Hard one to me. If you have to make a list who would be higher between these two ?? :think I lean towards Jack......
Vic, Jimmy Carter was far better..and I liked Beau Jack....Carter was inconsistant, and many at that time thought he was controlled by Carbo and the gang. He was two different fighters, one who could be lazy and complacent when fighting a nontitle bout, and sometimes a defense, but he was on fire when he challenged for the title. Carter was underrated for sure.
During Beau Jack's and Jimmy Carter's heyday, this wouldn't be a serious question... Beau Jack at his best had a much greater reputation than jimmy Carter as a lughtweight... Beau Jack for a couple of years was an alltime star ,but his brave manager made him fight every 2 weeks or so against great lightweights as Ike Williams, Bob Montgomery, Sammy Angott, Henry Armstrong, Willie Joyce, Bummy Davis , Fritzie Zivic, etc. In his FIRST 3 years Beau Jack fought 50 bouts against top opposition. Beating everyone except the PRIME murderous hitting Ike Williams... On the other hand Jimmy Carter's sole claim to fame was his stoppage of an over the hill Ike Williams in 1951... Cater prior to that victory was an in and outer LW losing to Paddy DeMarco, Lauro Salas, Joe Brown etc. At their peaks,Beau would be a prohibitive favorite over Jimmy Carter...