Perseverance and Jersey Joe

Jersey Joe Walcott had to fight for boxing's heavyweight championship five times before winning it at last on that fifth try. His life is a testament to the fact that perseverance is all but sovereign in human affairs.

Walcott's first two title fights came against Joe Louis, in the final stage of Luis' career. The first of these was on December 5, 1947. The fight went all 15 rounds, and was settled by a decision -- in favor of the champ. This was surprising. Walcott had knocked Louis down twice in that fight. Louis did nothing of the sort to Walcott. All he could do with Walcott was survive his onslaughts. And yet by a split decision the judges still gave him that fight.

This is a prime example of a boxing axiom: You order to take a championship away, you have to do so decisively.

Anyway, the widespread opinion that Walcott had been robbed in that December fight forced Louis' camp to schedule another one. I'm thinking about this all today because today is the anniversary of their second match-up, June 25th, 1948.

This one appears to have been unimpressve to spedctators, who had expected a spirited grudge re-match. They jeered the listlessness of it, and though getting his unequivocal victory this time, with a knock-out in the 11th round, Joe Louis too had decided that this was the time to call it a career.

He announced his retirement in the dressing room thereafter.

Louis' retirement left the championship open, and Ezzard Charles enters out story here. Charles and Jersey Joe fought for the championship nearly a year after the second Louis/Walcott match. Charles won. So Joe had had "three strikes" in efforts to make himself champion. But he kept up.

He fought Charles a second time for the crown in March 1951. He lost again. Apparently, though, there weren't a lot of other worthy challengers for Charles to face, because he gave Walcott another shot on July 18 of that year.

This time Walcott achieved his life's ambition. Knocking Charles out in the seventh round.

Great story eh? Oops, there goes a million killowatt dam.