Layne had fought a week earlier when he faced James and 3 months prior to that how unfit could he have been? You're the Greb expert,didn't he keep fit by fighting regularly?
Sanders was a novice. Whitehurst beat Satterfield 3 years after he fought James and Cavichii 7years ! In the light of that , do you think they are even germane to this discussion?
Thanks for posting the monthly rankings and showing Matthews was in them at #6 This pretty much burries those who thought he was hype. How far back do your monthly ratings go?
He apparently wasnt, he came in at the highest weight of his career. I see no reason to believe he wasnt in good shape. When he beat Bob Garner two weeks prior to the James fight his hometown paper called him slow and overweight. They said he had a long way to go before regaining his previous form. They called him "massive". The AP reporter on the scene called him "chubby" and yet two weeks later Layne was even heavier. This doesnt bode well for the argument that Layne was in great shape going into a fight he took on six days notice in the hometown of an opponent he had never seen before and knew nothing about. Like I said, Marv Jensen was quite open about the mistake he had made in making that match. In fact his fight with Garner was postponed a week from its original date because Layne "had the flu."
While back in the East during 1951, Jack Hurley made it a point to see Rex Layne fight Bob Satterfield at Madison Square Garden. Even though Layne won the bout by a TKO in 8th round, Hurley was appalled to see Layne take so much punishment. Hurley came away thinking that Layne had learned little, if anything, since Hurley had seen him in action in a previous bout. Even after losing to Layne by a decision in a bout during 1950, Jersey Joe Walcott still didn't think highly of him. - Chuck Johnston
Depends what is meant by a novice. Sanders was the Olympic champion and so obviously had a fine amateur background. He was over 2 years past winning the gold medal and in his ninth pro fight. Leon Spinks was an Olympic champion who was less than 2 years past winning his gold medal and in his 8th pro fight when he defeated Ali for the world professional championship. In his first fight after losing to James, Whitehurst defeated Hurricane Jackson. In his first fight after losing to Sanders, Whitehurst beat Gene Jones who had been a top ten fighter and was still mainly winning. James stopped Whitehurst which is something Sonny Liston failed to do in two tries. Yes, I think his top victims show that Whitehurst was a more than reasonable scalp. James, like Whitehurst, Bill Gilliam, Frank Buford, Gene Jones, etc. were placed in the Class A grouping by the Ring in its annual rankings. This meant they were in the top 30 or 40 fighters in the world. Most scored upset wins over top men at one time or another. Gilliam holds wins over Baker and Valdes. Buford over Clarence Henry. Jones over John Holman. James over Layne. It wasn't mentioned about the James-Layne fight, but with Layne fighting in Salt Lake City for Garner and then with six days notice in Boston, Layne had to travel across the continent in an era before Jet flight. Layne probably lost a couple of days just getting to Boston. I wonder how good his workouts and sparring could have been. I think it best we agree to disagree. I believe you are focusing far more on the James defeat than it is worth. For me, it doesn't define Layne.
Novice professional. I can define Layne to my own satisfaction,a good fighter ,with a decent, but not spectacular punch, leaky defence , limited boxing ability,and suspect dedication. After the Marciano fight Layne won 16 of his next 31 fights. That defines Layne after Rocky to me. https://www.si.com/vault/1961/05/22/584503/fifty-percent-of-harry
Lovely fighter. I recon that first round against Rocky was about the most comfortable anyone looked against Marciano on film.
Matthews is an underrated light-heavyweight and an overrated heavyweight Matthews had speed movement and skills and beat good 175lbers in Nardico and Murphy. Matthews definitely deserved a title shot at 175 but his manager cashed him out vs Marciano. Matthews was too small and weak to be a world class heavyweight. Tubby Don Cockell bounced him all over the floor. He exposed a crude rex layne who was stylistically perfect for him, but he never took on the divisions serious bangers like Henry, Baker, Satterfield, Valdes, Moore, Charles
Yes. I love that ability Mathews had of drawing a lead in order to counter. Each time he swerved away to avoid a blow harry uses the momentum of avoiding the blow to hit back like a pendulum.
