BoxRec

I think Joe Brown is one of the most underrated of world champions. Noone mentiones him much these days yet his record is impressive and he was considered one of the best boxers of his time pound for pound. In a number of articles that I have read from the time Brown is described as being the best Lightweight champion since Tony Canzoneri. He had skill and power and it seems that he also had a habit of 'ruining' fighters he beat. What are other peoples views on Brown, where do you think he rates with the other top Lightweights of all time?.... how does he compare to say Ike Williams?.... 8)

I have two of his fights on tape- one with Bud Smith the other with Carlos Ortiz- and I am ashamed to say that I haven't watched them enough to say much about him. But a good friend of mine who grew up watching Joe Brown says he was very good and it is a shame that he is all but forgotten. People look at a record see a number of loswses and write a guy off and sometimes don't know what they missed

He was a very skillful boxer who had a knockout punch. Having read quite a bit about him and watched him it seems a shame to me that Brown has been forgotten by so many. He probably deserves to be ranked amongst the top 10 Lightweight champions of all time I'd say.

Did you notice on Brown's record he got stopped by Sandy Saddler?Old Bones was 7-4-2 while Saddler was 62-4,obviously Brown wasn't afraid of a tough fight!Reigning for almost 6 yrs back then when fighters fought a lot of non-title fights as well and then it took a fighter as great as Carlos Ortiz when Brown was almost 36 tells you that Brown was pretty good.He's one of those fighters with a lot of losses on his record doesn't tell the whole story.

dws wrote:Did you notice on Brown's record he got stopped by Sandy Saddler?Old Bones was 7-4-2 while Saddler was 62-4,obviously Brown wasn't afraid of a tough fight!Reigning for almost 6 yrs back then when fighters fought a lot of non-title fights as well and then it took a fighter as great as Carlos Ortiz when Brown was almost 36 tells you that Brown was pretty good.He's one of those fighters with a lot of losses on his record doesn't tell the whole story.

Thats true... most of Browns losses were at the early and the late stage of his career. In one article I read on him shortly after he won the title Brown tells of how his early managers just threw him into the ring with anyone... all his early losses are to class fighters who were generally far more experienced than him. Interestingly in his fight before he faced Saddler, Brown beat Jimmy Carter who was later to win the Lightweight title 3 times but never gave Brown a shot.

Joe Brown was a great fighter. A smooth boxer with a great left jab, and the ability to dodge punches. Forget all the lossers on his record - at his peak he was in a class of his own. I saw his fight with Dave Charnley in London, and he gave a great display of boxing that night.

A great and under-rated champion.

His widow was very bitter about the way he was managed, alleging that Lou Viscusi took the money and threw Joe a few $$$ as and when....

J

elmersalsa wrote:What I like about him also (Joe Brown) was that he had great lateral movement. He was slick and technincal. I have only seen clips of him, and by watching him and the fighting record that he has, he was very good. I opened a post about Joe Brown before, but nobody seem to care. I am glad now that we are speaking about him. A guy that contributed so much to the sport, a great AMBASSADOR OF THE GAME WHO FOUGHT IN 16 COUNTRIES ALL OVER THE WORLD. He was a true WORLD champion.

He definately belongs in the all time top 10 lightweights. His record speaks for itself.

One of the things that impressed me about Brown was how throughout his career he fught anyone anywhere and all the different countried he defended his title in too. Rather different to other world champs who refuse to leave their backyards....... 8)

I had the honor of sitting ringside for one of his final fights, against a club fighter named Joe Barrientes in New Orleans, and even though he was in his forties and his reflexes were gone, he outclassed the tough Mexican brawler with some very smooth boxing. It was a peak moment for me, then still in High school and fighting amateur. Old bones was some fighter....

enrique wrote:I had the honor of sitting ringside for one of his final fights, against a club fighter named Joe Barrientes in New Orleans, and even though he was in his forties and his reflexes were gone, he outclassed the tough Mexican brawler with some very smooth boxing. It was a peak moment for me, then still in High school and fighting amateur. Old bones was some fighter....

Lucky thing! 8) :x ...I would have loved to have seen 'Old bones' box live!.

Did anyone here ever see Arthur Persley box?.... or know much about him?..... from what I can gather he was a very crafty boxer whom fought Brown a number of times before Joe won the title (winning once I think) and went on to fight well into his late 40s!.... very interesting boxer.