Jersey Joe Walcott

Jersey Joe Walcott
Statistics
Real name	Arnold Raymond Cream
Nickname(s)	Jersey Joe
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Reach	74 in (188 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	January 31, 1914(1914-01-31) Merchantville, New Jersey
Died	February 25, 1994(1994-02-25) (aged 80) Camden, New Jersey
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	71
Wins	51
Wins by KO	32
Losses	18
Draws	2
No contests	0

Arnold Raymond Cream (January 31, 1914 – February 25, 1994), better known as Jersey Joe Walcott, was a world heavyweight boxing champion. He broke the world's record for the oldest man to win the world's Heavyweight title when he earned it at the age of &1000000000000003700000037 years, &10000000000000168000000168 days, a record that would be broken on November 5, 1994, by George Foreman, who defeated the 26 year old Heavyweight champion of the world Michael Moorer at the age of 45, to win the WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.

Background

Walcott was born in Merchantville, New Jersey, the son of immigrants from Barbados. Walcott's father died when he was 13 years old, so he quit school and took a job working in a soup factory to support his mother and 11 siblings. He also began training as a boxer. He took the name of his boxing idol, Joe Walcott, the welterweight champion from Barbados, hence his nickname, "Jersey Joe" Jersey Joe is Buried in Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery.

Boxing career

He debuted as a professional boxer on September 9, 1930, fighting Cowboy Wallace and winning by a knockout in round one. After five straight knockout wins, in 1933, he lost for the first time, beaten on points by Henry Wilson in Philadelphia.

He built a record of 45 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw before challenging for the world title for the first time. Walcott lost early bouts against world-class competition. He lost a pair of fights to Tiger Jack Fox and was knocked out by contender Abe Simon. But that would change in 1945 when Walcott beat top heavyweights such as Joe Baksi, Lee Q. Murray, Curtis Sheppard and Jimmy Bivins. He closed out 1946 with a pair of losses to former light heavyweight champ Joey Maxim and heavyweight contender Elmer Ray, but promptly avenged those defeats in 1947.

On December 5, 1947, he fought Joe Louis, at thirty three years of age breaking the record as the oldest man to fight for the world heavyweight title. Despite dropping Louis in round one, and once again in round four, he lost a 15 round split decision. Most ringside observers and boxing writers felt Walcott deserved the win, and so there was a rematch on June 25, 1948, when Louis prevailed once again, this time by a knockout in round 11.

June 22 of 1949, Walcott got another chance to become world heavyweight champion, when he and Ezzard Charles met for the title left vacant by Louis. However, Charles prevailed, winning by decision in 15 rounds. Walcott, disappointed but eager to see his dream of being a champion come true, went on, and in 1950, he won four of his five bouts, including a three round knock-out of future world light heavyweight champion Harold Johnson.

On March 7 of 1951, he and Charles fought for a second time and once again Charles won a 15 round decision to retain his world title. But on July 18, he joined a handful of boxers who claimed the world title in their fifth try, when he knocked out Charles in seven rounds in Pittsburgh, to finally become world's heavyweight champion, at the relatively old age of 37.^[1] This made him the oldest man ever to win the world heavyweight crown (a distinction he would hold until George Foreman won the title at age 45 in 1994).

Walcott retained the title with a 15 round decision victory against arch-enemy Charles. On September 23, 1952, he defended his title for the second time. His opponent was the undefeated Rocky Marciano. In the first round Marciano was knocked down with a left hook for the first time in his career. Walcott was in the scoring clearly ahead in the 13th round and Marciano needed a knockout to win, according to two of the three official scorecards. In this round Marciano landed a right hand on Walcott´s jaw, that is considered one of the hardest punches thrown in boxing history and the fight was over. There was a rematch in Chicago, on May 15, 1953, and the second time around, Walcott was again defeated by Marciano by a knockout in the first round.

Post boxing

He did not go away from the celebrity scene after boxing. In 1956, he co-starred with Humphrey Bogart and Max Baer in the boxing drama The Harder They Fall. In 1963, he tried professional wrestling, losing to Lou Thesz. Thesz pinned Walcott in the fifth round, but has stated that Walcott knocked him (Thesz) down and most likely out in that fifth round. As he fell to the floor, he relied on instinct, grabbing Walcotts knees, taking him down with him and stretching him out for the pin.

In 1965, he refereed the controversial world heavyweight championship bout between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston. Walcott lost the count as Ali circled around a floored Liston and Walcott tried to get him back to a neutral corner. Then Walcott looked outside the ring (presumably to the ringside count keeper) as Ali and Liston went at each other before Walcott instructed them to keep on fighting, then Walcott approached the fighters and abruptly stopped the fight. Walcott would never be appointed as a referee after this bout. It should be said, however, that most of the controversy surrounding this fight had nothing to do with Walcott, as this was the famous fight with the "phantom punch".

Walcott became Sheriff of Camden County in 1972 and then chairman of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission in 1975 until 1984, when he stepped down at the mandatory retirement age of 70. Walcott was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.

Professional boxing record

51 Wins (32 knockouts, 19 decisions), 18 Losses (6 knockouts, 12 decision), 2 Draws [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	51-18-2	Rocky Marciano	KO	1 (15)	15/05/1953	Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, United States	For World Heavyweight title.
Loss	51-17-2	Rocky Marciano	KO	13 (15)	23/09/1952	Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States	Lost World Heavyweight title. Fight was named Ring Magazine Fight of the Year for 1952.
Win	51-16-2	Ezzard Charles	UD	15	05/06/1952	Municipal Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States	Retained World Heavyweight title.
Win	50-16-2	Ezzard Charles	KO	7 (15)	18/07/1951	Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States	Won World Heavyweight title. Ring Magazine Fight of the Year for 1951.
Loss	49-16-2	Ezzard Charles	UD	15	07/03/1951	Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, United States	For World Heavyweight title.
Loss	49-15-2	Rex Layne	UD	10	24/11/1950	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Win	49-14-2	Hein ten Hoff	UD	10	28/05/1950	VfR Mannheim, Mannheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Win	48-14-2	Johnny Shkor	KO	1 (10)	13/03/1950	Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	47-14-2	Omelio Agramonte	TKO	7 (10)	03/03/1950	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Win	46-14-2	Harold Johnson	KO	3 (10)	08/02/1950	Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	45-14-2	Olle Tandberg	TKO	5 (12)	14/08/1949	Raasunda Fotball Stadium, Stockholm, Sweden
Loss	44-14-2	Ezzard Charles	UD	15	22/06/1949	Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois, United States	For vacant NBA World Heavyweight title.
Loss	44-13-2	Joe Louis	KO	11 (15)	25/06/1948	Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York, United States	For World Heavyweight title.
Loss	44-12-2	Joe Louis	SD	15	05/12/1947	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States	For World Heavyweight title.
Win	44-11-2	Joey Maxim	SD	10	23/06/1947	Gilmore Field, Los Angeles, California, United States
Win	43-11-2	Elmer Ray	MD	10	04/03/1947	Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida, United States
Win	42-11-2	Joey Maxim	MD	10	06/01/1947	Convention Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Loss	41-11-2	Elmer Ray	SD	10	15/11/1946	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Loss	41-10-2	Joey Maxim	PTS	10	28/08/1946	Public Service Ball Park, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	41-9-2	Tommy Gomez	TKO	3 (10)	16/08/1946	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Win	40-9-2	Lee Oma	UD	10	24/05/1946	Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, United States
Win	39-9-2	Al Blake	TKO	4 (10)	20/03/1946	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	38-9-2	Jimmy Bivins	SD	10	25/02/1946	Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Win	37-9-2	Johnny Allen	KO	3 (10)	30/01/1946	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	36-9-2	Curtis Sheppard	KO	10 (10)	10/12/1945	Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Win	35-9-2	Lee Q. Murray	DQ	9 (10)	12/11/1945	Coliseum, Baltimore, Maryland, United States
Win	34-9-2	Steve Dudas	TKO	5 (10)	23/10/1945	Paterson, New Jersey, United States
Win	33-9-2	Johnny Denson	KO	2 (10)	20/09/1945	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	32-9-2	Joe Baksi	PTS	10	02/08/1945	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	31-9-2	Johnny Allen	PTS	8	15/03/1945	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	30-9-2	Austin Johnson	PTS	6	22/02/1945	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Loss	29-9-2	Johnny Allen	PTS	8	25/01/1945	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	29-8-2	Jackie Saunders	TKO	2 (8)	11/01/1945	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	28-8-2	Ellis Singleton	KO	3 (8)	28/06/1944	Batesville A.C., Haddonfield, New Jersey, United States
Win	27-8-2	Felix Del Paoli	PTS	8	07/06/1944	Batesville A.C., Haddonfield, New Jersey, United States
Loss	26-8-2	Abe Simon	KO	6 (8)	12/02/1940	Laurel Garden, Newark, New Jersey, United States
Win	26-7-2	Tiger Red Lewis	TKO	6 (8)	19/01/1940	Cambria A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	25-7-2	Curtis Sheppard	PTS	8	18/11/1939	Rockland Palace, New York, New York, United States
Win	24-7-2	Al Boros	PTS	8	14/08/1939	Meadowbrook Bowl, Newark, New Jersey, United States
Win	23-7-2	Bob Tow	PTS	8	23/12/1938	114th Infantry Armory, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Loss	22-7-2	Roy Lazer	PTS	8	14/06/1938	Fairview Arena, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Loss	22-6-2	Tiger Jack Fox	PTS	10	10/05/1938	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	22-5-2	Lorenzo Pack	KO	4 (8)	12/04/1938	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	21-5-2	Art Sykes	KO	4 (8)	25/03/1938	Cambria A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	20-5-2	Jim Whitest	PTS	8	20/01/1938	Olympia A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	19-5-2	Freddie Fiducia	PTS	8	10/01/1938	Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Loss	18-5-2	George Brothers	PTS	8	09/10/1937	Rockland Palace, New York, New York, United States
Win	18-4-2	Elmer Ray	KO	3 (6)	25/09/1937	Rockland Palace, New York, New York, United States
Win	17-4-2	Joe Lipps	KO	2 (8)	03/09/1937	Garden Pier, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Loss	16-4-2	Tiger Jack Fox	KO	8 (10)	22/05/1937	Rockland Palace, New York, New York, United States
Loss	16-3-2	Billy Ketchell	PTS	10	01/09/1936	Arena, Pennsauken, New Jersey, United States
Win	16-2-2	Carmen Passarella	PTS	8	01/08/1936	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Draw	15-2-2	Billy Ketchell	PTS	10	14/07/1936	Arena, Pennsauken, New Jersey, United States
Win	15-2-1	Phil Johnson	TKO	3 (6)	22/06/1936	Phillies Ballpark, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	14-2-1	Louis LePage	KO	3 (6)	16/06/1936	Coney Island Velodrome, Brooklyn, New York, United States
Draw	13-2-1	Billy Ketchell	PTS	10	04/06/1936	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	13–2	Joe Colucci	KO	4 (8)	28/04/1936	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	12–2	Willie Reddish	PTS	10	16/03/1936	Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Loss	11–2	Al Ettore	KO	8 (10)	21/01/1936	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	11–1	Roxie Allen	KO	7 (8)	26/11/1935	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	10–1	Al King	KO	1 (8)	29/10/1935	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	9–1	Pat Roland	KO	4 (8)	01/10/1935	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	8–1	Lew Alva	KO	1 (8)	27/08/1935	Arena, Pennsauken, New Jersey, United States
Win	7–1	Al Lang	KO	1 (6)	21/05/1935	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Loss	6–1	Henry Taylor	PTS	6	16/11/1933	New Broadway A.C., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Win	6–0	Henry Taylor	TKO	1 (6)	28/07/1933	Arena, Pennsauken, New Jersey, United States
Win	5–0	Bob Norris	KO	1 (6)	05/05/1933	Camden, New Jersey, United States	Exact date unknown.
Win	4–0	Carl Mays	KO	2 (6)	20/04/1931	Waltz Dream Arena, Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win	3–0	Frank Matthews	TKO	4 (6)	24/10/1930	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	2–0	Jimmy O'Tooleb	TKO	4 (6)	10/10/1930	Convention Hall, Camden, New Jersey, United States
Win	1–0	Cowboy Frank Willis	KO	1 (6)	09/09/1930	Vineland Arena, Vineland, New Jersey, United States

See also

• List of heavyweight boxing champions
• List of WBA world champions

Notes

1. ^ Left Hook Stops Charles in 7th, Makes Walcott Oldest Champ, 1951, The Milwaukee Journal

External links

• Professional boxing record for Jersey Joe Walcott from BoxRec
• fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8077 Grave site
• Left Hook Stops Charles in 7th, Makes Walcott Oldest Champ, The Milwaukee Journal, July 19, 1951
• Sport: Winner & New Champeen!, Time Magazine, July 30, 1951

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Ezzard Charles	World Heavyweight Champion July 18 1951 – 1952	Succeeded by Rocky Marciano
Preceded by Jess Willard	Oldest Heavyweight Champion July 18 1951 - November 5 1994	Succeeded by George Foreman

Persondata
Name	Walcott, Jersey Joe
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 31, 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	February 25, 1994
Place of death