Battle between two big young, hungry right handed punchers. Both crude, Layne had the better skillset, Firpo perhaps the harder hitter.
I think we have to credit Layne with being slightly the better of the two, based on his win over Walcott and series with Charles. I therfore instal him as favourite, but it is not a confident pick.
If Firpo gets lucky with his caveman-swings, & knocks Layne through the ropes, can a member of the press assist him to his feet?
Firpo had something, he was a raw talent getting off the floor 6 times to put an ATG through the ropes in the same round. with the right match making, who knows what he could have become? maybe as good as layne? For seasoning and pedigree you have to go with layne here but how can you entirely rule a man like firpo out? A wild card if ever there was one.
Styles make fights ... the Firpo that beat Willard, Brennan and almost KO'ed Dempsey would stop Layne. I have always felt the fact that Layne was able to fight on even terms with Charles and Walcott proves far more how faded they were than anything substancial about Layne ... Also, if Wills could not stop Firpo I sincerely doubt Layne does ...
Charles was only 30 years old when Layne beat him, and would go on to give Marciano a grueling 15 rounder 2 years later. Layne beat Walcott a year BEFORE Walcott won the world heavyweight championship. If you think Walcott and Charles were so faded in 1950 and 1952, then clearly Marcianos wins over them are meaningless. Firpo beat shot versions of Willard and Brennan. How could you possibly be impressed with this.
I agree with SuzieQ here. I can't see how you will be impressed by Firpo's wins over Willard and Brennan, while saying that Walcott and Charles were washed up. Layne never beat Charles though, people should get that correct. But his wins over Walcott and Satterfield show he was quite decent, if far from great.
Do you have strong evidence? The scoring was sketchy with Rex Layne friend, Jack Dempsey, being the lone ref/judge and scoring 7 rounds even. Dempsey did say layned forced the fight. Do you have a secondary source?
Only Jack Dempsey gets helped by the press to his feet. Remember, he was a good fighter but it was the writers that made him great.
I always thought that Firpo KD'd Dempsey spoke more to Dempsey's shortcomings than Firpo's abilities or talents.
The faded Willis that beat Firpo wasn't even superior to those versions Charles and Walcott. It's a no brainer that Layne was the better fighter. Only Dempsey fans can try to make Firpo more than what he was, which was a limited, crude, but very strong, powerful, aggressive, & big HW.
Jack Dempsey might even agree with those that favor Layne. He said Layne was the best young Heavyweight around the time Marciano fought him.