat to Louis.
Archie Moore and Harold Johnson would have been possible victors against Louis too.

 

harold johnson was geting knocked out early by walcott at this time. Sure the others (henry and moore) would give louis a good fight but were they any beter than bivins?

I think you agree with me. Only charles and walcott would be a lock to beat the old bomber, nobody else had paid their dues enough to deserve being the pick against old joe louis.

There Is washed up and washed up. was ali washed up when he beat Norton and shavers? Holmes washed up against truth wiliams or mike spinks?

joe louis was knocking out contenders, running at 65% this version of the brown bomber is posibly still a top 40 ATG heavyweight. Louis was beter than ali and holmes at this stage.

 

Yeah, washed-up or clearly over-the-hill.
I wouldn't say "completely shot" though.

 

Many of the best ring commentators were saying he was washed-up then, and he looked it, in most of those fights.
Go look at the reports and columns in the old newspapers.

Of course he could still beat most second-raters.
And there were very few first-raters around in 1951.

 

I don't think Layne and LaStarza were first-rate fighters.
Baker and Henry were up-and coming, not quite elite either. Henry was the better of the two.
Charles and Walcott at his best deserve to be called first-rate, and Marciano.
Moore is borderline at heavyweight.

 

I think Joe was still clearly a top five heavyweight in 1951, on the strength of his left jab and hook. If he wanted to go out a winner like Braddock, I believe he could have triumphed in one final bout against a Layne, LaStarza, Baker or Satterfield. He did better against Rocky than Layne, Savold and Matthews were able to manage, and this against a Marciano who had finally mastered the left hook. He was still in good shape with his weight under control, and had the benefit of massive experience. The title was completely out of reach, but a winning exit could still have been his had he wanted it.

 

they were at the verry least first rate, unless you dont rate marciano, charles and walcott.

moore was an outstanding heavyweight in his own right.