Okay, where to start?
A poster on here, Dr Z has made these allegations against Arthur Donovan HOF referee ,various unnamed judges and Joe Louis.
He contends that
1.Donovan was Joe Louis' personal referee .
2. That Donovan was biased towards Louis and did not score the points honestly whilst officiating in Louis fights.
3,That Louis had MSG judges in his pocket.
4.That Louis knew he really he lost the first Walcott fight and that in his autobiography and on national TV he deliberately lied when he said he thought he won it.
5.That Walcott refused to accept Donovan as the referee for his second challenge to Louis because Donovan was biased towards Louis.
6.That Louis' management was mobbed up.
1.He bases his allegation on the fact that Donovan refereed Louis11 times in title fights.
Donovan was considered the premier referee of his day and resided in NY , is it therefore strange that he would be the third man in so many Louis title defences?
Walcott was refereed 7 times by Paul Cavalier and 7 Joe Mangold ,were they in Walcott's pocket?
That Donovan's scorecards were totally out of synch in the title defences in which Louis was forced to go the distance Farr , and Godoy.
The Farr fight was Louis' first defence.and went the full 15 rds Louis damaged his right hand halfway through the contest but regardless, Farr put up a spirited challenge,without ever looking like the winner which he never himself claimed to be.
Donovan gave Louis a lopsided win 13-1-1, ,judge Lynch had it a lot closer at 8-5-2, judge McPartland had it 9-6.So Ref Donovan was certainly at odds with his fellow officials in this case.
However is that proof of corruption or one mans honestly held opinion?
Farr lost his next 4 fights in the US to Braddock Burman ,Nova, and Baer [all Louis ko victims ,] so there was no demand for a rematch.
The 1st Godoy fight.Godoy non- plussed Louis by adopting a low crouch so low ,that at times his gloves nearly touched the canvas
The decision was a split one in favour of Louis.
Ref Donovan gave it 10-5 for Louis,judge Lecron 10-4-1 for Louis, judge Shortell 5-10 Godoy .
Donovan therefore gave Godoy 1 more round than the other judge who voted for Louis.
Evidence of corruption? I don't think so.
Louis rematched Godoy and solved the riddle of his crouching by uppercutting him and ripping his face to bits before stopping him.
Louis had Madison Square Garden judges in Louis' pocket?
Louis' 1 st fight with Walcott at MSG has been a contentious issue since it occurred and even now, when there is nobody alive who has seen the complete fight it still divides posters. The fight went the distance to a close decision.
For the record the referee was Ruby Goldstein he scored the fight 7 -6 -2 Walcott
Judge Forbes had it 8-6-1 Louis.
Judge Monroe 9-6 Louis
Donovan had nothing whatsoever to do with this fight.
Anyway close fight.
Louis was disgusted with his inability to catch Walcott and with Walcott's evasive tactics which made for a poor fight. Louis wanted to leave the ring immediately, but was persuaded by his seconds to stay Knowing Louis as we do is it likely that, if he genuinely felt he had lost the fight he would not have stayed to congratulate Walcott?
2 Thirds of the press thought Walcott had won it ,1 third voted for Louis.Louis in his autobiography said he had no doubt he deserved the victory as he made the fight and Walcott did a lot of running .He repeated this opinion on national TV in the series How It Was, sitting next to Walcott.
Dr Z does not believe he is telling the truth he believes Louis knew he did not deserve the win ,therefore Louis was lying in print and onTV.
'
MSG judges in Louis pocket as champion ? Louis was only taken the distance twice at MSG on both occasions all the officials were different! So where is the evidence for this allegation?
Dr Z states that Walcott after losing a very close decision to Louis objected to Donovan refereeing their rematch and he was then replaced by That's the first time I have known the challenger for the title to be calling the shots,and Dr Z himself stated Walcott was not a drawing card!
For the record Donovan refereed his last fight on10th Sept 1948 .
The second Walcott fight was held on the 5th of Nov 1948 !
He hasnt produced any evidence that this actually happened by the way.
Walcott's manager was certainly mobbed up, Felix Bochichio was a racketeer and close friend of Owney Madden when Public Enemy Number 1 came out of Sing SIng, Bochichio was waiting outside to drive him home.
Louis managers were numbers runners among other legitimate enterprises .Pot Kettle?
Louis in 25 real defences had a few close calls, Conn 1 for example the rematch saw different officials and a different venue if Louis had things sewn up at MSG wouldnt it have been natural for him to have defended against Conn there? Louis ko'd Conn in the rematch .
Louis' 1st Godoy bout was close, the rematch was staged at a different venue with different officials again would his team have made sure they got favourable judges if they were available?
Louis kod Godoy.
Ditto the Walcott fights where Louis may ,or may not have been fortunate to keep his crown in the first fight, different officials for the rematch, and Louis kod Walcott.
In his last title defence the referee Ruby Goldstein voted against Louis in favour of Walcott.
On his comeback Louis accepted Goldstein as the third man in two crucial fights,[ Savold.and Marciano,]without any display of protest.
In closing I think its pretty disgraceful to try and blacken the names of two hugely respected boxing men Louis who defended his crown25 times and Donovan who refereed 273 fights without a breathe of scandal ever being associated with either in the ring. More importantly not one shred of proof has been offered to substantiate these allegations,just a lot of agenda driven smoke and mirrors.
What say you?
A poster on here, Dr Z has made these allegations against Arthur Donovan HOF referee ,various unnamed judges and Joe Louis.
He contends that
1.Donovan was Joe Louis' personal referee .
2. That Donovan was biased towards Louis and did not score the points honestly whilst officiating in Louis fights.
3,That Louis had MSG judges in his pocket.
4.That Louis knew he really he lost the first Walcott fight and that in his autobiography and on national TV he deliberately lied when he said he thought he won it.
5.That Walcott refused to accept Donovan as the referee for his second challenge to Louis because Donovan was biased towards Louis.
6.That Louis' management was mobbed up.
1.He bases his allegation on the fact that Donovan refereed Louis11 times in title fights.
Donovan was considered the premier referee of his day and resided in NY , is it therefore strange that he would be the third man in so many Louis title defences?
Walcott was refereed 7 times by Paul Cavalier and 7 Joe Mangold ,were they in Walcott's pocket?
That Donovan's scorecards were totally out of synch in the title defences in which Louis was forced to go the distance Farr , and Godoy.
The Farr fight was Louis' first defence.and went the full 15 rds Louis damaged his right hand halfway through the contest but regardless, Farr put up a spirited challenge,without ever looking like the winner which he never himself claimed to be.
Donovan gave Louis a lopsided win 13-1-1, ,judge Lynch had it a lot closer at 8-5-2, judge McPartland had it 9-6.So Ref Donovan was certainly at odds with his fellow officials in this case.
However is that proof of corruption or one mans honestly held opinion?
Farr lost his next 4 fights in the US to Braddock Burman ,Nova, and Baer [all Louis ko victims ,] so there was no demand for a rematch.
The 1st Godoy fight.Godoy non- plussed Louis by adopting a low crouch so low ,that at times his gloves nearly touched the canvas
The decision was a split one in favour of Louis.
Ref Donovan gave it 10-5 for Louis,judge Lecron 10-4-1 for Louis, judge Shortell 5-10 Godoy .
Donovan therefore gave Godoy 1 more round than the other judge who voted for Louis.
Evidence of corruption? I don't think so.
Louis rematched Godoy and solved the riddle of his crouching by uppercutting him and ripping his face to bits before stopping him.
Louis had Madison Square Garden judges in Louis' pocket?
Louis' 1 st fight with Walcott at MSG has been a contentious issue since it occurred and even now, when there is nobody alive who has seen the complete fight it still divides posters. The fight went the distance to a close decision.
For the record the referee was Ruby Goldstein he scored the fight 7 -6 -2 Walcott
Judge Forbes had it 8-6-1 Louis.
Judge Monroe 9-6 Louis
Donovan had nothing whatsoever to do with this fight.
Anyway close fight.
Louis was disgusted with his inability to catch Walcott and with Walcott's evasive tactics which made for a poor fight. Louis wanted to leave the ring immediately, but was persuaded by his seconds to stay Knowing Louis as we do is it likely that, if he genuinely felt he had lost the fight he would not have stayed to congratulate Walcott?
2 Thirds of the press thought Walcott had won it ,1 third voted for Louis.Louis in his autobiography said he had no doubt he deserved the victory as he made the fight and Walcott did a lot of running .He repeated this opinion on national TV in the series How It Was, sitting next to Walcott.
Dr Z does not believe he is telling the truth he believes Louis knew he did not deserve the win ,therefore Louis was lying in print and onTV.
'
MSG judges in Louis pocket as champion ? Louis was only taken the distance twice at MSG on both occasions all the officials were different! So where is the evidence for this allegation?
Dr Z states that Walcott after losing a very close decision to Louis objected to Donovan refereeing their rematch and he was then replaced by That's the first time I have known the challenger for the title to be calling the shots,and Dr Z himself stated Walcott was not a drawing card!
For the record Donovan refereed his last fight on10th Sept 1948 .
The second Walcott fight was held on the 5th of Nov 1948 !
He hasnt produced any evidence that this actually happened by the way.
Walcott's manager was certainly mobbed up, Felix Bochichio was a racketeer and close friend of Owney Madden when Public Enemy Number 1 came out of Sing SIng, Bochichio was waiting outside to drive him home.
Louis managers were numbers runners among other legitimate enterprises .Pot Kettle?
Louis in 25 real defences had a few close calls, Conn 1 for example the rematch saw different officials and a different venue if Louis had things sewn up at MSG wouldnt it have been natural for him to have defended against Conn there? Louis ko'd Conn in the rematch .
Louis' 1st Godoy bout was close, the rematch was staged at a different venue with different officials again would his team have made sure they got favourable judges if they were available?
Louis kod Godoy.
Ditto the Walcott fights where Louis may ,or may not have been fortunate to keep his crown in the first fight, different officials for the rematch, and Louis kod Walcott.
In his last title defence the referee Ruby Goldstein voted against Louis in favour of Walcott.
On his comeback Louis accepted Goldstein as the third man in two crucial fights,[ Savold.and Marciano,]without any display of protest.
In closing I think its pretty disgraceful to try and blacken the names of two hugely respected boxing men Louis who defended his crown25 times and Donovan who refereed 273 fights without a breathe of scandal ever being associated with either in the ring. More importantly not one shred of proof has been offered to substantiate these allegations,just a lot of agenda driven smoke and mirrors.
What say you?
billeau2
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