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
Joe Baksi and then fought a thirty-one-year-old Jersey Joe Walcott. Walcott had lost earlier bouts with world-class professionals, and was an underdog against Baksi. But Walcott won, scoring 6-3-1 on the single referees scorecard. Walcott's dancing and dodging allowed him to escape Baksi's reach, and he was able to get in enough hooks to make Baksi groggy. Baksi lost his next fight with Jimmy Bell (a split decision in which Baksi was penalized two rounds for a low blow), but then racked up four easy wins before traveling to Europe. Baksi left for Europe on October 9, 1946 to fight the two