Jersey Joe Walcott his mother and 11 younger brothers and sisters. He also began training as a boxer. He took the name of his boxing idol, Joe Walcott, a welterweight champion from Barbados. He added "Jersey" to distinguish himself and show where he was from. He debuted as a professional boxer on September 9, 1930, fighting Cowboy Wallace and winning by a knockout in round one. After five straight knockout wins, in 1933, he lost for the first time, beaten on points by Henry Wilson in Philadelphia. He built a record of 45 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw before challenging for the
Barbados Joe Walcott reach. The match brought roughly 2000 spectators to the club house, and tickets ranged from a respectable $2 to $5. On June 18, 1903, Walcott fought Young Peter Jackson, an exceptional black contender to a twenty-round draw, in Portland, Oregon, in a match billed as a world welterweight championship. The title did not change hands due to the draw decision. Walcott would later lose to Jackson on June 10, 1904, in a fourth-round knockout during a non-title fight in Baltimore, after receiving a punch to the stomach. Up until the time of the knockout, Walcott was considered to have a