Jersey Joe Walcott

Boxer

• Born: January 31, 1914
• Birthplace: Merchantville, New Jersey
• Died: February 25, 1994
• Place of death: Camden, New Jersey

Like many athletes of his era, Walcott was born poor and turned to boxing as a means to lift himself out of poverty. In a career spanning twenty-three years, he forged a respectable career—often interrupted by the need to find outside work—that culminated in a world championship.

Early Life

Jersey Joe Walcott was born Arnold Raymond Cream. He was one of twelve children born to Joseph Cream, an immigrant from Barbados who had come to America as a boy. Walcott attended school until age thirteen, when his father died. He dropped out to help support his family by working at the Camden factory of Campbell Soup. Within a short time, he began training as a boxer at nearby Battling Mac’s Gym. After a few amateur bouts, he debuted as a professional in 1930, fighting locally as a lightweight on the club circuit. Competing for as little as seven dollars and fifty cents per match, he won his first six bouts—all by knockout or technical knockout—before losing on points in 1933. Early in his career, he adopted the professional name “Jersey Joe Walcott,” in honor of Joe Walcott, a British Guyana-born welterweight champion known as “the Barbados Demon,” who grew up on the Caribbean island before relocating to Boston late in the nineteenth century.

Jersey Joe, however, had a difficulty making a living as a boxer. During the Depression, matches were scarce (he fought just three times in 1930, once in 1931, three times in 1933, and not at all in 1932 or 1934) and purses were meager. In the early 1930’s, Walcott had to accept public assistance to afford room and board. After marrying—he eventually would father six children—he worked at a succession of menial jobs to make ends meet.

In the mid-1930’s, Walcott connected with trainer Jack Blackburn, who greatly improved the young boxer’s skills and worked him into fighting shape. Walcott started his comeback with five straight knockouts in 1935, and went 19-6 in twenty-five professional fights staged in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York between 1935 and 1938. Then Blackburn was lured to Chicago to train amateur boxer and future world champion Joe Louis. Blackburn invited Walcott to join the stable of boxers under Louis’s managers, but Walcott was ill with typhoid. Upon recovery, he briefly served as Louis’s sparring partner but was fired after knocking down the “Brown Bomber.”

Without proper management, Walcott’s boxing career faltered. From 1939 to 1943, he fought just five times (going 4-1), with no matches in 1942 or 1943. Walcott took a full-time job as a dockworker and gave up his dream of becoming champion.

Life’s Work

The dream was revived in the mid-1940’s, when local sports promoter and gambler Felix Bocchicchio coaxed Walcott out of retirement. His second comeback was launched in the summer of 1944. A heavyweight now, he went 15-1 through mid-1946, with ten fights ending in knockouts or technical knockouts. In December, 1947, after two straight victories over Joey Maxim and one over Elmer “Violent” Ray (both had earlier beaten Walcott), he was given a shot at world heavyweight champion Louis. During the fifteen-round bout, Walcott twice knocked Louis down and to spectators was the clear victor, but ring judges awarded the fight to Louis.

Walcott and Louis met at a rematch in mid-1948. This time the champion dominated, knocking out Walcott in the eleventh round. A year later, Louis retired after an eleven-year reign as champion, and Walcott was pitted against Ezzard Charles for the vacant title. After a tough fifteen-round loss on points, Walcott announced his retirement.

The retirement was short-lived. Once again, Bocchicchio persuaded Walcott to keep fighting. Walcott returned to the ring in August, 1949, and rattled off five straight wins, setting him up for another chance at the championship. In March, 1951, Charles once again won on points over fifteen rounds. In his third try against Charles later that year, Walcott knocked out the champion in the seventh round to claim the heavyweight crown. At age thirty-seven, he was the oldest boxer ever to win the championship, a distinction that stood until 1994, when George Foreman won the title at age forty-five. In celebration, Camden declared “Jersey Joe Walcott Day,” and the whole city turned out to welcome the new champion.

Early in 1952, Walcott embarked on a succession of exhibition matches against boxer Jackie Burke. Mid-year, he successfully defended his world title, out-pointing Charles in fifteen rounds. His second title defense, in September, 1952, did not go as well: In a hard-fought battle, he became the first fighter to knock down unbeaten Rocky Marciano before being knocked out in the thirteenth round. By the rematch in Chicago on May 15, 1953, time had caught up with thirty-nine-year-old Walcott. Marciano knocked him out in the first round. Soon afterward, Walcott retired from boxing for good, with a record of fifty-one wins (thirty-two by knockout), eighteen losses, and two draws in seventy-one official professional fights.

After retirement, Walcott remained a popular figure in the Camden area. For a time, he served with the Camden Police Department as a parole officer for juvenile offenders. In 1963, he tried competing in a boxing-wrestling match: Although he felled champion grappler Lou Thesz with a punch, the semiconscious wrestler grabbed Walcott and pinned him. Walcott served for a short time as a boxing referee, but controversy over his handling of the second Muhammad Ali-Sonny Liston fight in 1965 ended his officiating career. That same year, Walcott was named Camden assistant director of public safety. In 1971, Walcott was elected sheriff of Camden County, a post he held for three years. Between 1975 and 1984, when he reached mandatory retirement, he was chairman of the New Jersey State Athletic Commission, although his time as a commissioner was tainted by allegations that he accepted monetary gifts. Walcott died on February 25, 1994, of complications from diabetes.

Significance

A solid, persistent fighter, Walcott picked up weight, muscle, and pugilistic skills as he matured. He grew into a hard hitter with either hand, equally skilled at offense and defense, by the time he retired from the sport. Walcott fought some of the most experienced boxers of the time, including Al Ettore, Tiger Jack Fox, Joe Baksi, Jimmy Bivins, Tommy Gomez, Joey Maxim, Elmer Ray, and Harold Johnson. Late in his career, he held his own against some of the greatest all-time heavyweight champions: Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, and Rocky Marciano. Walcott’s title-winning bout against Charles in 1951 earned him fighter of the year honors. He was inducted into the Ring Hall of Fame in 1969, and into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

Bibliography

Callis, Tracy, Chuck Hasson, and Michael Delisa. Philadelphia’s Boxing Heritage: 1876-1976. Mount Pleasant, S.C.: Arcadia, 2002. This illustrated historical overview covers a century of boxing in the Philadelphia-Camden metropolitan area, where Walcott lived during his entire career.

Roberts, James, and Alexander Skutt. The Boxing Register: International Boxing Hall of Fame Official Record Book. Ithaca, N.Y.: McBooks Press, 2006. This illustrated reference contains biographies and official fight records for Joe Walcott and nearly 200 other boxers.

Sugar, Bert Randolph. Boxing’s Greatest Fighters. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2006. Written by the former Ring magazine editor, this book discusses some of the greatest all-time fighters—including Walcott—and their most challenging matches.