Joe Baksi

[GJC]

A lot may wonder who the picture is in my profile and pretty much all probably wonder why!
The fact is that my 1st live fight was Baksi when as a boy my father who was a huge boxing fan took me to see Baksi v Freddie Mills when I was a slip of a lad. I can only imagine he was lumbered with me to babysit but young as I was the fight made a huge impression on me as did Joe who to my young mind must surely have been the toughest man in the world. My father did mention a fellow by the name of Joe Louis but I paid little mind on the way home. Anyhow as no one else will write about Joe Baksi i'd better.

Joe Baski was born in 1922 of Czech descent, after working down the mines as a bouncer and even as a strong man in carnivals he decided that boxing might be a good way to earn a living.
He was 6'1 210lbs which was a decent sized heavyweight for the era and whilst he was never a dancing master he was a hard hitting fighter who had a good set of whiskers.
He flitted in and out of the top 10 heavyweights from 1943 to 1951 being ranked as high as 4 at one time and beat Nova, Maurriello and Dorazio who all got a shot against Louis as well as beating Savold, Barland, Reynolds and Wood**** who were decent fighters.
He broke Wood****s jaw and nearly blinded him, Wood**** didn't get in the ring again for 18 months after Joe finished with him.
Jersey Joe Walcott pretty much relaunched his career beating Baksi when the betting underdog.
So why did he never get to fight Louis?
Well Louis didn't duck him, Louis people in fact begged Baksi to fight Louis. Louis v Walcott in 1947 was second choice it should have been Louis v Baksi. Baksi was a popular fighter and also white which never hurt to sell a fight.
Baksi also wasn't afraid of Louis or anyone he had an arrogant belief in his own abilities.
Problem was that Joe had one major weakness.
He was an idiot.
Its 1946/7 and Baksi has made a huge impression in England slaughtering Mills and Wood****, to explain his impact he made it into ****ney Rhyming slang, Joe Baksi = Taxi.
Nat Rogers is at Harringay Arena watching Baksi beating Wood**** and wanted to sign the winner to be Louis opponent in an outdoor event at the Yankee Stadium and after Baksi's display sees he is a live body and offers him $100,000 for the fight.
Joe at this point says he will consider the offer after he fights Tandberg in Sweden. A low riskfight so may as well pick up £5000 on the way back to America.
Needless to say Baksi lost a home town verdict which suprised even Tandberg, Ray Arcel (who by now was Baksi's trainer)called the verdict a disgrace. Yep that Ray Arcel, you cant say Baksi never had every chance.
Anyway the Yankee Stadium fight never came off and Louis ended up defending against Walcott who the majority thought won.
Could Baksi have beaten Louis?
Louis was definately fading by now and slowing down so Baksi would certainly have had a punchers chance, also Baksi was a good finisher if he would have put Louis in the trouble that Walcott did no way he would have got on his bike and risked the verdict.
Anyhow Baksi had one more near miss when the next year he got an eliminator with Ezzard Charles. Baksi had only had a quick 4 rounder after the Tandberg debacle and never being the best trainer was well beaten by Charles. That said Baksi had Charles in a lot of trouble in round 6 before fading badly and getting stopped in 11 for the only time in his career.
And apart from the odd good day that was it for Joe.

Anyhow raise a glass to Baksi the ultimate klutz

[Richh]

A little information ... is a dangerous thing

Well considering Joe Baksi was my maternal grandfather I figured I'd respond to this and clarify a few points. Not a big klutz, but let's say under bad management... It was his manager who arranged the fight in Sweden. I presume because he didn't get money expected for a mink coat my grandmother was supposed to bring into England for Wood****'s manager's wife [huge luxury tax after WWII], which my grandmother sported around London to convince the customs authorities it was hers [she wound up taking it home].
Point 1: Joe Baksi was not Czech. He was born to parents who at the time had immigrated from Czechoslovakia a country created after WWI. He himself was Slovak. His parents had been born in SLovakia which at the time of their births was under Austrio-Hungarian rule. And although Slovak is what Joe and my grandmother spoke as a secret language at home when they didn't want us to understand, the name Baksi is a Hungarian name orginally. So who knows.
He was born in Scranton and his dad died when he was around 14. He was very small for a number of years, and since he had dropped out of school to help support the family, he'd drag cables and wires through the small intermediate shafts between the main mine shafts. Around 16-17 he got big, and at some point joined a circus and was a bodyguard to the midgets.
Cus D'amato discovered him.

Point 2: According to my grandmother [who is now no longer in a capacity to confirm details] the reason the Loius fight did not take place was, as follows: JB's people were approached by Loius' people. The deal was he would fight Louis once and take a fall. He would then be scheduled against another lesser contender, win, and then get a second chance to fight Louis. There would be no knockouts and the title would pass on a decision. After that 20% of all winnings would go to Louis' people. His folks didn't want to take the deal.

Hope nobody believes that every fight was fair back then. Organized crime was heavily involved in boxing and I can start listing name but I won't, but imagine the money you could control if you knew who was going to win and there you go. All I know is that we used to eat their anniversary dinner every year at a Chinese restaurant in Albany owned by an older gentleman my grandfather had known from his boxing days in NYC. The nice older owner would always give us candy and we thought he was a harmless little old man. Years later in the late 80s or early 90s they rounded him up under RICO and apparently he had been running a NYC Chinese mob from his small office at the back of a non-descript restaurant in Albany .... oops.

Talk about corrupt management. My grandmother was a shrewd country girl an never trusted his management. She made my grandfather buy him all sorts of ***els, which is one of the few things he did buy because the managers held the money tight so he wouldn't go blow it all over NYC.
When he did go to retire a lot of the money had "disappeared." When they went after it, the person responsible had a "heart attack." Oops. Good thing my grandmother had the ***els. She cashed some in when they moved upstate to where she was from and used some of the proceeds to buy the house I spent most of my childhood weekends at until he died at 55 of a heart attack himself. After boxing he worked for a beer distributor and made a good buck as a rep because everywhere he went everyone knew him. That job ended and he became a union iron worker and helped build the South Mall in Albany. We have a cool picture of Nelson Rockefeller walking the site, running into him and shaking his hand enthusiastically [they had know each other during the NYC days as young men]. He developed cancer in the early 90s and did not respond well to treatment. He and my grandmother disappeared to Mexico for many months for laetril which worked. He became a health food fanatic and deeply religious. The sparks always flew between him and my grandmother - both good and bad - and he had a mischievous sense of humor. He would spoil us to death, spent many hours with us working on projects, and if it was not for the unfortunate intervention of my mother would have bought us mini-snowmobiles, ponies and all sorts of things worry-wart mothers hate. He was out shopping for gifts for us kids with my grandmother when he had an MI. Unfortunately there was no angioplasty or stents in the mid 70s or we would have had him for a lot longer.

There are many other cool "inside" knowledge things, but I think I'll save those for a book or a screenplay...

[Pastrano]

I know only one other guy with almost identical surname, Ralph Bakshi the animator who made the Lord of the Rings movie. And it says he's of Crimean Tatar origin. Al Hostak WAS Czech by the way, the most famous and greatest boxer of Czech origin.

[NChristo]

Good stuff GJC, about time you made this , good read.
Good stuff from Richh as well.

[Richh]

Typo

Just read a typo in my post - he developed cancer in the early 70s not the 90s. Became very religious and also a health food fanatic. This led to Easter baskets with carob and candied pineapple which was ok.
Btw GJC thanks for posting something and honoring him - not sure why but his posthumous recognition isn't like the fame he enjoyed back then...

[alexd*]

Nice tribute.

Baksi was one hell of a fighter. I didn't know about his appearance in ****ney rhyming slang!

[GJC]

Just read a typo in my post - he developed cancer in the early 70s not the 90s. Became very religious and also a health food fanatic. This led to Easter baskets with carob and candied pineapple which was ok.
Btw GJC thanks for posting something and honoring him - not sure why but his posthumous recognition isn't like the fame he enjoyed back then...

Sorry missed your posts. I apologise if my klutz comment caused offence it was meant affectionately. My understand of Joe was that he was a very headstrong stubborn guy so I assumed some of his more unusual career choices were his own. Anyway do write your book I guarantee you one customer

[GJC]

Nice tribute.

Baksi was one hell of a fighter. I didn't know about his appearance in ****ney rhyming slang!

He had a hell of an impact over here after the Mills and Wood**** fights.

[Greatest1942]

A lot may wonder who the picture is in my profile and pretty much all probably wonder why!
The fact is that my 1st live fight was Baksi when as a boy my father who was a huge boxing fan took me to see Baksi v Freddie Mills when I was a slip of a lad. I can only imagine he was lumbered with me to babysit but young as I was the fight made a huge impression on me as did Joe who to my young mind must surely have been the toughest man in the world. My father did mention a fellow by the name of Joe Louis but I paid little mind on the way home. Anyhow as no one else will write about Joe Baksi i'd better.

Joe Baski was born in 1922 of Czech descent, after working down the mines as a bouncer and even as a strong man in carnivals he decided that boxing might be a good way to earn a living.
He was 6'1 210lbs which was a decent sized heavyweight for the era and whilst he was never a dancing master he was a hard hitting fighter who had a good set of whiskers.
He flitted in and out of the top 10 heavyweights from 1943 to 1951 being ranked as high as 4 at one time and beat Nova, Maurriello and Dorazio who all got a shot against Louis as well as beating Savold, Barland, Reynolds and Wood**** who were decent fighters.
He broke Wood****s jaw and nearly blinded him, Wood**** didn't get in the ring again for 18 months after Joe finished with him.
Jersey Joe Walcott pretty much relaunched his career beating Baksi when the betting underdog.
So why did he never get to fight Louis?
Well Louis didn't duck him, Louis people in fact begged Baksi to fight Louis. Louis v Walcott in 1947 was second choice it should have been Louis v Baksi. Baksi was a popular fighter and also white which never hurt to sell a fight.
Baksi also wasn't afraid of Louis or anyone he had an arrogant belief in his own abilities.
Problem was that Joe had one major weakness.
He was an idiot.
Its 1946/7 and Baksi has made a huge impression in England slaughtering Mills and Wood****, to explain his impact he made it into ****ney Rhyming slang, Joe Baksi = Taxi.
Nat Rogers is at Harringay Arena watching Baksi beating Wood**** and wanted to sign the winner to be Louis opponent in an outdoor event at the Yankee Stadium and after Baksi's display sees he is a live body and offers him $100,000 for the fight.
Joe at this point says he will consider the offer after he fights Tandberg in Sweden. A low riskfight so may as well pick up £5000 on the way back to America.
Needless to say Baksi lost a home town verdict which suprised even Tandberg, Ray Arcel (who by now was Baksi's trainer)called the verdict a disgrace. Yep that Ray Arcel, you cant say Baksi never had every chance.
Anyway the Yankee Stadium fight never came off and Louis ended up defending against Walcott who the majority thought won.
Could Baksi have beaten Louis?
Louis was definately fading by now and slowing down so Baksi would certainly have had a punchers chance, also Baksi was a good finisher if he would have put Louis in the trouble that Walcott did no way he would have got on his bike and risked the verdict.
Anyhow Baksi had one more near miss when the next year he got an eliminator with Ezzard Charles. Baksi had only had a quick 4 rounder after the Tandberg debacle and never being the best trainer was well beaten by Charles. That said Baksi had Charles in a lot of trouble in round 6 before fading badly and getting stopped in 11 for the only time in his career.
And apart from the odd good day that was it for Joe.

Anyhow raise a glass to Baksi the ultimate klutz

No it should have been Louis vs Walcott and was that. After defeating Wood****, Baksi was scheduled to fight Joe Louis for the world heavyweight title. Baksi, still in Europe after the Wood**** fight, signed a contract to fight the Swedish champion, Olle Tandberg in Stockholm. Baksi lost to Tandberg, despite being a heavy favourite to win. The decision was dubios though.

He was still the third ranked heavyweight contender, behind Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles, and ahead of Lee Savold,when he was scheduled to fight Ezzard Charles. Charles, the 5-14 favorite, defeated Baksi by TKO in the seventh. Now Joe could not have fought Baksi ahead of the #1 and #2 contenders.

Then people will say and with good reason , he ducked Walcott,
P.s :- Walcott had already beaten Baksi before in 1946.

[GJC]

No it should have been Louis vs Walcott and was that. After defeating Wood****, Baksi was scheduled to fight Joe Louis for the world heavyweight title. Baksi, still in Europe after the Wood**** fight, signed a contract to fight the Swedish champion, Olle Tandberg in Stockholm. Baksi lost to Tandberg, despite being a heavy favourite to win. The decision was dubios

P.s :- Walcott had already beaten Baksi before in 1946.

You seem to be agreeing and disagreeing, everything you say here is in my post, no?