Barbados Joe Walcott of his right arm in the fourth round, though he fought on valiantly. After the Gans fight, on October 18, 1904, Walcott accidentally shot himself in the hand, losing several fingers. Walcott took a year off of boxing to recover from the injury, but it may have effectively limited his remaining years as a world class prizefighter. Walcott, however, continued to box until 1911. Before a crowd of 3000, Walcott officially lost the world welterweight championship on October 16, 1906 against William "Honey" Mellody at the Lincoln Athletic Club in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Falling to a twelfth-round technical knockout, Walcott quit
Barbados Joe Walcott ring on January 15, 1907, Walcott lost a fifteen-round decision on points to Mike Donavan in Providence, Rhode Island. Though winning only a few of his remaining bouts, Walcott succeeded in twice beating George Cole, a competent hard hitting middleweight from Philadelphia, in December 1907 and January 1908. In fact, of their December meeting in Philadelphia, one source noted that "with the exception of the third round when Cole sent over some very hard punches," the "battle was Walcott's all the way". On January 7, 1908, Walcott lost to a noteworthy opponent Jimmy Gardner, in twelve rounds at the Armory