Athletes - Joe Louis

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	Athletes - Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow (either May 13 or May 14 (sources differ), 1914 - April 12, 1981), better known in the boxing world as Joe Louis and nicknamed The Brown Bomber, was a native of Lexington, Alabama who became World Heavyweight Champion.

Biography

Early life and career

The son of Monroe Barrow, a cotton picker who lost his emotional stability and Lilly Reese, a homemaker, Louis became interested in boxing after the Barrows (after his father was sent to a hospital) moved to Detroit in 1924. He went on to win Michigan's Golden Gloves title, after which he turned professional in 1934. Louis made his debut on July 4 of that year, knocking out Jack Kracken in the first round at Chicago, Illinois that night. He won 12 fights that year, all in Chicago, 10 by knockout. Among his opponents in 1934 were Art Sykes and Stanley Poreda, both top contenders.

Ascendency

In 1935, he boxed 13 more times, and started touring the United States and Canada. He won each of his fights, and he began to face better opposition, beating former world Heavyweight champions Primo Carnera and Max Baer, and former Carnera world title challenger Paolino Uzcudun. His last four bouts that year were exhibitions in Canada, as one fight versus Isodoro Castagana, supposed to take place December 29 at Havana, Cuba, was suspended.

He began 1936 knocking out Charlie Retzlaff in the first round. In his next fight, however, he was matched with former world Heavyweight champion Max Schmeling, who was thought to be fading when he upset Louis by a knockout in 12 at New York. The German had studied Louis and discovered that he dropped his left hand after throwing his legendary left jab. Schmeling managed to weather Louis's pummeling long enough to exploit this weakness and bring down Louis. Louis and his supporters were devastated.

Schmeling now deserved a fight for the title, but was denied a chance to challenge the world champion in large part due to his relatively weak ties to the German Nazi Party.

That year Louis had four more bouts, winning all of them, and three exhibitions. Among the boxers he defeated were former Heavyweight champ Jack Sharkey and Eddie Simms, who turned and asked the referee to take a walk on the roof with him after a hit from Louis. The referee stopped the fight right away.

1937 came by, and after a ten round decision win over Bob Pastor, Louis was matched with world champion James J. Braddock in Chicago for the World Heavyweight title. Louis was dropped in round one, but he got up and became the world champion by knocking Braddock out in round eight. He said after the fight, however, that he would not feel like a world champion until he beat one man: Schmeling. Louis retained the title three times, outpointing the capable Welshman Tommy Farr and knocking out Nathan Mann in three and Harry Thomas in five.

The rematch with Schmeling finally took place, on June 22, 1938. This time the fight was hyped on both sides of the Atlantic, and many fans around the world saw this fight as a symbol: Louis representing the American interests and Schmeling, who was wrongly seen as a Nazi, fighting for Germany and white supremacy. This 'Good vs Evil' perception was mistaken, as Schmeling was, at best, a hesitant poster boy for the regime. Although commonly accused of being a fascist, Schmeling's actions prove that this was not so. Aside from employing a Jewish manager, Joe Jacobs, he also sheltered the two sons of a Jewish friends after Kristallnacht at considerable personal risk. He travelled to Las Vegas in 1989 at the behest of one of the sons. The irony that Joe Louis was still living in an America under segregation is not lost upon many commentators.

The fight itself ended quickly. With his superior speed, Louis retained his title by a knockout in the first round, avenging his only loss up until that time and achieving something not too many African-Americans of the era imagined anyone could do: becoming a national hero both for the white and the black population. Louis was black, so when he won the title, he had become an example to his fellow black Americans. But by beating a German boxer, Louis won over whites too, something very hard to do during the 1930s and 1940s in the United States.

In 1940 Louis actively campaigned for Wendell Willkie for the presidency. Louis favored Willkie over FDR because he believed that Willkie and the Republicans would do more for civil rights.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Joe Louis ]

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Athletes - Joe Louis

Biography

Early life and career

Ascendency

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