[RING, Sept. 1965] Walcott insists Ali would beat Dempsey, Louis, Rocky, etc.

Pardon any typos.

Walcott Tells All by Ed Brennan (Sept. 1965, pp. 7, 62)

Camden, N.J. – “Cassius Clay is the best heavyweight champion of them all. He could beat Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and a fellow named Jersey Joe Walcott.” The author of these pungent statements is Walcott, who refereed the second Clay-Sonny Liston fight at Lewiston, Maine. Jersey Joe made these startling observations, plus a few more, in an exclusive interview with Ring magazine as he sat with me in a police car. He recently was appointed Camden’s Assistant Director of Public Safety.

Walcott has been severely criticized for technical failure in the abbreviated fight that ended with one punch in one minute of the first round.

Evidently fed up with the abuse heaped on him for his handling of that encounter, Jersey Je hit back at his detractors in stern sentences.

Walcott has been around boxing a long time and should know what he is talking about. Here is what he has to say about Clay’s fighting quality and his own refereeing ability.

“I saw Clay beat Liston in their first fight. I saw Clay training for the second Liston fight. And I saw Cassius hit Sonny with that short right hand on the chin at Lewiston.”

“PHANTOM PUNCH, HELL.”

“Clay gets better each time you see him. If he didn’t run off at the mouth and belong to the Black Muslims, Cassius would be accepted by the public as the greatest heavyweight champ of them all.

“This kid has speed in his hands and feet like a welterweight. He hits like a heavyweight. He puts his punches together better than any heavyweight champion I’ve ever seen.

Walcott was asked if he realized what he was saying. He nodded and repeated:

“Clay could beat Dempsey, Louis, Charles, Marciano and a fellow named Jersey Joe Walcott. Clay is too big and punches too fast and hard and moves too quickly for all of us oldtimers.”

Walcott, reminded he had forgotten to mention champions like Gene Tunney, Jack Sharkey, Max Schmeling, Primo Carnera, Max Baer, James J. Braddock and Floyd Patterson, calmly replied”

“I don’t know much about Tunney. And I don’t want to say anything about Patterson because he is still fighting. But all the rest of those names you can skip over. Clay would beat them with no trouble.”

Asked to explain in more detail why he rates Clay a sure-shot winner over Dempsey, Louis, Charles, Marciano and himself, Jersey Joe lit up a cigarette and said:

“Cassius is only 22 years old. He’s still growing. He already is six feet four and weighs a solid 106 pounds

“Dempsey and Louis and the rest of us would be too small to beat this big, rangy kid. Clay would just have to stay away from us for a few rounds and then start throwing his combinations.

“Cassius’ edge in height and reach, his fast hands and legs and the power he puts into his punches, whether from in close or at long range, would be too much for any of the champs I’ve mentioned.

“I don’t think anybody can see a fight as good as a referee. I was in there with Clay and Liston. I saw what Cassius did to that fellow.

“He could do the same thing to Dempsey, Louis, Charles, Marciano and me. He might not knock us out but he would beat all of us.

“The kid Clay is deceptive. He boxes with his hands dangling at his sides. But he can bring them into action real quick. His punches are so fast and sharp they look harmless.

“When one punch can take a big man like Liston off his feet, people should realize the agility, coordination and power Clay can put into each and every punch. “I didn’t fight Dempsey. But I did fight Louis, Charles and Marciano. I know none of these men, or me, could box with Clay. And I know none of us could punch as fast as Cassius. Some of us might hit as hard but Clay would outpunch us in every exchange.

“I just can’t see men like Dempsey, who was six feet one and only 185 pounds, Louis, who weighed more, Charles and me, both of whom are six even, and Marciano, who was only five feet eleven inches, standing up to this young giant of a man.

“All of us oldtimers needed room to punch. But not Clay. He can hit you from any position and hurt you. He can do this even when he is off balance.

“Now, when Dempsey was fighting, he stood right over a man he had floored and hit him as he was getting up. The only time they made him go to a neutral corner against Tunney he missed his knockout.

"I know Clay didn’t go to a neutral corner and I want to say something about that. But first I want to say something about myself as a referee.

"I don’t have to referee any place in this world again. I got a good job here in Camden. But nobody can point the finger of suspicion at Jersey Joe Walcott so I won’t refuse a guest referee spot if it’s offered to me.

“Now the reason I stayed with Clay and kept pushing him away was because I was afraid he was going to kick Liston in the head. Clay was like a Wildman. He was running around the ring and shouting for Sonny to get up.

"Can you imagine what they would be saying about me if Clay had kicked Liston in the head. And you know he might have hit Sonny as he was getting up. If did that he might have injured Liston permanently.

“Like all referees I was in there to protect the fighter on the floor. Liston was a whipped man. I could see that by the glassy look in his eyes.

“That’s why I kept running after Clay and kept pushing him away. I did everything a referee should do to protect a fallen fighter.

“Clay never gave me a chance to start counting. I couldn’t hear the count from the knockdown timekeeper. I was trying to puck up the count but I couldn’t hear it

“They should have had a loudspeaker. But I think it was more important to keep that Wildman Clay away from Liston than run over to get the count.

“The right hand punch that Clay dropped Liston with is one of the most devastating punches I’ve ever seen. Sonny was hurt real bad.

“I kept pushing Clay away and looking for the timekeeper who was a small man and hard to see. I finally saw him waving his hands in front of his face. I then ran over to him and he said, “The fight is over. He counted to twelve.”

“Nat Fleischer of Ring Magazine was next to him. Fleischer has been around boxing longer than anybody I know. I looked at him and he said, “that’s right. The fight is over. He counted to twelve.”

“It wouldn’t have made any difference if I had picked up the count at four or five as most referees do because Liston was out. I could have counted another fifteen or sixteen seconds over him.

“You add that to the twelve seconds the timekeeper counted and you know Sonny was really knocked out.”

Walcott could be right. But his failure to get Clay to a neutral corner and make him stay there before starting a count has brought on much criticism of Walcott as a referee.

But Jersey Joe has his own ideas about refereeing a fight in which Clay is involved.

“Man, when you’re in that ring refereeing, you’ve got a lot of responsibility. It’s okay for the people outside the ring to second guess you. They have no responsibility.”

“A referee has to make a snap judgment within a second’s time. I decided to stay with Clay rather than go looking for the count. That Clay made it tough on me the way he was carrying on like a wildman.

“I was afraid after seeing Clay knock Sony off his feet with one punch I think I did right under the circumstances.

“Now to get back to Clay. I saw he is the best of all the heavyweight champs. Cassius’ big troubles are his mouth and belonging to the Black Muslims.

“The people won’t accept Clay because of these things. If he stopped running off at the mouth and quit the Black Muslims the public would accept him as the best of all heavyweight champions.”

Is Walcott comparing him to the Dempsey who annihilated the six foot six inch 245 pound Willard at Toledo, Ohio?

Is he comparing him to the Louis who destroyed Schmeling in less than a round at New York City?

Is he comparing him to the Marciano who left Walcott a helpless hulk of humanity at Philadelphia and Chicago?

Walcott has his opinion of Cassius Clay as a fighter and it’s firm and honest.

What’s your opinion?