The story of Earl Walls is probably the most interesting untold saga involving a Canadian Heavyweight champion. A talented power punching Canadian who, with very little amateur experience, turned pro and climbed into contention for the world title only to abruptly retire, leaving fans to consider what could have been.

When a 19 yr old Walls turned pro in May 1948, under the tutelage of Toronto boxing promoter Jimmy Jones, he did so south of the Canadian border. Under the bright lights of the Jamaica Arena in Queens, New York, Walls destroyed a local fighter named Dick Lee in less than a round to win his pro debut. Showing a power in both hands, the future looked bright at that moment...which would last only for 10 days.

As customary, fighters in the 40's and 50's fought and fought often. Walls took his perfect 1-0 record into the ring in Brooklyn, New York a mere 10 days later to take on a more experienced fighter in Steve King. King, who climbed into the ring that night with 10 victories in 13 bouts, left the ring with the decision victory over Walls, handing the Canuck his first defeat, the first of three in a row.

A month later, Walls dropped a decision to a Joe Lindsay (again in Brooklyn) and 5 days later was stopped in the opening frame by a 3-9 fighter. Four bouts, three losses.

Instead of packing it in and looking for another line of work, Walls drew strength from his defeats, using them as learning experiences in order to better himself within his new trade. It obviously worked.

What would follow would be a 10 bout winning streak which included 9 KO victories. Walls' power became evident with 7 first round KO's and his fame would quickly spread. Walls made his Canadian debut a year after turning pro, stopping Lorne McCarthy in a round, then travelled over seas to treat the United Kingdom boxing fans to some fistic fury.

Walls' winning streak would be brought to an end when he dropped consecutive bouts while fighting in London. After returning to Toronto, Walls easily disposed of Jack Ennis (KO2) and George Abinet (KO1).

Another trip south of the border proved fruitless for Walls, as he was stopped in first round by Argentina's Abel Cestac then decisioned by Jimmy Slade.

After just over 3 years as a pro, Walls sported a 13-7 record with 12 of the victories coming via the knockout.

Whether he was discourage on how his career was progressing so far or an inability to find work in the ring, Walls wouldn't fight again for 15 months. When he did return, he'd fight all but one of his remaining fighting on Canadian soil.

After stopping Bill Nichols in the first round, Walls climbed into the ring in Edmonton, Alberta to take on Canadian Heavyweight champion Vern Escoe. Escoe, who also called Toronto his home, had won the national title 5 years earlier, making a lone defense before meeting Walls. While Escoe was the more experienced fighter, he simply couldn't handle the power of the man known as the Hooded Terror. At 2:45 of the 4th round, Escoe was counted out and Walls was the Heavyweight champion of Canada. The rematch took place a little over a month later, Walls again KO'd Escoe, this time in the 5th round to make his first successful defense of his coveted strap.

10 months and 5 victories later, Walls took on the Joe Kahut for something called the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title. Kahut had shared the ring with many big names prior to Walls bout. He faced former world champions Ezzard Charles, Joey Maxim, and Gus Lesnevich as well as a slew of top ranked contenders during his heyday however fater 13 years and 84 bouts, Kahut was in the twilight of his career. The bout went the full 10 rounds with experience vs power. Kahut would drop the decision but end Walls' KO streak at 9. The Hooded Terror was now the Pacific Northwest champion as well as the king of Canadian heavyweights.

After collecting another first round stoppage victory (3 weeks following the Kahut bout), Walls took on world ranked contender Rex Layne in Edmonton. Layne held victories over Jersey Joe Walcott (W10) and the dangerous Bob Satterfield (TKO8) as well as shared the ring with the likes of Rocky Marciano, Ezzard Charles, and Harry Matthews. Layne's reputation was built upon his solid chin, his punching power, and his durability. In his 41-7-2 record, only Marciano and Charles were able to stop him from hearing the final bell. It took the Brockton Blockbuster 6 rounds to dispose of Layne while Charles would need an additional 5 more. Earl Walls would need 63 seconds. More than 8000 fans went hysterical when Bill Behr counted Layne out a little over a minute into the bout. It would be several minutes more before Layne was completely revived. In 63 seconds, Earl walls was a viable contender for Marciano's world title.

Walls and Layne tangled again, 2 months later, this time in Layne's hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. The fashion of Layne's quick exit in thier initial encounter lead many to believe that the anvil chinned Layne had merely got caught cold. Although Wall couldn't duplicate his openning round victory over his American counterpart, he did manage to drop Layne three times in the 6th round to earn the KO victory. Layne went on record following the rematch as saying that he'd never been hit so hard in all his life.

Another rematch with a previous victim ensued as Walls again took on Joe Kahut. Kahut manage to go the distance in their first encounter but was dropped in twice and KO'd in the second round of the rematch.

After another openning round KO victory in Edmonton (KO1 Bernie Reynolds), Walls took on veteran Tommy Harrison. Harrison had a couple of victories over a faded Jimmy Bivins as well as a stoppage defeat to Ezzard Charles. While Harrison was ranked #6 in the world, he was not expected to give the surging Walls too much difficulty. However, Harrison was able to keep out of harm's way and earn the upset decision victory over Walls in Toronto, ending Walls' 5 bout KO streak but more importantly, his 15 bout winning streak. The rematch took place 11 weeks later, again in Toronto, will a very different result. Walls dropped Harrison with a left hook moments into the first frame. Harrison did manage to regain his footing but was battered by a right to the jaw and hooks to the body. The Los Angeles based fighter slumped to the canvas where he was counted out at the 2 minute 40 second mark of round one.

Following the Harrison demolition, Walls began to hear his name being tossed around in proposed bouts with World champion Rocky Marciano and Archie Moore. Neither fight out come through so Wall's kept busy posting decision victories over Freddie Beshore and Henry Hall in May and June of 1954.

An expected decision defeat to a soft chinned Argentinian Edgardo Jose Romero in July 1954. Romero, a mere novice compared to Wall's, earned two of the three judges scorecards in Vancouver for earn his biggest victory of his career. That celebration didn't last to long as the two climbed into the ring in Edmonton for the rematch in October. Again, the bout went the distance with Walls collecting the decision victory.

Following a decision victory over former conqueror Jimmy Slade in January of 1955, Walls would make his 2nd title defense of his Canadian heavyweight title. Parker gave Walls all he could handle over 12 rounds and in the end, the judges could not decide a winner. The stalemate allowed Walls to keep both his world ranking and national title and gave Parker credibility on the world stage.

Walls had climbed to #3 in the world following his bout with New Jersey journeyman Billy Gilliam. The talks of a proposed both with Marciano intensified to the point that many thought it was a done deal. The thought of two punchers like Walls and Marciano sharing the same ring with the world title on the line sounded too good to be true.

Then, from out of nowhere, came a retirement decision, not from Marciano who had been talking about hanging up the gloves, but from the Canadian champ. At the age of 27, Earl Wall's boxing career was over.

Citing that he no longer wanted to participate in the sport, Walls wrote in an article that boxing was a business, strictly a career to him, and that he did not crave it's violence.

Following his boxing career, the family man, known as the Hooded Terror, became successful in the world of real estate, earning a comfortable living until his death in 1996.

Walls was inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame as well as the Afro American Sports Hall of Fame in Detroit.

If you wish to contact the author of this article, email Dave Baggs at FightNews Canada