Joe Louis
HE WAS JOE “THE BROWN BOMBER” LOUIS
San Francisco, CA– The nature of boxing is to milk a fighter’s popularity until the utter is dry. At the time I’m about to chronicle, Joe Louis was the great champion and symbol of American pride before and after World War II. The first time Louis was dropped was twice in the blitzkrieg that Max Schmeling laid on him in 1936. Down in rounds four and 12, the fight was stopped after the second knockdown as Schmeling had been beating the snot of Joe from the opening bell. When the pair engaged again in 1939, Louis knocked Max out in a mere 2:04.
FAT GUY DECKS JOE AND EMBARRASSED “BROWN BOMBER”
Joe’s first taste of the canvas as champion was against back street brawler “Two Ton” Tony Galento, when the fat man dropped him in round three of a 1939 title fight, this after being all but out on his feet in the opening stanza. Galento would go down in round two. Simply put, Louis had a problem with complacency. That was clearly the case in the first Schmeling encounter as his head just wasn’t in the fight and Max all but destroyed Louis as a fighter. There were people who thought Louis, despite beating James Braddock for the heavyweight title in 1937, he was dropped before returning the favor to finish Braddock. In one of the smartest business moves in boxing history, Braddock would get a percentage of every fight Joe had from that point forward in his career. Conspiracy theories aside, Max Schmeling should have gotten the title fight, but because of the anti-German sentiment prior to the World War II, Louis would get the championship fight that rightfully belonged to Germany’s Schmeling.
LOUIS HAS “CONCENTRATION ISSUES”
When Joe Louis Barrow, his birth name, faced the lesser of the Baer brothers, Buddy, who was inferior to his brother Max Baer and whose son went on to Hollywood fame as Jethro Bodine in the highly successful Beverly Hills Hillbilly’s TV series of the 1960s, Joe got decked by Buddy Baer. Controversy reigned after the final of three knockdowns of Buddy Baer when his corner was adamant that the third knockdown came after the bell ending the sixth frame. His manager complained that Baer was disqualified before the start of round seven. Historian Bert Sugar, who passed earlier this week, was of the opinion that Baer’s corner was right. Said Sugar, “Regardless, Louis would have murdered Buddy had the fight continued.” Buddy Baer got a rematch in 1942 and was unable to last three minutes (2:54) with the “Brown Bomber.”
THEN CAME THE FIGHT WITH BILLY CONN
Although the scoring was not indicative of how one-sided the fight was, Billy Conn was kicking Joe’s ass quite convincingly. Whether Joe took the then light heavyweight champion lightly or not, Conn was punching holes in Louis like a bus driver punches holes in a transfer. Incredibly Conn was ahead on some media cards 9-3 in rounds, officially it was 7-4-1, 7-5 and 6-6 in rounds. Being the stubborn prick that he was known to be, Conn decided that instead of coasting to victory by continuing to out box Louis who was beginning to slide in the minds of some, he would put a punctuate mark on the evening by knocking out the great Joe Louis, To say this was one of the greatest pugilistic decisions by a fighter in the 20th century would be a great understatement. When Conn went for the KO, Louis’ power and size became the determining factor as Conn was denied history by his eating two right hands that put him down for the count.
THE WAR WAS NOW OVER
Five years later in 1946, Louis *itch-slapped Billy Conn in a rematch in which Conn might have won one round before being halted in round seven. Although he had proved his point, Joe Louis was getting by on borrowed time. One year later. Joe Louis was beaten oh-so decisively by Jersey-Joe Walcott that he left the ring and was in his dressing room when the crooks that ran and continue to run boxing to this day, they gave Louis one of the most undeserved decisions in boxing history. Joe had to be summoned back to the ring to have his had raised, for he was in the dressing room. It reminded me of the third Juan Manuel Marquez-Manny Pacquiao fight, where Pacquiao was clearly beaten in the minds of everyone but two judges and some Filipino fans. A disgusting night in the career of the great Joe Louis and the history of the *ucked up business that is professional boxing.
LOUIS WINS REMATCH AND WISELY RETIRES
When Walcott, a robbery victim of the first degree, got his his rematch in 1948, he had gotten old and Louis, although dropped in the third, arose and was awarded a TKO 11 win over the older than dirt Wallcot. After this fight and 25 successful defenses of the heavyweight title, Joe Louis retired. But the Internal Revenue Service being the mother puckers that they still are today, went after Louis for back taxes, this even though Joe had donated a number of his purses to the war cause. Forced to fight because of tax woes, Louis would do a exhibition in 1949 vs. Johnny Sklor. Next up was a World heavyweight title fight with one of history’s most underrated champions Ezzard Charles. Licking Louis like a postage stamp, Charles would win the fight via the round scoring basis of 13-2 twice and 10-5.
An Old Joe Louis
IN ANY OTHER ENDEAVOR THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE END
Ten months later, Joe Louis who would have benefited from today’s “Just For Men” hair color, looked older than dirt and would fight eight non-entities in Cesar Brion (twice), Omar Agaponte (twice), Jimmy Bivins, Freddie Beshore, Lee Savold, this before facing unbeaten Rocky Marciano in 1951. For the record, Louis did not look old in this fight, more lie elderly. Stopped in eiht rounds, Joe louis would retire for the final time at 63-2, 52 KOs. In hindsight, Joe Louis was a great American, a great fighter, but his lack of education prevented him helping bridge the racial gap between Blacks and Whites. When I last saw him at the Muhammad Ali-Larry Holmes fight in October 1980 that was ever so reminiscent of the Louis-Marciano fight, he was in a wheelchair and had somebody wiping the drool off his face. And still some of you belittle me and wonder why this nationally ranked amateur never turned professional. Just look at what Joe Louis became and Muhammad Ali today!