Joe Baksi Joe Baksi Joe Baksi (January 14, 1922 – August 6, 1977) was a top heavyweight contender who defeated fighters such as Tami Mauriello, Lee Savold, Lou Nova, and Freddie Mills, while losing decisions to Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles. Joe Baksi was a child of the Kulpmont, Pennsylvania coal mines. He was quoted as saying that he never had any intention of being a boxer, but he saw it "as a ticket to a better way of life, out of the coal mines." He broke into professional boxing in 1940 at the age of 18. He beat nine boxers
Jack Blackburn Joe Louis took the World Heavyweight Championship from Jim Braddock at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois in an eighth-round knockout. Blackburn had trouble with drinking in his later years while training Joe Louis that likely caused the deterioration of his health. In his career, besides his long work with Joe Louis, Blackburn had roles training Light Heavyweight Champion John Henry Lewis, Bantamweight Champion Bud Taylor, as well as Art Lasky, Jackie Fields, Lew Tendler, Sailor Freedman, and Von Porat. While in Philadelphia, Blackburn briefly trained Jersey Joe Walcott. He died on April 24, 1942 of a heart attack while he