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

Turkey Thompson is a perfect example of how some of these guys get blown out of proportion. Thompson was mediocre at best.

 

Thompson was actually pretty darn good.

With better management, he might well have fought Louis.

The fact stands however, that he was standing way back in the line.

 

I accept that there were valid reasons why some of the murderer's row didn't get title fight opportunities. But not being good wasn't among them.

 

buddy Baer is considered one of Louis best challengers. Baer lost badly to blunt.

 

I do not agree with your assertion, that Louis discriminated against the black contenders, directly or indirectly.

I think that he was essentially guided by the rankings of the day, and the opinion of the contemporary media.

I do however think, that the black contenders were operating at a management/resource disadvantage, and that a few of them could have been title challengers.

 

The problem with this assertion is that it was never my assertion.

 

Then what should Louis have done?

Ignored the rankings?

It might have been inflammatory, for him to fight a black fighter ranked #4, in preference to a white fighter ranked #1.

Louis basically got the breakthrough for black fighters, by destroying whoever was unlucky enough to get the #1 ranking.

 

First you said I was disappointed by the election results ,and I explained I was in my local Conservative club drinking champagne and celebrating.Why would the Conservative victory have affected me in anything but a positive way? You don't make any sense. John Henry Lewis himself said his vision problem,[ in one eye,] had occurred 4 years earlier .You have several times said he was sick and going blind this is patently untrue and is in fact a deliberate lie on your part.
Why do you keep repeating these lies? You are not convincing anyone by doing so.

 

When not in the Army Louis defended against all his number one contenders.
Schmeling
Nova
Galento
Conn
Mauriello
Walcott
Bivins and Bettina were number one when Louis was in the Army and not a free agent.

 

How many of his fights have you seen... Case closed. He was mediocre and the fact that he, like others of equally, relative, low quality were ranked while the division was depleted due to the war illustrates just how weak the division was, not how good they were.

 

Dorazio and Godoy had both been kod by Louis .Valentino would be kod in an exhibition match by an old Louis and he won the rematch with Thompson.
Pastor was kod by Louis.
Pastor v Thompson below.


1941-07-23 : Turkey Thompson 188 lbs lost to Bob Pastor 186 lbs by PTS in round 10 of 10

• Location: Gilmore Field, Los Angeles, California, USA
• Referee: Abe Roth 2-7

Thompson won only one round, the eighth. "In short, Pastor made Thompson look like an amateur most of the route and the bout was too one-sided to elicit much excitement." The Ring, October 1941, page
Below.
Here is the Pastor v Thompson fight you refer to with the bit you conveniently left out.:hey


Pastor was knocked down six times in the first round. The first of the knockdowns was started by a left hook. That same left hook led to the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th knockdowns, while he was dropped by right hands on the other two. Pastor came back to win the 2nd round, and the 3rd round convincingly flooring Thompson with a right hand. The action continued in the 4th, with Pastor driving Thompson to the ropes, where he pounded him to the body. After a slow 5th round, Pastor staggered Thompson again in the 6th, and then pinned him on the ropes again, where he dished out another heavy body attack. Thompson came out strongly in the 7th, and hurt Pastor again with his left hook, forcing Pastor to clutch on to Thompson to avoid going down.
In the 8th round, Pastor bleeding from his mouth, spit out his mouthguard to breath better. Pastor nailed Thompson with a smashing right hand, that forced Thompson to take a knee for a count of nine. Pastor tore into him with another flurry, driving him into the ropes, where he was sent down for the second time in the round, this time for an eight-count. Pastor tore into Thompson again in the 9th and 10th rounds

I know you wanted me to include those bits.

Which year do you say Thompson should have had his title chance?

 

Some of the murderer's row members were unfortunate enough to earn their ratings at the wrong time which didn't make for title fights materializing or because their stay at the top of the ratings, though meaningful, was also too brief. The preferences of Louis's promoter may have had some thing to do with it as well, as he may not have seen much of a lucrative pay day in those bouts. But I've never blamed Joe Louis personally for these fights not happening or for him drawing color lines or anything of the sort. Now, do I think that some of those black contenders were better than SOME of the white or other ones who DID get title shots? Yes.