Boxing in the 1950s beaten by Pérez), won Japan's first world title, and Hogan Bassey won the first belt for Nigeria. Popular American fighters in the 1950s proved legendary: Sugar Ray Robinson would still win (and lose) world titles, Rocky Marciano became the only heavyweight world champion in history to retire with perfect record. Jersey Joe Walcott the oldest heavyweight champion (until George Foreman regained the title in 1994), Archie Moore broke the all-time knockout record as well as the record for the oldest champion, at 48, for "any" division, Ezzard Charles proved to be a reliable substitute for Joe Louis as heavyweight champ,
Barbados Joe Walcott in Boston. Gardner would became a world welterweight contender against Mike "Twin" Sullivan in April of that year. New York's "Evening World", wrote that Walcott's performance "did not come up to expectations", and that Gardner's win "was one of the easiest victories he ever earned." On November 2, 1911, Walcott fought his last reported bout against Tom Sawyer in Lowell, Massachusetts. He walked out of the ring before the bell at the end of the one-sided 12-round technical knockout, and said to the crowd "I'm 40 years old and I guess I'm done with this game." Walcott squandered a fortune