After a record-breaking reign atop the big men’s division, the great Joe Louis finally retired in 1948, and in the years immediately following, boxing struggled to find someone who would be that larger-than-life figure that he is. a dominant world heavyweight champion. . It would take an extraordinary fight and a legendary knockout to help boxing’s premier weight class regain coherence.
Before relinquishing his crown, Louis had faced veteran Jersey Joe Walcott twice. His first matchup in 1947 was one of the most controversial in history, as the judges gave “The Brown Bomber” a points win when everyone else saw Walcott as the clear winner. The aging champion’s mortality was on full display and when he announced his retirement — after scoring an 11th-round knockout of Walcott in their rematch — everyone agreed it was the right call. But soon after, Louis was faced with a huge IRS bill for back taxes and the man who had donated hundreds of thousands to help the nation during World War II had no choice but to lace up his gloves again.
Meanwhile, Ezzard Charles had emerged as the new heavyweight king with a points victory over Walcott in Chicago. He then turned down Louis’ comeback challenge and went on to defend the title against ranked contenders Nick Barone and Lee Oma. Louis continued to campaign, hoping for another opportunity and another much-needed big payday, but in October 1951 he met a burly young slugger from Brockton, Massachusetts named Rocky Marciano. The two contenders battled it out at Madison Square Garden and fans nostalgic for “The Brown Bomber” fought back tears after Louis was knocked out by the younger, stronger man in the eighth round.
Rocky himself was less than elated at his victory. “Imagine looking at Joe Louis lying there on the ropes,” he commented afterwards. “And I did it. I don’t know if I’m happy about that.”
Meanwhile, earlier that year, Charles and Walcott had fought twice more, the rematch in Detroit yielding another decision victory for “The Cincinnati Cobra,” but more than one thought the verdict represented a second championship theft inflicted. to Jersey Joe. So, Ezzard and Walcott did a trilogy, this time in Pittsburgh, and this time old Jersey Joe got a historic victory. With a lightning left hook in the seventh round, he became the oldest heavyweight champion in boxing history.
The following June, Walcott again beat Charles, this time on points, while Marciano had posted four straight knockout wins to firmly establish himself as the division’s top contender. The stage was set: everyone could see that the top two heavyweights in the world were Jersey Joe and “The Rock,” and thus their championship battle drew some fifty thousand to Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, while also it was broadcast to a record number of fifty theaters. in the main cities of America.
Marciano vs. Walcott sparked wide public interest in part because opinions on who was most likely to win were so divided. For most, Marciano’s advantages in youth and power were too much for a 38-year veteran to overcome. But more than one saw Walcott’s advantage in experience, ring intelligence and technique as the deciding factors. Jersey Joe was too old and worn out, some said; Rocky was too inexperienced and crude, others said.
For his part, Walcott dismissed Marciano as any kind of threat, telling all who would listen how this young man simply did not have the ability to put up a hard fight, let alone defeat him. In the veteran’s eyes, Rocky was an inexperienced and uneducated fighter, lacking in finesse and technique. “Write this down,” he growled at reporters. “He can’t fight. If I don’t lick it, get my name out of the record books.”
And for most of the twelve rounds, Walcott and his sponsors proved correct. Midway through the first game, Jersey Joe surprised the challenger, not to mention the large crowd, when he landed a hard left hook that gave Marciano the first knockdown of his career. Rocky got up at the count of four, but was clearly hurt and took a beating for the rest of the round. In fact, Walcott, skilled and experienced worker that he was, used his superior technique and skill to master the first steps, pushing back Rocky’s attacks with ease and testing his chin repeatedly, in the process making liars out of those who had fired him. . as too exhausted to compete with the younger man.
But the challenger began to find his groove in the fourth round, working his way inside to launch his own offense. It had already been a fast-paced, hard-hitting battle, but the fight only escalated when, through sheer brute force and aggression, Rocky forced Walcott into the ropes. There, one fierce exchange followed another, both taking turns throwing and eating leather at a dizzying pace, and in the sixth the violent warfare led to an inevitable clash of heads: the challenger suffered a cut on the scalp, the champion a cut on the head left eye.
Of course, both corners applied solutions and coagulants to treat the injuries and at the end of the seventh round, Rocky returned to his corner declaring that he couldn’t see. Something had gotten into his eyes and for the next three rounds, Marciano struggled with vision problems. Jersey Joe didn’t need to be asked twice. He took full advantage of his now vulnerable challenger, easily avoiding most of the challenger’s forays and then countering with precision, landing big blows over and over again, opening more cuts on Marciano’s face and increasing the swelling around Marciano’s left eye. Rocky.
He was putting on a most impressive performance: the withered 38-year-old, a veteran of so many battles with so many great fighters, one of the few who defeated the legendary Joe Louis only to be denied by the judges, was doing everything he said. he would do and dueling the younger and stronger man with authority. After twelve fast-paced, hard-hitting rounds, he was clearly in command, so far ahead on points that Rocky needed a knockout to win. The experience, skill and intelligence of the ring were proving too much for the raw power and youthful exuberance as, more and more, Rocky, while inflicting his share of the punishment, appeared further and further out of the depth of it.
And then it all came to a crashing end. Marciano answered the bell for round thirteen with malice in his heart, intent on turning the tide and finally imposing his will on him. He stalked the crouching champion, forcing him back, as he swung his left hook, forcing Jersey Joe to be on guard. But when Walcott’s back hit the ropes, both men unleashed big right hands. It was similar to the stereotypical gunslinger duels of old western movies, the two cowboys drawing their guns on the dusty street, each man firing a single kill shot.
And Marciano was the quickest draw as Walcott, anticipating the left hook, never saw the right coming, a perfectly timed shot that barely traveled ten inches. The punch was the equivalent of a circuit breaker, landing flush with Jersey Joe’s chin and instantly knocking out the lights. An unconscious Walcott collapsed in sections on the ropes, his left arm, hooked over the center string, suspending him as Marciano landed a free left hand. Then the referee futilely played the ten count as Jersey Joe’s mindless body slowly yielded to gravity and came to rest on the mat; he could have counted to a thousand if he wanted to.
That short, vicious right hand would prove to be one of the biggest punches ever thrown in a prize ring. A single punch not only erased Walcott’s lead on the scorecards, but also marked the beginning of a new chapter in heavyweight championship history and the end of Jersey Joe’s Cinderella career.
Marciano vs Walcott II took place eight months later and those who were expecting another dramatic and action-packed battle were completely disappointed. Walcott was knocked out in the first round, the loss proving that a single right hand had destroyed Jersey Joe’s confidence and ended him as a boxer. Rocky went on to rule the heavyweights for the next three years, bringing order to the chaos that had ensued following the retirement of “The Brown Bomber”. And years later, when asked about the toughest battles of his career, Marciano would point to that brutal first fight with Walcott as a grueling test he was thankful he got through. —Michael Carbert
