Marciano stops Louis October 26, 1951 & How good was 1951 Louis

Wow, why has no-one discussed this before!

 

How good was old Louis?

Obviously a shadow of his former self, but still a good contender.

Not as good as Walcott, Charles or Henry any more, but perhaps better than the rest.

His performance against Jimmy Bivins, was roughly comparable to Bob Bakers, in Bivins subsequent fight.

 

hard to believe we have not looked at this over the past 68 years on this forum! I feel shamed for not having looked deeper into this one.

 

Perhaps stopped, perhaps outpointed.

Either way, Waclott would have had is revenge, had it gone to a trilogy.

 

Well. He boxed better than Primo Carnera but was not as durable as Tom Sharkey. He thought Valera would beat Mayweather and his favorite middleweight Sugar Ray Robinson would ko yes ko Dick Tiger. He thought Cooney was a white dream and would fall to Quarry. He does not understand the constant Marciano and Carnera threads unless its because

 

Marciano is the most overrated boxer in history. Other than Mayweather.

Louis was shot to pieces. Marciano would have not even won a cruiserweight title in the late 90s.

 

Let's look at the situation on the ground:

Louis did beat the #2 contender of the era, and we have to take him seriously as a contender for this!

1950
Ezzard Charles, Champion

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3. Joey Maxim
4. Clarence Henry
5. Bob Baker
6. Rex Layne
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8. Jack Gardner
9. Lee Oma
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, Champion

1. Ezzard Charles
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3. Clarence Henry
4. Roland LaStarza
5. Karel Sys
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8. Joe Baksi
9. Bob Baker
10. Johnny Williams

 

Louis's wins over Cesar Brion often get sold short.

Immediately after his first fight with Louis, Brion lost an SD against Rex Layne, which many ringsiders thought that Brion won:

“Plunging and tossing like a rudderless ship, Rex Layne, Lewiston, Utah, heavyweight, somehow or other managed to gain a decision over Cesar Brion, from the Argentine, in ten dull rounds of fighting at Madison Square Garden last night. And if there is any consolation in a moral victory, Brion has it. A crowd of 5,768 booed the verdict and it was plain that many, if not the majority, thought Brion had won.”

 

Based on common results, it would be reasonable to say that Louis was still operating at about the level of a Rex Layne or Bob Baker.

 

Louis by this time had lost his right hand timing and coordination. He could no longer pull the trigger on this punch effectively. He still had a good jab and decent hook so you see him over relying upon these punches.

Ali was a different case as he was severely physically ill which I noticed around the time he fought Spinks.
Others noticed this sooner. Certainly his illness was in full bloom by the time he fought Holmes.

 

The Louis of the Marciano fight, would have beaten a lot of the pitiful incarnations of once great fighters!

 

Possibly, but Louis at that time was very far from the ATG that ruled the late 30’s and 40’s. His most destructive weapon, his straight right, was long gone.

In contrast Ali was that and physically ill.

 

Joe Louis was seventy five or seventy six years old when they fought.

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