I've seen this tape many times.. I am sure we all have... Why does Jersey Joe wait until 10... then jump up quickly and look pissed off afterwards.. shaking his head and throwing his fists.. like there was some kinda mistake. Did he mean to wait until he was counted out and was just pissed he lost? Was he a second behind the ref.. because the ref started the count apparently at 2? Someone enlighten me please and thank you. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRvQ8UPOKpY[/ame]
Rocky was 'The Man' But Referee- Frankie Sikora 'was a worm'. He was a bad referee, and that came from his 'good' friends. They called him 'Count Quick', and even had a Cape made, with that embroidered on the back. He always liked to give a quick count, so he could run across the ring and raise the 'victors' hand, so he could get in the photo of the Chicago Tribune sports section.
Bottom line is if you are sitting on your ass and wait until the count of nine to even start to try get up, don't expect to beat the count. He didn't even try to get up on time, and timed it just right so he'd get counted out and be able to have something to complain about, but I don't think he really wanted to continue the fight. Walcott knew what he was up against, having given it his all in the first fight, but still had to take massive bombs in a grueling 13-round bout and still got brutally KO'd. He wanted that one last payday, and probably intended to give it a shot in the rematch, but when he got stunned and dropped by a sneaky right uppercut in the very 1st round, at that point I think he said to himself, 'I'm old, about done, I'm not going to be able to beat this guy, so I think I'll check out early and pick up my paycheck.' But he had to do it in a way where he could save face. Either that or he was so stunned that he could not hear or follow the count. But that is not how it looks on film. As for a fast count, Walcott's rear hits the ground at 4:04 on that video and at 4:14 his right glove is still on the canvas. Even if you grant that it was a tad fast, a fighter has a duty to follow the referee's count, and any fighter with sense knows to start trying to get up at 8, not 9, for there is no guarantee you will be up in one second from a completely seated position. He shoud have at least gotten to a squatting position, or with one knee on the canvas at 8, poised to rise, then he could have pushed up at 9 and been safe. And I'll say this much. Walcott got a much better count than he gave Sonny Liston as a referee against Ali. In fact, Walcott never gave Liston an actual count, so we'll never know whether Sonny would have beaten the count.
In that month's Ring mag Walcott,said he heard the beginning of the count but lost it in between.The Ring implied that Walcott was not too interested in getting up in time as I recall.
Rocky always did better in rematches due to the punishment he always dished out in the first fight. Walcott might have realised this and wanted a get out excuse. That or he tried to time the count and got it wrong.
I can't think of anything more horrible than weighing under 200 and having to fight Rocky. Weighing 250 and fighting Rocky doesn't promise to be much fun.
He certainly ruined a few guys. Archie Moore deserves kudos for doing so well after that tortuous beat down he received at his advanced age.
I love Moore in that fight. He was absolutely superb. That fight is like watching the best sea-defences ever constructed by man being overwhelmed by a tsunami.
Moore was quoted as saying he knew his legs were gone going into the fight, but he thought he might be able to out- think Rocky. On the Walcott fight,Marciano said they practised the right uppercut in camp as a way of opening Joe's defence up , it was definitely a planned punch .Forty years old Walcott had a year to think about that SuzieQ shot that left him, as Peter Wilson said "a man looking down his own spine",maybe when he found himself on the floor so early ,his resolve weakened. Marciano claimed it was a better shot than the one he ko'd Joe with in the first fight.:think
Walcott didn't seem to have any self belief in the rematch, going in against the man who he threw everything against in a great performance only to be brutally ko'd as just too much of a demon for him
