December 5, 1947: The Brown Bomber nears the end

NEW YORK - Joe Louis probably shouldn't have been fighting. Having won the world heavyweight championship in 1937, he had beaten all challengers since, to the point where it seemed like there was nobody worthy left for him to fight. Plus, his time spent serving in World War II had robbed him of some of his prime fighting years and had left him rusty.

At the same time, though, he owed a lot of money, both to the IRS and to people such as his ex-wife and his manager. He needed the money. And so, instead of retiring, Louis accepted challengers for a few more fights, trying to pad his pocketbooks enough to get out of debt.

One of those challenges came on December 5, 1947, when the 33-year-old Louis fought the 33-year-old Jersey Joe Walcott in Madison Square Garden. It was obvious from the beginning that Louis was rusty, wasn't close to the fighter he had been a decade earlier when he pummelled Max Schmeling. Despite being a 10-1 underdog, Walcott knocked Louis to the canvass twice in the first four rounds.

Louis survived to the 15th round, and despite the appearance that Walcott had dominated the fight, Louis was declared teh winner by split decision. The crowd at Madison Square Garden booed the decision.

Louis knew what the fight meant. He knew his skills were nearly gone, but he was too embarrassed to retire after the Walcott fight. He agreed to a rematch against Walcott for the next year, at Yankee Stadium. There, Louis won by knockout, his last fight before his retirement.

July 18, 1951: Fifth time's the charm

PITTSBURGH - The first time Jersey Joe Walcott fought for the heavyweight championship was in December of 1947 against Joe Louis. Walcott fought well, knocking the great Louis down twice during the fight, but lost a 15-round split decision. Most fans and boxing writers thought Walcott deserved to win, so a rematch was quickly scheduled.

The second time Walcott fought for the heavyweight championship was six months after his first Louis fight. This time, Louis didn't leave it up to the judges, knocking out Walcott in the 11th round.

Walcott's third chance was in 1949 against Ezzard Charles, who won the title left vacated when Louis retired. After another 15-round split decision, Walcott was once again denied the championship.

The fourth time he tried, in March of 1951, it was the same story: Charles beating Walcott in a split decision.

The fifth time, things finally went Walcott's way. Fighting Charles a third time, Walcott earned a 7th-round knockout to win the heavyweight championship. In doing so, he became the first man to win the heavyweight title on his fifth try, and he became the oldest heavyweight champion at age 37. His record for oldest champion has since been topped by George Foreman, but Walcott remains the oldest first-time heavyweight champion.

Walcott didn't remain champion for long. He had only one successful defense of his title before losing it to Rocky Marciano, getting knocked out in the 13th round of a fight that he was leading comfortably on the scorecards.