Standout contenders and fighters of the 1940's heavyweight scene?

Billy Conn--fought and lost to Louis twice.
Jimmy Bivins--the interim champion during WW2. He was a top man for a while, but faded fast after the war.
Elmer Ray--had an over 50 bout winning streak and posted victories over Walcott and Charles. The contender who looks most likely to have given Louis a very tough go, but never got a shot.
Turkey Thompson--an explosive puncher who took out Ray in one round. Seems to have faded in fights if he didn't get an early KO.
Lou Nova--beat Baer twice, but flopped against Louis. Might be overrated.
Lee Q Murray--big, powerful guy who would have been a tough challenge for Louis, but lost to Walcott.
Joe Baksi--a lot like George Chuvalo, but looks on film to be a better offensive fighter. Lost to Walcott & Charles and could be out boxed, but a big, tough man and a solid contender.
Lee Savold--was up there for the whole decade. Lost consistently to the best men, but beat lots of second-tier guys. Could box a bit and had a dangerous punch.
Lee Oma--an in and outer with a weak jaw, but good boxing skills.
Tami Mauriello--solid enough, but always came up short against the top men.
Melio Bettina--a tough southpaw who beat a lot of contenders and would have been a good test for Louis.
Arturo Godoy--tough fighter who lost twice to Louis. Could take it, but also could be consistently outpointed.
Bruce Woodcock--had a punch, but failed against Mauriello, Baksi, and Savold. Second tier.
Olle Tandberg--Euro champion who managed an upset of Baksi, but flopped against Maxim and Walcott
Joey Maxim--a light-heavy who fought as a heavy and managed wins over Walcott and Bivins, but generally lost to the best heavies.
Roscoe Toles--underrated fighter who beat a lot of fairly good men, but never seemed to get on the big stage. Lost to Louis in 1935.
Curtis Sheppard--big puncher who took out Maxim in one round, but otherwise seems to have generally come up short.
Lem Franklin--Looked a real comer in 1941, including a KO of Bivins, but was stopped by Pastor, and then KO'd several more times, twice by Savold, dropping out of picture. Big puncher, but shaky chin and poor defense.

I look forward to Suzie Q expanding on this list and my comments.

 

great job!

 

Fine post which has just about covered everyone! Suze might have some more info the 40's and 50's are of special interest to him.
Tommy Gomez,Buddy Walker,Lem Franklin?

 

Hope its better than mine! Apart from Pep,Saddler,Wright whom Pep named as the 2nd hardest puncher he faced,Nel Tarleton.Jock Leslie, and Phil Terranova I'm as ignorant as a rock about that decade!

 

Here’s a quick top 25 rankings from 1940s heavyweights I made

I’ll expand

1. Joe Louis
2. Ezzard Charles
3. Jersey Joe Walcott
4. Billy Conn
5. Elmer Ray
6. Jimmy Bivins
7. Joey Maxim
9. Melio Bettina
10. Bob Pastor
11. Lee Q Murray
12. Lem Franklin
13. Joe Baksi
14. Tami Mauriello
15. Turkey Thompson
16. Buddy Baer
17. Harry Bobo
18. Roscoe Toles
19. Arturo Godoy
20. Bruce Woodcock
21. Lee Savold
22. Lou Nova
23. Hatchetman Sheppard
24. Eddie Blunt
25. Lee Oma

 

Stuff I’ve saved over the years on Elmer Ray

“In the years before he became a famous professional boxer, he rose to prominence in the southern battle royale circuit- battle royales being a fight game from that time period in which 10 competitors would be put into the ring with each other and have an "all-against-all" throw-down until only one was left. Ray won 61 battle royales and supposedly once knocked out nine opponents with one hand behind his back during a match in New Orleans,earning himself the title "King of the Battle Royale." According to theTraverse City Eagle, March 11, 1946,
"Ray had a system that let him win 61 of those free-for-alls. In these bouts,the usual order is for the little guys to gang up on the biggest man and down the batting order in that manner. Elmer simply dropped to the floor when the bell sounded, crawled to a corner,placed his back against the ropes and took the whole gang as it came at him."


“Elmer (Violent) Ray has the extraordinary distinction of being the only man Joe Louis wouldn't even meet in an exhibition. Louis boxed Dan Merritt of Cleveland instead, and stood watching as Ray, a crowding weaver and bobber with the speed of a swift middleweight, ironed out Claudio Villar, a Spaniard, in 29 seconds flat.”
"Arturo Godoy and Tami Mauriello rejected guarantees to square off with Ray at Madison square Garden, Lee Oma the Violent One's share of the swag in addition to his own. Joe Baksi and Lou Nova refused. Melio Bettina will have nothing to do with the Hastings Hammerer. Jimmy Bivins turned down the chance to march front and center with him in Los Angeles, where the terror recorded 19 knockouts in a row. The current Joe Walcott will have notruck with him in Baltimore... Currently he is drawing and at Miami's Negro ball yard, Dorsey Park, while putting the slug on such as Dan Merritt and Al Patterson, the latter a slatty character out of Pittsburgh. "It's better than wrestlingalligators and fighting nineguys at once," beams Violent Ray."
-The Coshocton Tribune, March 8, 1946

The Modesto Bee account, August 10th, 1943, reads, "Turkey Thompson still wore his crown today after a match with a tough Floridian named Elmer Ray, who punched his better known opponent around the ring for six rounds only to have Referee Lee Ramage atop the bout with no decision after Ray had been fouled twice," and according to the Fresno Bee Republican, "Ray had won all five rounds and was out in front in the sixth when he was hurt by a low blow and Ramage stopped the bout."

Here is the description from the Middlesboro Daily News account: "The gallery gods went into ranting hysterics last night when the burly negro who once wrestled alligators for a living smashed the myth which was Ezzard Charles. The boxing bigwigs, who had been grooming Charles for a fight with Joe Louis, laughed. Once more they had given Joe Louis, the heavyweightchampion, an excuse to dodge the violent one. For from 10 rows back it looked like Charles all the way. He danced and jabbed and landed a lot on Ray's bobbing pate and Elmer's busy elbows. But inside 10 rows you could see the devastation wrought by Ray's jarring hooks, blasts which raised the sheaf of Ezzard's cheek. “No holding,” was the continual admonition of referee Eddie Joseph. But Ezzard, of the winged retreating feet, had to hold for his life, and in doing so he made of Elmer Ray a modern SamLangford."
According to the Nevada State Journal, "Ezzard had clicked off 15 straight victories since he received his discharge from the army 18 months ago, including nine knockouts, but he was unable to overcome his heavier and more experiencedopponent, and he was unable to score a single knock-down against rugged Ray, who kept marching in, bobbing and weaving and throwing hooks to body and head. Although Ray admits to 31, which wouldmake him at least five years older than his opponent, it was Ray who finished stronger in the 10th round and thereby apparently wrapped up the bout by a close margin."

 

" According to the Traverse City Eagle, March 11, 1946,

"Ray had a system that let him win 61 of those free-for-alls. In these bouts, the usual order is for the little guys to gang up on the biggest man and down the batting order in that manner. Elmer simply dropped to the floor when the bell sounded, crawled to a corner, placed his back against the ropes and took the whole gang as it came at him."

Ray got his start in the battle royals and learned the hard way. He is said to have had his first experience with these battle royals down in Tampa, Florida. Elmer would work during the day and fight at night. In these free-for-all style fights he is said to have won 61 contests without ever losing and he had a strategy on how to do it.

Ray explained how he won these chaotic challenges, saying: “They’d have ten big negroes in the ring. They could have their best hand free, but the other was lashed to their belt behind their back. No blindfold. The reason I got along so well was that I learned to rush for a corner at the bell. I’d brace myself and let my Sunday punch go at the first fellow who came at me. In a corner, I could get better leverage. By the time I got two men stacked up under my feet, it was a cinch that the next one would stumble or lose his balance getting at me. When the field had thinned out I’d go out and take on a survivor or two. When the pack was narrowed down to two we’d get a few minutes rest and then go out and slug it to a finish.”

These types of fights were especially popular in the South and were often added to the cards to boost the fan’s interest. Ray only made $9 for these type of fights—basically a buck for each man that was knocked out. Many of these boxing cards would have these battle royals followed by a handful of undercard bouts and then the main event. Sometimes to add to the card they would have a women’s swimsuit contest and a buck dancing contest to help draw a larger fan base. It was a hard way to earn experience, but the battle royals gave Ray some popularity and helped kickstart his career. He might not have won a Golden Gloves championship fighting in these free-for-alls but there was no doubt he was the undisputed king of them.

 

According to the NY Times account, Ray knocked Savold through the ropes with a right hand early in round two, Savold climbed back in off the ring apron, and Ray promptly hit him with a short right to the jaw that knocked him out cold flat on his face.

 

good list. My quibbles. Thompson seems to be several notches too low. Whatever happened in the first fight, he knocked out Ray in one in the rematch, putting him down for the count, and beat several other good men. I think he should be about 11th.

Also, Savold below Woodcock? Why? Savold has a win over Baksi, who slaughtered Woodcock. And he KO'd Franklin twice. He also had the better of Woodcock, losing on a foul, but stopping him in the rematch.

but a fine list overall.

 

Good stuff, but Louis fought 3 exhibitions with Ray koing him in the last one.

 

In fairness to Lee Ramage concerning the first Ray-Thompson fight, he had no choice but to declare a no decision according to box rec. Those were the California rules.

 

This is all u need to know really