What if ....

Joe Louis would never have come around. How would the hw division look till Marciano takes it over. Would another one be the dominant champ? Would the title have a new owner after every fight? Would Schmeling take the belt from Braddock and lock it away in the 3rd Reich?

I came thinking about this through the thread about fighters suffering through coming around the wrong time.

 

This is right up my alley!

It all depends on if the white fighters hide behind the color line or not.


Lets say they dont.......schmeling regains the title over braddock in 37, defends it until losing it to say lem franklin in 1940. Then Franklin, Bivins, Billy Conn, and Lee Q Murray swap turns winning and losing the title to eachorther until Elmer Ray bursts into the world title scene in the mid 1940s.....and with a crushing knockout of Jimmy Bivins to win the world title....he defends it for 3 years until running into jersey joe walcott who beats him for the title. Walcott then loses it to charles in 49, and history then plays in itself from there.

so this is how it will go

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Max Schmeling Wu 15 James Braddock
(schmeling wins world heavyweight title)

Max Schmeling Wm 15 Jack Trammell
(schmeling retains world heavyweight title)

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Max Schmeling Wu 15 Tommy Farr
(Schmeling Retains world heavyweight title)

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Max Schmeling TKO 8 Lou Nova
(schmeling retains world heavyweight title)

Max Schmeling TKO 13 Tony Galento
(Schmeling retains world heavyweight title)

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Max Schmeling Wu 15 Max Baer
(Schmeling retains world heavyweight title)

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Lem Franklin TKO 6 Max Schmeling
(Franklin wins world heavyweight title)

Lem Franklin TKO 5 Abe Simon
(Franklin retains world heavyweight title)

Lem Franklin KO 7 Buddy Baer
(Franklin Retains world heavyweight title)

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Lem Franklin TKO 9 Jimmy Bivins
(Franklin Retains world heavyweight title)

Billy Conn KO 12 Lem Franklin
(Conn wins world heavyweight title)

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Billy Conn KO 11 Bob Pastor
(conn wins world heavyweight title)

Billy Conn 15u Turkey Thompson
(conn retains world heavyweight title)

Billy Conn 15u Tami Mauriello
(conn retains world heavyweight title)

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Lee Q Murray 15s Billy Conn
(Murray wins world heavyweight title)

Lee Q Murray 15m Billy Conn
(Murray Retains world heavyweight title)

Lee Q Murray KO 5 Joe Baski
(Murray retains world heavyweight title)

Lee Q Murray 15s Jimmy Bivins
(Murray Retains world heavyweight title)

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Jimmy Bivins 15u Lee Q Murray
(Bivins wins world heavyweight title)

Elmer Ray KO 4 Jimmy Bivins
(Ray wins world heavyweight title)

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Elmer Ray KO 6 Billy Conn
(Ray retains world heavyweight title)

Elmer Ray 15m lee Q Murray
(Ray Retains world heavyweight title)

Elmer Ray KO 5 Bruce Woodcock
(ray retains world heavyweight title)

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Elmer Ray KO 11 Hatchetman Sheppard
(ray retains world heavyweight title)

Elmer Ray TKO 6 Turkey Thompson
(ray retains world heavyweight title)

December: Jersey Joe Walcott 15m Elmer Ray
(walcott retains world heavyweight title)

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Jersey Joe Walcott 15u Elmer Ray
(walcott retains world heavyweight title)

Jersey Joe Walcott 15u Lee Q Murray
(walcott retains world heavyweight title)

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Ezzard Charles 15u Jersey Joe Walcott
(Charles wins world heavyweight title)



History repeats itself from there..............



1950 september Replace Charles W 15 Louis with Charles W 15 Baker

 

I'm not sure Schmeling gets a shot at Braddock if there's no Louis; remember, the main reason Schmeling was considered the top challenger for Braddock was because he beat Louis, which, had Louis not existed, he obviously couldn't have done. Prior to the Louis fight, Schmeling had not exactly been on a hot streak, and he didn't do anything overly spectacular afterwards, either. I doubt the same sort of circumstances would have come together to produce something remarkable like what really happened without Louis there. If anything, I think a Braddock-Baer rematch might be likely.

I imagine the late '30s would see the title juggled a bit more, like it was in the early '30s, maybe with a man or two regaining the championship. I think we'd see Jimmy Bivins, maybe Conn, and possibly a third fighter hold the title between 1940 and 1945. Elmer Ray is a good choice to get ahold of the championship in the 1946-47 range, likely losing it to Walcott, who loses it to Charles before this alternate history more or less rejoins with reality.

 

The probable scenario is Baer Schmeling II for a shot at Braddocks title.

I think it would have been.