This content is protected 1. A Schmeling straight right hand hurt Walker early on. Schmeling landed a quick and effective flurry afterwards. Later on, a left hook and then a straight right hand dropped Walker on the seat of his pants. Walker was apparently not hurt to badly as he stayed down as long as possible before getting up, but the round ended as soon as he got up. Schmeling. 2. Schmeling landed two really mean straight right hands near the beginning of the round, but then backed off after that and coasted. I thought Schmeling willingly gave a round away that he could have easily won. Close round. Walker. 3. Closely-contested. Schmeling. 4. Walker landed a great flurry that I think had Schmeling hurt just a little bit. Walker was the main aggressor, but Schmeling countered often and with effectiveness. Once again, close. Walker. 5. Schmeling was more defensive than in any of the other rounds, and actually threw very little. Walker. 6. Close. Walker. 8. Shortly into round 8, Schmeling's left jab-straight right hand one-two struck twice, hurting Walker badly. Walker was staggered and began to retreat. Schmeling then scored with several powerful hooks and some uppercuts too. It was the left jab, straight right hand that dropped a reeling Walker. Walker got up, but was wild and rubbery from the start. Walker went down again a little later, not even from being hit, still just not recovered. Honestly, I can't believe the ref let this round go on like he did. Today I imagine it would have been stopped in a heartbeat. I doubted Walker's mental and physical faculties throughout the round. It was a gutsy last stand by "the Toy Bulldog" though. Shockingly though, Walker did make it through the round. But no farther. The fight was won by Schmeling in the corner of Walker, whose eyes were closed and bleeding. As to the fight, I think Schmeling, as I said, gave the fight away to Walker in the 2nd, willingly of course. He tried to take it back in the 3rd and 4th imo, but struggled actually. I don't think he had counted on Walker being as much trouble as he was. Anyway, I still felt like Schmeling had a plan the whole time that worked like a charm. Verdict: Excellent performance by Schmeling. I've seen him fight four times now, and was thoroughly impressed. Also a good fight to boot.
Schmeling did to Walker what no other HW could. Max was very dangerous because he could punch, but he also knew how to break down even good defensive fighters. Still one of the finest punchers at his weight in history.
Both men looked good. The difference in weight was about the same as Dempsey versus Gibbons. I liked how Walker popped up after being knocked down, and immediately rushed his opponent. He had that X factor of heart in spades. Schmeling looks to be by far the best heavyweight of the early thirties off this fight and the second Sharkey fight. A clever boxer with KO power in his right. Walker showed a lot. He could move around and had every punch in the book, but going against a bigger man this skilled and powerful proved too much. One of the most entertaining fights so far.
