By Ted Spoon

Whether it’s a book, or television program, history continues to tell us that ‘Jersey’ Joe Walcott eventually completed his quest for gold just after Joe Louis sealed his place among the Heavyweight giants. Their finest triumphs have been well archived, but very little has been said about the decision that pugilistic maestro, Jack Blackburn made in 1934. This ‘decision’ concluded what may have marked thee most shocking of all twists of fate.

As Blackburn was financially baited into training the young Louis he inadvertently dropped his original protégé, ‘Jersey Joe’, into the lowest ranks of society. Having contracted typhoid, Walcott’s inability to tag along with Jack to Chicago as a sparring partner and secondary student led the way for a decade of frustration, desperation, and generally torrid times.

While Blackburn and Louis hit it off, which was only the beginning of a hugely successful partnership, Walcott was forced to go on relief to help support his flourishing family. Eventually, Walcott was farther to a total of six children and the numerous stints of work he had no choice but to grasp at often left him completely exhausted.

No longer was fighting the dream Walcott had envisioned as a boy, gone was the enthusiasm he shared with his late farther as they spoke of past legends. Boxing was now a mere job to fall back on when there was no other way to scrape some ‘chump change’ together. It proved a dangerous way of living when, low on energy, he fell victim to his poor condition after leading in bouts with Al Ettore and the hulking Abe Simon -- losses which should reflect his dire position rather than discredit his true ability.

Consider that Jack Dempsey famously fought during desperate times, but even the great Mauler never had to take on the world class opposition Walcott did when under prepared. Walcott simply had too many obligations and too few helping hands -- he was run off his feet, often un well, and never able to apply that natural ring prowess that initially drew the old master to him. 

By the time Walcott had lost to Simon, Louis had been the Heavyweight champion for a few years and was cleaning house -- one was on top of the world while the other decided to quit. Of course, Walcott would get with fellow Camden businessman, Felix Bocchichio, and resurrect his career to complete a ‘Cinderella man’ journey, but the scars of his previous misfortune could be seen in his often lackluster performances.

Walcott was an interesting fighter to say the least; he had a natural swagger about him, spun on his heels to change stance, and sucker punched opponents after pretending to walk away. Flashes of brilliance were no rare occurrence with Walcott, but his negative tendencies to disengage, ‘go to sleep’ and switch off were classic marks of a talent not properly nurtured.

As Walcott trudged on through the ranks he typically blew hot and cold. With nobody there who really understood his strong points or teach him accordingly the aging veteran looked like he was fighting with himself in there sometimes.

Louis and Walcott were counter-punchers of a different breed, but the startling difference lay within in how Louis could finish his man when hurt. Unless the bell intervened, Louis would coolly stalk and then dispatch of his challengers when shaken with those classic short hooks and uppercuts. Walcott treated such opportunities as a time to take his foot off the gas. Indeed, in Walcott’s fight with Lee Oma and final battle with Elmer Ray he was seemingly allergic to taking the initiative when he had them down and hurt.

Such behavior may be credited to previous disasters when he shot his bolt, but being prone to cruise after successful intervals has hurt his deserved reputation as a dynamic puncher. 

A total 32 knockouts in 51 victories ‘Jersey Joe’ accomplished, but the final KO statistic would have been far higher had he conducted himself correctly. At 6,0 tall most of Walcott’s 196lbs were compact into a distinctly muscular upper body. Several life’s worth of manual labour had forged a densely powerful physique. With either hand, Walcott had genuine one-punch power, but his problem with ‘lowering the boom’ is the last thing fans remember.

This punching ability of his, however, certainly made its presence felt.

We will never forget that championship winning punch over Ezzard Charles. Ezzard was like Floyd Patterson in the sense that he could be put down, but was damn hard to keep there. With just one perfectly timed left-handed ‘screw punch’, Walcott had Ezzard’s head irreversibly scrabbled and the brave attempt to rise was met with another collapse. In the opening moments of Walcott’s first fight with Marciano a slashing left hook on the counter took him down for the first time in his career, and Joe Louis was dropped 3 times in his two fights with Walcott, one time was nearly for the count.

As is the case with his firepower, Walcott’s punch resistance has often come under much criticism. Knocked out 6 times in 71 fights is no black mark for a fighter, but when you’ve been Heavyweight champion of the world your career will be put under the microscope. It is, however, arguable that the only times Walcott was fairly knocked out was by two of histories strongest punchers. Early stoppages to Ettore, Fox, and Simon followed decent performances. Taking note of his lifestyle the stoppages could have just underlined the fact Walcott was not getting any formal training or even had the time to train.

The last loss he suffered is a moot point. In his 39th year, Walcott was knocked out by Marciano in one round during their return match. A short right uppercut visibly stunned the veteran and he then missed timed the count when he rose too late, but ‘Jersey Joe’ by this time was a spent force.

If it’s true that Walcott was not a durable fighter then that must have magically changed later on. 23 rounds with a very dangerous ‘Brown Bomber’, 20 rounds with the powerful Elmer Ray, and a 13 round slugfest with Marciano does in no way denote an inability to absorb punishment. The combination that Louis delivered, and the right swing by Marciano were two instances of power punching at its best.

It is difficult to see who else could’ve stood up to those battering encounters.

 

The two best performances in Walcott’s fighting life were Charles III and Marciano I. One was a momentous victory, the other a passing of the torch, moreover they were two instances in which Walcott effectively utilized his strengths; mixing his clever boxing with an aggressive approach. Had Walcott not gone back to his negative ways the Louis ‘robbery’ would have never been, but in these two he stuck to what worked.

The knockout blow delivered to Charles, despite its brilliance, was just the exclamation mark on a smart fight plan. Proceeding two rounds of lively sparring, Walcott used his jab, and fought in the ‘danger zone’ to get Ezzard to lead. He popped his jab, obliged the inside battle, and when he got Charles to open up, hit him with leaping lefts and sneaky rights. In the 3rd, 4th and 5th rounds, Ezzard was hurt and marked up. Walcott was making the most out of the opportunities his style created and closed the book in the 7th after ‘sucker-feinting’ him into his left.

The Marion Star newspaper quoted Charles as saying: “I don’t know what it was tonight but he seemed more aggressive than ever. He was taking chances with haymaker punches and leaving himself wide open but I couldn’t seem to do anything about it.”

Rocky’s now legendary title winning effort over Walcott is used as the first example to punctuate Marciano’s ‘never say die’ fight motto, but before Walcott miscalculated, big time, he was out pointing the gritty brawler. From the first round to when he floored Rocky, to the thirteenth when he was knocked cold, Walcott was either equaling or out doing the fabled ‘Brockton blockbuster’ in straight trade offs. There was plenty of science and sharp countering on behalf of Walcott, but he stayed put and slugged it out with the Rock -- a tactic that all other Marciano victims had deemed suicidal.

Nobody ever hurt Marciano as much as ‘Jersey Joe’ did in what Rocky labelled his ‘hardest ever fight’ -- a fine tribute to the 38 year old, but what about that age?

Walcott began to make waves in the division during his thirties and, at 37, took the title on the fifth time trying. Several observers perceive this as Walcott being a ‘late bloomer’, maturing through the years, but it was the fact he was not catered for until his fighting days were long in the tooth. While under the provided shelter of Felix, Walcott kept himself in great condition, but his physical ability was likely blunted and in reverse gear upon reaching the worlds elite.

If someone was there to pull Walcott out of his living hell earlier something entirely different may have unfolded. With that skill set harnessed at a younger there is no telling how he may have affected the ‘Era of the Bomber’. Alas, Blackburn was the only one who could have led the way, but the balance was switched in favor of Louis that day his teachings were solely dedicated to cultivating his aptness towards boxing.  

It’s not all bad, at least we were fortunate enough to see the glove tappin’, shufflin’ ‘Jersey Joe’, one of boxing’s most inspiring, feel good stories, but it’s only natural to speculate over what so easily could have been contrary to reality.

Like an exotic plant, Walcott’s unique nature needed a special kind of attention to develop and Jack Blackburn was the only one who could have got Walcott to fully blossom. 

‘Jersey Joe’, heavyweight great and Joe Louis the top contender -- like the title? Can’t have been far off.

Ted Spoon is a boxing historian based in the UK.