Joe Louis: American Legend.
Hi,
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Today I am remembering the amazing Joe Louis.
Some people are born to do one thing with true genius, some to be footballers, philosophers or inventors and some to be intrepid explorers.
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There must be some people born to be the most amazing and natural surfer ever, but they may be born where they never ever see the sea.
Some, born in straightened circumstances, could have been world class musicians of great renown, had they ever had the chance to learn how.
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How many potential ballet dancers, who could have reached the heights of Rudolph Nureyev, spent their days in darkness, hewing coal down in the pits.
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Fortunately, Joe Louis was born in the right place at the right time.
Joe Louis was born to be a boxer.
That was his special genius!
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He was born Joseph Louis Barrow, in rural Alabama on May 13th 1914, the seventh of eight children.
His parents were Munroe Barrow and Lillie Reese Barrow, and his grandparents were said to have been former slaves, his great-grandfather a white plantation owner and his mother part Indian.
His sharecropper father was committed to a mental asylum when his son was only two.
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As Joe suffered from a speech defect as a child, he was verbally very quiet until he was about 6.
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His early life was spent where he was born, until the family moved to Michigan to get away from the fear of the Klu Klux Klan.
His education was said to be minimal.
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During the Depression he spent time learning to box at a local club.
It is probable that his first amateur fight took place when he was about 17.
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His first professional bout was in July 1934, and he earned about $60.
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So we see him at the young age of 21.
Suddenly he was becoming well known by the man in the street, under the management of a wily promoter called Mike Jacobs.
This man wanted to make boxing popular again and then be the top dog, in control of the whole business.
Joe Louis was his ticket to ride.
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During that one year, Joe Louis astounded everyone, by beating the two former boxing champions, Max Baer and Primo Carnera.
The crowd loved him and 95,000 people turned up at the Yankee Stadium to cheer him on for one of those matches, along with assorted VIP ‘s such as Cary Grant and various state governors.
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He began to fight like a machine, powerful, deadly and unemotional.
This was not a showman, this was the ‘Brown Bomber’.
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By 1936 he seemed invincible but he became careless.
Too much time was being spent enjoying the fruits of success and spending his money on the usual suspects!
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This finally led to defeat in 1936 when he fought the German boxer Max Schmeling*.
Schmeling was sharp and quickly started taking advantage of Louis’s habit of jabbing and then dropping his guard afterwards.
Schmeling then repeatedly hit him with a right-hand counterpunch each time he got the opportunity to do so, over and over again.
The Brown bomber was eventually knocked out in the 12th round.
His face was frighteningly swollen-up by them.
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However, this defeat turned out to later be one of those times when something that seemed like bad luck at the time, turns out to be a very good thing at a later date.
And not just for boxing!
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Louis continued boxing and soon became the World Champion Heavyweight Boxer by beating the previous champion, Joe Braddock.
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Two years later Adolf Hitler decided that a rematch of Schmeling and the previously defeated Louis would be a fine way to showcase Aryan supremacy.
It would be Germany defeating America on the world stage and provide an excellent propaganda opportunity.
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Unfortunately for those plans, Louis had learned by his past mistakes.
This time he was ready for it.
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The whole thing only lasted for two minutes and four seconds in total.
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Joe Louis came out aggressively fighting from the very first second.
Schmeling was quickly punched in the kidneys and screamed in pain.
This was followed by him being hit by punches so deadly that he crashed to the canvas three times before the worried referee called an end to the contest.**
America was jubilant and the German propaganda machine thwarted at being defeated by a black American hero, before the eyes of the whole world.
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Louis held the title for more than a decade and successfully defended his right to keep it in twenty-five contests.
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Although Joe Louis was naive about finances and wasteful with his money, and ended up poor, he was rich in respect and affection.
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It is said that approximately 3.000 people were present at his funeral, many of them still VIP’s.
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As I said, a true American Legend.
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*Joe Louis Fights Max Schmeling in 1936.
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**Joe Louis Fights Max Schmeling 1938.
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If you are going to buy a present for someone who loves sport,boxing and sports history, then you could consider buying a new biography about Joe Louis.
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This book is by Randy Roberts… Joe Louis: Hard Times Man…and has had good reviews.
It has got to be better than a boring tie or the dreaded musical socks!!!!
Unless of course you fancy giving something outstandingly Egyptian.
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