The name Coley Wallace is not a household name in boxing or in the movies, but……. Born in Jacksonville, Florida, and then moving to Harlem, New York, Wallace was 6-1 at the time and was the final opponent of defeating future world undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, 11-3, in March 1948 in the Eastern Golden Gloves tournament that he was going to win.
Wallace would then go on to win the National AAU Tournament at the Boston Garden in April 1948, qualifying him for the Olympic Trials in the same facility. He would stop future pro Charley “The Bayonne Bomber” Norkus in the quarterfinals, then stop Art Seay 11-1, then lose to Norvel Lee in the semifinals. Lee lost in the finals and became an Olympic alternate. Lee lost in the quarterfinals of the 1948 London Olympics.
Lee would defeat future world heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson and two future Olympic gold medalists in Pete Rademacher (1956) and Ed Sanders (1952).
Wallace would go on to win the 1949 New York Golden Gloves, then lose in the Eastern final. He also lost to Jimmy Bivins, 86-25-1, who was recognized as heavyweight champion while Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis was serving in the US Army. He lost in the amateurs to future world heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles. In the pros, he finished 22-7 after going 18-1 and 4-6. In the amateurs he was 25-3.
His amateur highlights include:
1948 New York Daily News Golden Gloves Open Division heavyweight champion defeating Gilmore Newkirk (later won the 1950 GG title).
In 1948, he defeated Marciano by split decision in the semifinals and defeated Bob Baker (51-16-1 as a pro) in the finals.
In 1948, he defeated Clarence Henry (34-6-1 as a pro) for the New York intercity Golden Gloves title.
1948 National AAU, he defeated Bill Bangert for the title.
1948 Olympic trials, he was defeated by Norval Lee, 37-4, in the semi-finals.
In 1949, he won the New York Dailey News Open division, defeating Jimmy Gambino (11-1 as a pro).
1949 New York Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions, he was defeated by Bob Baker in the semifinals and defeated Jimmy Hillard in the consolation match.
He served as a boxing referee for 6 fights (82 to 89) and a referee for two fights (1974). In 2005 he died at the age of 77.
Wallace would go on to portray Joe “The Brown Bomber” Louis in the 1953 movie “The Joe Louis Story!” He was a ½” taller than Louis. So there you have it, Wallace, the man who last defeated Rocky Marciano and portrayed Joe “The Brown” Bomber in the movies!
