Education
"Barbados" Joe Walcott was the idol of the more contemporary boxer "Jersey" Joe Walcott, who chose to use his idol"s name as his own ring name in his honor.
"Barbados" Joe Walcott was the idol of the more contemporary boxer "Jersey" Joe Walcott, who chose to use his idol"s name as his own ring name in his honor.
Nicknamed "The Barbados Demon" Walcott, who stood 5"1½ tall, was a formidable fighter who fought from 1890 to 1911. Walcott spent part of his youth in Barbados. As a youngster, he set out to see the world and got a job as a cabin boy on a ship sailing to Boston.
He soon settled in Boston as a piano mover, and porter and took other odd jobs as well.
Later, he landed a job in a gym, and became popular with other boxers as a human punching bag before turning professional. Controversy versus Dixie Kid
He was winning the fight handily when the referee disqualified Walcott for no apparent reason in the 20th round.
Later career
Walcott also fought the well known Sam Langford to a draw and met Joe Gans in a non-title fight. The Gans fight occurred on September 30, 1904, and was scored a draw after 20 rounds.
After the Gans fight, Walcott accidentally shot himself in the hand during a New Year"s celebration, effectively ending his days as a top prizefighter.
While he would return to the ring in 1906, though losing his welterweight crown to William "Honey" Mellody in the process, Walcott never quite regained his old form, losing many of his subsequent fights. Walcott squandered a fortune earned in the ring and eventually found employment as a custodian at the old Madison Square Garden. National Fleischer rated him as the greatest welterweight of all time and in 2003 he was included in the Ring Magazine"s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.
On April 4, 1904 Walcott defended his title against Dixie Kid.