Today, we forget what mickey walker accomplished in his later career...Walker past his peak took on a slew of heavyweights,such as Uzcudun, Risko, Bearcat Wright,Jack Sharkey, Max Schmeling,etc...These men weighed from 30 to 50 pounds more than the smaller Toy Bulldog,and he survived and prospered,except for thegreat right hand puncher Max Schmeling,then in his prime...Today who could duplicate what the tough pugnacious Mickey Walker did against such larger heavyweights...No One,even the great Ray Robinson who at almost 6ft,would never attempt...Walker was one tough SOB...one of a kind...Comments ?
it was common practise in Prizefighting for top middleweights to fight UP... and this lasted into the 40s, the Top men were for real. It was even more common place in Britain than anywhere else, as the Top men weren't satisfied with titles in their own division and fought up to prove themselves as the best and elite among their own weight, it was also a way for recognition from overseas (the U.S) and the best excelled at it. I agree with the above poster - this reason, along with the eras these men fought in and the shear number of top level opposition they fought, whether known today or not, far and away outweighs todays paper champions. especially among the middleweights the sports greatest division!
I think that Walkers technique for combating taller oponents was exceptional. If you were going to prepare a fighter to take on a much taller oppoonent you could do a lot worse than show him the Sharkey Walker fight.
I'm always amazed at this kind of intangible. Ever Since I read the Gods of War article about Mickey Walker I've been hooked. I wish there were fighters today that could display that kind of skill.
Mickey himself wrote, "Even at my best, I knew I couldn't have licked him." (He also conceded this may have been true of Schmeling as well.) Of course that's not the same as saying Walker couldn't have given him problems, as Joe didn't like to be crowded much.
He is remembered for fighting so many guys alot bigger than himself but he was a great welterweight and middleweight fighter. He held the welterweight title for four years and then the middleweight title for five. He did lose to HOF'er Tommy Loughran on a SD for the Light Heavyweight title and all this before he decided to fight the heavys. One of the best there ever was imo.
