NEW YORK - It was June 22, 1937, in Chicago. After an eighth-round knockout of James Braddock, Joe Louis became the heavyweight champion of the world. This was before he won his rematch with Max Schmeling, before he started fighting his "bum of the month."
On March 1, 1949, Joe Louis looked around and saw the truth. He was no longer the fighter he once was, yet there was nobody around who could beat him in his current state. Most importantly, there was nobody around to give him a big enough payday. But he was still the champion.
And so the longest uninterrupted reign as heavyweight champion came to an end, stopped not because somebody beat him, but because Louis stepped away. When he announced his retirement, he had been champion for 140 months and had successfully defended his title 25 times, both records by far. In fact, he held his reign longer than any two fighters combined.
When Louis retired, he was rightfully considered the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. And yet, he was broke. In fact, he was worse than broke, owing more than $500,000 to the IRS. And so he had to come back and fight again, becoming another example of the boxer who can't stay retired. Retiring with a record of 57-1 - with his only loss being the upset to Schmeling - Louis tarnished his record a bit after his return, losing his first comeback fight to Ezzard Charles and losing his final fight to Rocky Marciano.
Still, Louis' career record of 65-3 still stands out, and the records he holds for longest heavyweight reign and most title defenses will likely last forever.
Showing posts with label Joe Louis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Louis. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Sunday, December 5, 2010
December 5, 1947: The Brown Bomber nears the end
NEW YORK - Joe Louis probably shouldn't have been fighting. Having won the world heavyweight championship in 1937, he had beaten all challengers since, to the point where it seemed like there was nobody worthy left for him to fight. Plus, his time spent serving in World War II had robbed him of some of his prime fighting years and had left him rusty.
At the same time, though, he owed a lot of money, both to the IRS and to people such as his ex-wife and his manager. He needed the money. And so, instead of retiring, Louis accepted challengers for a few more fights, trying to pad his pocketbooks enough to get out of debt.
One of those challenges came on December 5, 1947, when the 33-year-old Louis fought the 33-year-old Jersey Joe Walcott in Madison Square Garden. It was obvious from the beginning that Louis was rusty, wasn't close to the fighter he had been a decade earlier when he pummelled Max Schmeling. Despite being a 10-1 underdog, Walcott knocked Louis to the canvass twice in the first four rounds.
Louis survived to the 15th round, and despite the appearance that Walcott had dominated the fight, Louis was declared teh winner by split decision. The crowd at Madison Square Garden booed the decision.
Louis knew what the fight meant. He knew his skills were nearly gone, but he was too embarrassed to retire after the Walcott fight. He agreed to a rematch against Walcott for the next year, at Yankee Stadium. There, Louis won by knockout, his last fight before his retirement.
At the same time, though, he owed a lot of money, both to the IRS and to people such as his ex-wife and his manager. He needed the money. And so, instead of retiring, Louis accepted challengers for a few more fights, trying to pad his pocketbooks enough to get out of debt.
One of those challenges came on December 5, 1947, when the 33-year-old Louis fought the 33-year-old Jersey Joe Walcott in Madison Square Garden. It was obvious from the beginning that Louis was rusty, wasn't close to the fighter he had been a decade earlier when he pummelled Max Schmeling. Despite being a 10-1 underdog, Walcott knocked Louis to the canvass twice in the first four rounds.
Louis survived to the 15th round, and despite the appearance that Walcott had dominated the fight, Louis was declared teh winner by split decision. The crowd at Madison Square Garden booed the decision.
Louis knew what the fight meant. He knew his skills were nearly gone, but he was too embarrassed to retire after the Walcott fight. He agreed to a rematch against Walcott for the next year, at Yankee Stadium. There, Louis won by knockout, his last fight before his retirement.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
June 22, 1938: Louis knocks out Schmeling
BRONX, N.Y. - The bell rang, the fighters approached each other. The white German stood straight up, showing no fear. The black American stepped forward and sized up his opponent for a few seconds, looking for an opening. Then it began. A flurry of punches, a devastating attack like few had ever seen. It was an absolute bloodbath, except only one of the fighters was landing any punches.
It was more than just a heavyweight championship fight, more than just a battle of wills between and American and a German. It was a fight for racial pride, for national pride, the fight that could help dismiss any notions that one race is superior to another.
Perhaps no fighter in history had more pressure to succeed than Joe Louis did on June 22, 1938. It was his rematch against Max Schmeling, the German darling of the Nazi Party who had shocked Louis in their first meeting two years earlier. The Nazis pointed to that first fight as proof that a black man could never match up against someone from the Aryan nation. Louis, meanwhile, had been the champion of African Americans, who were devestated by his loss. Black poet Langston Hughes wrote this after Louis' loss to Schmeling:
"I walked down Seventh Avenue and saw grown men weeping like children, and women sitting in the curbs with their head in their hands. All across the country that night when the news came that Joe was knocked out, people cried."
It was more than just black Americans who were upset about Louis' loss, though. Hitler was becoming more and more menacing in Europe, so the Louis-Schmeling fight was seen as a source of national pride for Americans. The last thing they wanted was to give the Nazis any kind of emotional lift.
So that is how Joe Louis became one of the first African-American athletes to be embraced by all of America. For a while, it didn't matter that he was black, just that he was not German, and nothing would be more important than seeing him knock that sorry Nazi back to Germany where he belonged.
When Louis walked to the center of the ring in Yankee Stadium that June evening, he had all of America in his corner. Maybe that gave him the extra confidence he needed, the extra spring in his step and the extra power in his punch. Who knows? Whatever the reason, what followed was 2 minutes, 10 seconds of absoulte domination. When it was over, Louis had landed 31 punches, to only 2 for Schmeling. Schmeling had been knocked down three times, was audibly crying with every blow, and eventually ended up in the hospital with several cracked vertebrae.
Louis had won, and in the most convincing way possible: a first-round knockout. The Germans were at first shocked, then infuriated. Schmeling was never again heavily promoted as the Nazi Party poster child. Louis became a hero for America, all of America, and his victory was celebrated in the streets across the country. Even Schmeling, in defeat, noted the significance of the moment. In his autobiography years later, he mentioned that on his trip through Harlem to the hospital after the fight,
"...there were noisy, dancing crowds. Bands had left the nightclubs and bars and were playing and dancing on the sidewalks and streets. The whole area was filled with celebration, noise, and saxophones, continuously punctuated by the calling of Joe Louis' name."
.........
Years later, long after the Nazi Party had abandonded him and he, in turn, had abandoned the Nazi Party, Schmeling reached out to Louis. The two eventually became friends, putting aside their past differences. When Louis struggled financially later in his life, it was Schmeling who sent him money to help keep him afloat, and when Louis died in 1981, Schmeling acted as a pallbearer at his funeral. A true friendship had developed out of an intense rivalry, a friendship that would have been completely unthinkable in the Bronx in 1938.
It was more than just a heavyweight championship fight, more than just a battle of wills between and American and a German. It was a fight for racial pride, for national pride, the fight that could help dismiss any notions that one race is superior to another.
Perhaps no fighter in history had more pressure to succeed than Joe Louis did on June 22, 1938. It was his rematch against Max Schmeling, the German darling of the Nazi Party who had shocked Louis in their first meeting two years earlier. The Nazis pointed to that first fight as proof that a black man could never match up against someone from the Aryan nation. Louis, meanwhile, had been the champion of African Americans, who were devestated by his loss. Black poet Langston Hughes wrote this after Louis' loss to Schmeling:
"I walked down Seventh Avenue and saw grown men weeping like children, and women sitting in the curbs with their head in their hands. All across the country that night when the news came that Joe was knocked out, people cried."
It was more than just black Americans who were upset about Louis' loss, though. Hitler was becoming more and more menacing in Europe, so the Louis-Schmeling fight was seen as a source of national pride for Americans. The last thing they wanted was to give the Nazis any kind of emotional lift.
So that is how Joe Louis became one of the first African-American athletes to be embraced by all of America. For a while, it didn't matter that he was black, just that he was not German, and nothing would be more important than seeing him knock that sorry Nazi back to Germany where he belonged.
When Louis walked to the center of the ring in Yankee Stadium that June evening, he had all of America in his corner. Maybe that gave him the extra confidence he needed, the extra spring in his step and the extra power in his punch. Who knows? Whatever the reason, what followed was 2 minutes, 10 seconds of absoulte domination. When it was over, Louis had landed 31 punches, to only 2 for Schmeling. Schmeling had been knocked down three times, was audibly crying with every blow, and eventually ended up in the hospital with several cracked vertebrae.
Louis had won, and in the most convincing way possible: a first-round knockout. The Germans were at first shocked, then infuriated. Schmeling was never again heavily promoted as the Nazi Party poster child. Louis became a hero for America, all of America, and his victory was celebrated in the streets across the country. Even Schmeling, in defeat, noted the significance of the moment. In his autobiography years later, he mentioned that on his trip through Harlem to the hospital after the fight,
"...there were noisy, dancing crowds. Bands had left the nightclubs and bars and were playing and dancing on the sidewalks and streets. The whole area was filled with celebration, noise, and saxophones, continuously punctuated by the calling of Joe Louis' name."
.........
Years later, long after the Nazi Party had abandonded him and he, in turn, had abandoned the Nazi Party, Schmeling reached out to Louis. The two eventually became friends, putting aside their past differences. When Louis struggled financially later in his life, it was Schmeling who sent him money to help keep him afloat, and when Louis died in 1981, Schmeling acted as a pallbearer at his funeral. A true friendship had developed out of an intense rivalry, a friendship that would have been completely unthinkable in the Bronx in 1938.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)