Should Louis have fought more than two black men in his 26 title defenses?

Another excellently researched post.:good

 

The betting odds on Conn in 1941 pretty much speaks for itself.

So does the attendance at a major ball park fight.

I am sure most experts picked Louis because of size,

but Conn was obviously a great fighter.

As for the HBO experts---over here in America we have a gab show host who puts his name on shallow ghost-written books on history and pops up now and then as a "historical expert" on documentaries.

In other words, who knows what qualifications American TV "experts" have.

 

Louis was an 11 to 5 favorite in the first fight. Those seem like pretty stiff odds to me.

 

Franklin also knocked out Eddie Blunt. blunt hammered buddy Baer and beat two other louis title challengers. Blunt was a big guy with skills

 

The Ring Record Book says 18-5, but odds fluctuate.

That was short odds for a Louis fight, and generally shorter than most for a heavyweight championship fight.

 

"Who do you think was better, Franklin or Dorazio."

Dorazio. That was the point of the post. He was rated before and after Franklin appeared and disappeared from the ratings. He had a longer career, a better winning percentage, and beat far more rated fighters. I stand by picking him as better.

"Franklin was on a slide when Dorazio defeated him"

Okay, but Dorazio was older and simply lasted as a top man much longer.

Thompson and Sheppard.

Again you are bringing up fighters who emerged during the war while Louis was in the service and not defending, and beating Louis over the head for not defending against them.

Let's take the better of the two--Thompson.

He lost twice to Pastor in 1941, and fought draws with Musto and Simon. He started moving in 1942, but by that time Louis had enlisted.

Thompson would have been a great contender in 1943 or 1944, and in my judgment might well have been a more dangerous opponent than Franklin. He not only had a punch, he had a fairly sturdy chin.

But Thompson suffered two losses in 1944 and left boxing for three years. He was laid off and inactive when Louis returned to defending in 1946.

Thompson came back with a few wins in 1947, but was certainly at this point behind Walcott (and possibly Ray, although he did have a one round stoppage of Ray in 1943), but Thompson lost to Bivins and Valentino in 1948. Louis retired. Charles defended against Valentino, who had beaten Thompson two of three. How would you judge Charles about that?

Thompson rallied in 1949 with KO's of the fading Murray and Hart, to get back near the top of the ratings, but four losses in 1950 removed him from contender status.

 

You keep repeating"his eyesight was rapidly deteriorating" despite it being proven this simply is not so, his eyesight had been the same for the last 4 YEARS! Do you actually read the replies people post because you flagrantly disregard them?atsch


Which fighter are you talking about here anyway?:huh
is it Dorazio,Dozario,orDorzaio? Or all three?

ps I think it's your eyesight that is rapidly deteriorating.:yep

 

Okay.

Franklin had done enough to be a contender. No one is disputing that.

 

Blunt was stopped 7 times and he was six foot tall.
Blunt beat Buddy Baer by decision.

Blunt lost to:
Savold
Simon
Simms
Burman
Galento
Mann
All Louis ko victims.

 

I'm going to be blunt in saying that Blunt was an all time great.

 

That is as correct as the description,"he was a big guy with skills":good

 

well to put it bluntly...........

 

:good

 

....he wasn't the sharpest.