Jersey Joe Walcott

The situation grew even gloomier for Walcott in the latter half of the 1930s. Four times during that period, he squared off against one of the ten top-ranked fighters—Al Ettore in 1936, Tiger Jack Fox in 1937 and 1938, and Abe Simon in 1940—in his weight class, only to lose every match. By the early 1940s, Walcott was working in the Camden shipyards, and his boxing career seemed all but over. He fought only five matches from 1940 through 1944, one of which was his loss to Simon. Salvation came in the form of Felix Bocchicchio, a Camden area sports club owner and gambler. Bocchicchio offered to manage Walcott, who at first refused, saying, "Fighting never got me nothin' before, and all I want now is a steady job, so my wife and kids can eat regular. I'm over 30 and just plain tired of it all."

Fortunately for Walcott, Bocchicchio was not so easily dissuaded. He bought food and coal for Walcott's family, got the boxer's license renewed, and finally persuaded Walcott to give it a try. Jersey Joe returned to boxing with a vengeance, winning eight of his nine bouts in 1945, three of them against top ten fighters Joe Baski, Lee Murray, and Curtis Sheppard. The following year he beat top ten contender Jimmy Bivins, following which Bocchicchio lined up a fight for Walcott with another leading contender, Lee Oma, in Madison Square Garden. Walcott took the match in a ten-round decision. Later that year he experienced something of a setback, losing to Joey Maxim and Elmer Ray in back-to-back bouts. But Walcott bounced back in 1947, beating Maxim in January, Ray in April, and Maxim again in June.