Nov 24th, 1950 - Rex Layne beats a prime Jersey Joe Walcott by UD. Walcott's next fight is a title shot against champion Ezzard Charles. Why didn't Ezzard give Rex a shot at the title, instead of fighting the loser of the Layne-Walcott fight? At that point in his career, Rex Layne had beaten every man he had faced, with two draws. August 8th, 1952 - Rex Layne beats a prime Ezzard Charles by UD. At this point, Jersey Joe Walcott is the champion. He has to pick between Rex Layne, who beat him comfortably, and Rocky Marciano. He chooses Marciano, probably thinking he'll be easier to hit. Rex Layne was a good fighter who was never in the right place at the right time. He later almost got a shot at Marciano's title, but was narrowly outpointed by Roland LaStarza, who then fought Marciano.
I just mentioned layne in another thread. Walcott had to fight Marciano caus eof Rocky's win over Layne and Harry Mathews. Layne was not as good after Marciano beating. Good, but no longer divisions top prospect. He got ko'd bad in that bout with Marciano. Layne also had wins over several top contenders going into Marciano bout. He was being considered boxings next star of heavyweight division. Charles was in prime in 1952, just because he was around awhile does not mean he was over hill. He did what guys back then usually did, which was turn pro early. If around now, he would have likley spent light heavy years in amaturs fighting at Olympic level. Ezzard was one of top amateurs in country before going pro.
