Which Walcott was better...Original Joe or Jersey Joe???

[elmersalsa]

Hello to all boxing fans all over the world!!!

I got a question for you to help me about these 2 great fighters. Which of the 2 was the better Walcott??? I do not know much about the original great Joe Walcott, a world welterweight champion from the late 1890s to the beginning of the 20th Century. I also know that Jersey Joe original name is Arnold Raymond Cream and got his name from the former legend because he was his idol.

I do know more about the great Jersey Joe. He fought great fights with greats like Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Joey Maxim, and Harold Johnson and also fought with top contenders like Elmer Ray, Jimmy Bivins and Rex Layne.

But when I saw the great original Joe Walcott, The Barbados Demon record, I saw that he fought with greats like Joe Gans and Sam Langford. But I do not see his record as IMPRESSIVE. The Ring Magazine long time editor, the late Nat Fleischer ranked Joe Walcott as the greatest welterweight of all time in 1958.

I believe that Jersey Joe was better than the original Joe Walcott. Maybe you guys can give me more INFORMATION about Joe Walcott and where you would rank him among the all time greats. Was he better than the welterweight greats like Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Ted "Kid" Lewis, Jack Britton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Carmen Basilio, Tommy Hearns, Jimmy McLarnin, Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles and Kid Gavilan???

I only said that Jersey Joe was better....THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION...MAYBE YOU GUYS CAN CHANGE MY MIND

[barry]

Off course it's a matter of opinion, but I think that "Barbados" Joe Walcott, pound-for-pound, was the better fighter. Considering that he just barely stood over 5' 1" and fought, beat and even knocked out fighters from welterweight to heavyweight is tremendous. Walcott was that special breed of fighter that could give up 30 pounds to an opponent and still dominate. There haven't been a whole lot of fighters that could do that. Jack Dillon, Bob Fitzsimmons, Sam Langford, Joe Gans, Walcott, Harry Greb, Mickey Walker to name a few, but it's an elite few! On any given night, Walcott could have beaten any welterweight in history, and vice-versa for the better champions like Robinson and Leonard.

[silkov]

Sam Langford himseof said that Joe Wacott was the greatest fighter he'd ever seen including Gans and Johnson.
His record if you look into the records (and sizes) of those he fought was simply phenominal.... at 5 feet 1 he regularly took on natural Light Heavies and Heavyweights. From what I have read about him he was one of the greatest sluggers ever, untiring and extremely strong... I think he also had very long arms for his height. If he was active even in the 30s and 40s he would most likely have won more world titles.
Though Jersey Joe was a great fighter in his own right (often underrated I think) pound for pound I'd pick Barbadous Joe him.
Indeed if they had both been around at the same time Barbados Joe would probably have fought Jersy Joe.