Mickey Walker

Personal information
Nickname(s)	The Toy Bulldog and The Rumson Bulldog
Born	Edward Patrick Walker (1901-07-13)July 13, 1901 Elizabeth, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	April 28, 1981(1981-04-28) (aged 79)
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	Welterweight Middleweight Light Heavyweight Heavyweight
Boxing career
Reach	67 in (170 cm)
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	164
Wins	131
Win by KO	60
Losses	25
Draws	6
No contests	2

This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Mickey Walker" boxer – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(July 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Edward Patrick "Mickey" Walker (July 13, 1903 (some sources indicate 1901) – April 28, 1981) was an American professionalboxer who held both theUndisputed World Welterweight andUndisputed World Middleweight Championships at different points in his career.^[1][2]

Born inElizabeth, New Jersey, he was also an avidgolfer and would later be recognized as a renowned artist. Mickey Walker lived in Rumson, New Jersey, where he trained and was known as "The Rumson Bulldog". He married Maude Kelly in 1923, and they settled in Rumson with their two children. Walker was nicknamed "The Rumson Bulldog" by the press, which he reportedly liked. TheRumson Fair-Haven Regional High School later adopted the"Bulldogs" mascot, a nod to their famous resident.

Walker is widely considered one of the greatest fighters ever, withESPN ranking him 17th on their list of the 50 Greatest Boxers of All-Time and boxing historianBert Sugar placing him 11th in his Top 100 Fighters catalogue.^[3][4] Statistical websiteBoxRec rates Walker as the 6th best boxer to have ended his career at middleweight, whileThe Ring Magazine founderNat Fleischer placed him at No. 4 among greatest middleweights of all time.^[5] TheInternational Boxing Research Organization ranked Walker as the No. 4 middleweight and the No. 16 pound-for-pound fighter of all-time.^[6] Walker was inducted into theRing magazine Hall of Fame in 1957 and theInternational Boxing Hall of Fame as a first-class member in 1990.^[7]

Walker boxed professionally for the first time on February 10, 1919, fighting Dominic Orsini to a four-round no-decision in his hometown ofElizabeth, New Jersey. Walker did not venture from Elizabeth until his eighteenth bout, when he went to fight atNewark. On April 29, 1919, he was defeated byknockout in round one by Phil Delmontt, suffering his first defeat.

In 1920, he boxed twelve times, winning two and participating in ten no-decisions. Once again, all his bouts were held in New Jersey, which was, at the time, one of the areas where scoring systems had not been instituted in boxing. Each fight that lasted the scheduled distance was automatically declared a no-decision, regardless of who the better boxer had been.

Walker boxed sixteen times in 1921, winning six, losing one and having nine no-decisions. By then,Rhode Island had become one of the areas where decisions from points scoring had been legislated and this attracted Walker. He lost on a disqualification toJoe Stenafik his first time there, but earned his first decision win in twelve rounds againstKid Green the second time around. He also met world champion boxerJack Britton in a no-decision in New Jersey and beatNate Siegal inBoston.

In 1922, Walker went 3–4–4 before getting a world title shot. He lost toJock Malone that year. However, on November 1, 1922, he fought for the world welterweight title against Britton, the reigning champion. Walker outpointed Britton over fifteen rounds to take the title.

Walker had thirteen fights in 1923, winning 11, having one no-decision and oneno contest. He defended the title twice, againstPete Latzo andJimmy Jones. Nine bouts followed in 1924, Walker winning six and having three no decisions. He defeatedLew Tendler and Bobby Barrett in defense of his world title and had two of his three no-decisions that year against Jock Malone.

After winning two fights to start 1925, he went up in division to challenge worldmiddleweight championHarry Greb on July 2 but failed to win the middleweight crown at that time, losing a fifteen-round decision to the 160-pound (73 kg) division champion. He went back to the welterweight division, defending his title againstDave Shade and retaining it by decision. He won three bouts, lost one and had three no-decisions that year.

On May 20, 1926, Walker lost the world welterweight title in a rematch with Pete Latzo. It seemed Walker, now in his 20s, had physically matured out the welterweight division, though many might also point to his extra-curricular activities. Whatever the reasons, Walker then began concentrating on winning the world middleweight championship. On November 22, he finally was able to beat Jock Malone. On December 3, he claimed the world middleweight title with a controversial ten-round decision over world championTiger Flowers. He kept that title for five years, defending it three times. He beatMike McTigue and former world championPaul Berlenbach.

On March 28, 1929, he tried to become a member of the exclusive group of boxers who have been world champions in three different weight divisions, but lost a close ten-round decision to worldlight heavyweight championTommy Loughran. On June 19, 1931, Walker decided to vacate his world middleweight title and move up to theheavyweight division.

Walker's debut as a heavyweight on July 22 against former world heavyweight championJack Sharkey ended with a fifteen-round draw (tie). In 1932, he went 5–1, beating such fighters asKing Levinsky andPaulino Uzcudun before facing former world heavyweight championMax Schmeling, who knocked Walker out in round eight.

He went down in weight again, to the light heavyweight division in 1933, when he lost a fifteen-round decision toMaxie Rosenbloom for the world title. The next year, Walker fought Rosenbloom again and was awarded a decision win. Unfortunately for Walker, Rosenbloom remained the champion, having taken Walker on in a non-title fight. Undaunted, Walker kept campaigning in that division until 1935, when he retired after losing toEric Seelig by a seven-round technical knockout.

After retiring from boxing, Walker opened a New York City restaurant that became a popular landmark. He became an accomplished painter, with many of his works exhibited at New York and London art galleries. During his boxing career, he found golf to be a suitable distraction to histraining regimen and he often dragged his manager, Doc Kearns, and his kids to golf courses to play golf.

Walker said on the January 13, 1955 "You Bet Your Life" show that he was married and had two daughters. He also said he "fought a draw for the heavyweight title."

Walker was found by police in 1974 lying on a street in Freehold, NJ and taken to a hospital, where he was admitted with doctors initially thinking he was just a drunk lying on the street. Tests revealed Walker was suffering fromParkinson's Syndrome,arteriosclerosis andanemia. He was admitted toMarlboro Psychiatric Hospital for treatment.^[8] He died on April 28, 1981, in Freehold.

All information in this section is derived fromBoxRec,^[9] unless otherwise stated.

Allnewspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Record with the inclusion ofnewspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column.

• NYSACwelterweight champion (147 lbs) (2×)^[a]
• NBA (WBA) welterweight champion (147 lbs)
• NYSACmiddleweight champion (160 lbs)
• NBA (WBA) middleweight champion (160 lbs)

• The Ring welterweight champion (147 lbs)
• The Ring middleweight champion (160 lbs)

• Undisputed welterweight champion (2×)^[a]
• Undisputed middleweight champion

• List of welterweight boxing champions
• List of middleweight boxing champions

• Boxing record for Mickey Walker fromBoxRec(registration required)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toMickey Walker (boxer).

• Walker at Cyber Boxing Zone
• Mickey Walker at The Boxing Magazine
• On the 100th Anniversary of Greb vs Walker
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Middleweight--1920s
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Middleweight--1930s
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Welterweight--1920s
• https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Light_Heavyweight--1920s
• https://titlehistories.com/boxing/wba/wba-world-lh.html
• https://titlehistories.com/boxing/wba/wba-world-m.html
• https://titlehistories.com/boxing/wba/wba-world-wl.html
• https://titlehistories.com/boxing/na/usa/ny/nysac-lh.html
• https://titlehistories.com/boxing/na/usa/ny/nysac-m.html
• https://titlehistories.com/boxing/na/usa/ny/nysac-wl.html

• 1900s births
• 1981 deaths
• American male boxers
• Boxers from New Jersey
• Deaths from Parkinson's disease in New Jersey
• International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees
• Middleweight boxers
• Sportspeople from Elizabeth, New Jersey
• Welterweight boxers
• 20th-century American sportsmen

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from July 2018
• Articles needing additional references from July 2007
• All articles needing additional references
• Pages with login required references or sources
• Commons category link is on Wikidata