on february 23, 1900, walcott met the jewish light heavyweight, joe choynski, winning in a surprising seventh-round tko, though outweighed by 16 pounds and conceding his opponent a full foot advantage in height. likely sensing the need for a quick start against his gifted opponent, walcott sent choynski to the mat five times in the first round and was the aggressor throughout the bout. choynski, a 3-1 betting favorite before the bout, suddenly became a 2-1 underdog after the sound of the first round bell. walcott seemed to have a slight advantage in the second, though choynski landed a solid blow. by the third round, walcott pressed his advantage with a superior defense, and landed blows nearly at will before the sound of the bell. the fourth seemed even, with the fifth entirely in walcott's favor, while in the sixth walcott cut choynski's right eye. walcott sent choynski to the floor again in the seventh, battering his clearly exhausted opponent. stopping the final round 38 seconds in, the referee said later that he "felt another blow to choynski would have put him out."