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 the bout, claiming his left arm had been injured in the ninth round. In the first round Walcott scored a knockdown. Melody, fighting cautiously against the reigning champion, landed mostly body blows throughout the remainder of the fight, but scored enough to appear to dominate. In the sixth round, Mellody landed a strong right to the jaw which backed Walcott against the ropes. In the eleventh, Mellody put in punches at will, and in the final round landed a flurry of rights to the stomach, before Walcott retreated to his corner before the bell ending the bout. Returning to the