Who was the best of the big sized heavyweights of the early-mid 1950s?

Here are the top 3 choices


6'2 215lb 76" Joe Louis- 36-37 years old

6'3 210lb 79" Nino Valdez-

6'2 220lb 78" Bob Baker-


There are many other choices like Ewart Potgeiter, James J Parker, Gene Tiger Jones, Sid Peaks, Hein Ten Hoff, Karel Sys, Heinz Neuhas, Alberto Santiago Lovell, etc etc etc but these 3 I listed above stood out among the others.




Personally after reviewing all of these men on film. I found Joe Louis to be the best out of them followed slightly by valdez and baker. Some said Louis was shot by the early 1950s, I disagree.

Watching his fights vs Savold, Agramonte, Valentino Louis looks like a dangerous big guy in there. He is very muscular, Extremley elegent and accurate heavy jab, very technical sound, lots of ring savvy experience, and decent heavy handed power left in each hand enough to hurt you badly with one punch, good handspeed......declining reflexes, slower in mobility, lacks combinations and aggresive finish......

Nino Valdez was physically gifted, a very sharp long jab that compared to Joe Louis's, Huge Right Hand, Very Aggressive, devastating finisher, very Strong, Durable, he lacked technical skills Joe Louis and Baker had, and didnt have very good ring intelligence, lacked mentall toughness.

Bob Baker was another young physically gifted man with super handspeed for a man his size, had very fluid technical boxing skills, with a crisp jab, superb defense, good but not great heavy handed power, immensley strong........lacked top punching skills like valdez and louis, too Tenative, Durability questionable, Brittle Hands problem.


In a round Robin Tournament........I see Joe Louis outpointing both of them in close unanimous decision contests with Louis knocking Baker down 3 times in the contest, the Valdez-Louis bout much closer with Old Joe outpointing The young Cuban by one round due to his superior technical skills, Ring Savvy and more accurate punching. Louis outpoints baker by outboxing and outjabbing the young buch, and loses rounds due to bakers speed, youthness. Baker twice gets caught by hard left hooks which put him down, and louis dispells the rumor he had nothing left in his right hand by flooring baker for the 3rd time.


10 rounder match 1 - 1950-1951 Joe Louis vs 1954 Nino Valdez-

Round 1: Valdez
Round 2: Louis
Round 3: Louis
Round 4: Louis
Round 5: Valdez
Round 6: Even
Rounds 7 Louis
Round 8: Valdez
Round 9: Valdez
Round 10: Louis

Joe Louis 5 rounds to 4 1 even


Match 2: 1950-51 Louis vs 1951 Baker

Round 1: Baker
Round 2: Baker
Round 3: Louis
Round 4: Louis- Baker knocked down
Round 5: Louis
Round 6: Louis- Baker knocked down
Round 7: Louis
Round 8: Baker
Round 9: Even
Round 10: Louis- Baker knocked down

Louis 6 rounds to 3 1 even


Match 3: Baker W 10 Unanimous Valdez




Baker gets the nod over Valdez simply because he beat him twice when both were in there prime by clear unanimous decisions , but I feel This was more because Baker matched up well with Valdez stylistically with his size, better boxing skills, and tentative wise boxing style. I think Valdez ranks higher than Baker on all time lists, for I feel Valdez style allows him a bigger chance to upset champions than baker.


So here is how they rank based on the Round Robin


1. Joe Louis
2. Bob Baker
3. Nino Valdez

The interesting thing is due to styles louis matched up far better vs baker than valdez, while baker matched up far better vs valdez than louis.



How they feared in real life:


Louis KO 1 Nino Valdez- Live Exhibition 1951
Baker W 10 Nino Valdez 1953
Baker W 10 Nino Valdez 1956



How would they have faired against the Heavyweight Champion?

Rocky Marciano TKO 12 Nino Valdez
Rocky Marciano KO 6 Bob Baker
Rocky Marciano KO 8 Joe Louis- Result Happened

 

I agree about sanders. but why do you think bob baker would beat joe louis?