Puncher from the Past Rex Layne

Name: REX GESSEL LAYNE

Born: 7 June 1928 Lewiston Utah, USA

Died: 7 June 2000 Lewiston Utah, USA

Career: 1949 to 1956

Record: 70 fights, 50 wins (34 by KO/TKO) , 17 losses (6 by KO/TKO) 3 draws

Division:  Light heavyweight/heavyweight

Stance: Orthodox

Titles:  Far West Heavyweight champion.

Major Contests

Scored wins over: Dave Whitlock (three times), Joe Kahut, Jersey Joe Walcott **, Cesar Brion. Bob Satterfield, Ezzard Charles **, Hans Friedrich, Bob Baker,

Lost to: Dave Whitlock, Rocky Marciano **, Ezzard Charles (twice) **, Willie James, Harry Matthews , Roland LaStarza*, Earl Walls (twice), Tommy Jackson (twice) *, Bob Baker (three times), Willie Pastrano **,

Drew with: Heinz Neuhaus,

**Past/ future holder of a version of a world title

* Unsuccessful challenger for a version of a world title

Story

Rez (Lewiston Larruper) Layne, a Mormon, was born in Lewison, Idaho and began his boxing whilst serving in the 11^th Airborne Division as part of the occupation forces in Japan during the Second World War. He won the Pacific Armed Forces heavyweight title before returning to civilian life in 1947 to become a sugar beet farmer. He continued to box and was National AAU heavyweight champion in 1949 ( to indicate how heavyweights have grown you were a heavyweight if you weighed over 79.4 kg (175 lbs) which was the heaviest category). He competed at the US Trials for the London Olympics but lost to Elbert Lambert.

Layne signed with Marv Jansen who would eventually promote Gene, Don and Jay Fullmer and Layne had his first professional fight in Salt Lake City just seven weeks after winning the National AAU title. He had  fifteen fights in 1949 winning them all 14 by KO/TKO and had already progressed to 10 round bouts. He had 14 more fights in 1950 venturing beyond Utah and facing better opposition. He was 11-1-2 beating Dave Whitlock then, with his record at 17-0, losing to Dave Whitlock before beating Whitlock again and drawing with Dale Hall and Andy Walker and also winning the Far West Heavyweight title. He ended the year with a huge jump in opposition quality and exposure as in November in a main event in Madison Square Garden (MSG) he won a unanimous decision over Jersey Joe Walcott who eight months later would win the heavyweight title with a kayo of Ezzard Charles.

The victory over Walcott saw Layne enter the Ring Magazine  Ratings at No 6 and he scored eight wins in a row at the start of 1951 outpointing Argentinian Cesar Brion, getting off the floor to stop Bob Satterfield and knocking out old foe Dave Whitlock. Layne’s record was 34-1-2 he was featured on the front page of Ring Magazine and was No 3 in the world. Things then fell apart for him in his last two fights in 1951. On 12 July in MSG he fought 35-0 Rocky Marciano. Layne was a 9-5 favourite being better known than Marciano and having met a better class of opponent. The fight went Layne’s way over the first five rounds. He was on the back foot easily countering Marcian with jabs and hooks. However he could not keep Marciano out and was starting to take some punishment late in the fifth. Layne’s guard was not the greatest and he tended to carry his left at waist level and in the sixth a dynamite-laden right to the jaw stiffened Layne up in a standing position and then he collapsed in a heap to the canvas and was counted out. Marciano’s knockout punch had sheared off four of Layne’s upper front teeth at the gum line and sent his mouthpiece bouncing, with teeth still embedded, across the ring. Instead of regrouping on 10 October he took on former heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles who had lost the title to Jersey Joe Walcott in July and was No 1 in ratings. This time Layne played the “Marciano” role driving forward against the lighter Charles. The speed and accuracy of Charles punches wore Layne down. A fierce attack by Charles at the end of the tenth round saw Layne dropped on his back by a right. Layne was out but the bell went as the count reached nine. It would be inconceivable today but Layne’s seconds literally lifted him off the floor and dragged him back to his corner. Amazingly enough he recovered and took the fight to Charles in the eleventh. With two minutes gone in the round it looked as though Layne would

make it to the bell but another devastating right put him down on his back again. He manged to roll over and made it his feet at nine and the referee wiped his gloves and was about to let the fight continue but Layne’s corner climbed to the ring apron surrendering for their man.

A loss to 12-2-1 Willie James in early 1952 seemed to indicate Laynes career was in terminal decline. He then scored three wins in 19 days against modest opposition before losing in May to No 1 light heavyweight Harry Matthews. He rebounded from that with a revenge victory over Charles in August. A very controversial win in Layne’s backyard of Ogden with referee Jack Dempsey scoring seven rounds even, two to Layne and one to Charles!

That really was the end of the good times for Layne. He lost a split decision to Roland LaStarza in a heavyweight eliminator in February 1953 with LaStarza going on to challenge Rocky Marciano, and was floored three times and outpointed by Charles in April-this time on neutral territory in San Francisco. In his other two fights in 1953 he was knocked out twice by Canadian Earl Walls, who was rated No 5 by Ring Magazine. In January 1954 he was stopped in six rounds by No 3 heavyweight Tommy “Hurricane” Jackson then returned to action back home in Utah and scored six wins (with one of the fights refereed by Rocky Marciano) and in December he travelled to Germany getting a creditable draw against European heavyweight champion 32-2-4 Heinz Neuhaus. In 1955 he scored three wins but suffered losses against Bob Baker (three times in six months), Tommy Jackson again and Willie Pastrano. He brought his career to a close in 1956 with two fights in Germany losing on points to Neuhaus and on 4 February losing against Hans Friedrich.

He had crammed 70 fights into less than seven years and had been world rated for much of the early 1950’s being rated as high as No 2. His wide-open aggressive style made him popular and he faced many of the top heavyweights of his era and five times featured in main events in MSG. In 1968, Layne had a bit part in the movie “The Devil’s Brigade,” starring William Holden but no career in films followed.

In 1980, he was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Famen and in 2000 was voted one of Utah’s 50 Top Athletes of the century. He retired from his job at Motor Cargo after 25 years of service and died complications arising from a stroke on 7 June 2000-his 72nd birthday.