Let's celebrate America's Independence by paying tribute to two American icons -
Joe Louis and American women displaying their patriotic pride!
The monthly HBWHOF poll is finished. The question was: Who's the greatest athlete to come out of Detroit?....Joe Louis took 60% of the votes!!
The ONLY time you hear the name Joe Louis these days is when people talk about the home of the Detroit Red Wings - Joe Louis Arena. That's pretty sad because that building beside the Detroit River takes its name from, probably, the GREATEST HEAVYWEIGHT BOXER EVER!!!
Joe Louis was actually born in rural Alabama but moved to Detroit in 1924 when he was 10 years old. Joe grew up in the Old South - his biological father was a cotton picker and his family was surrounded by poverty and racial discrimination.
Joe learned to fight in Detroit. He also worked for a time at Ford's River Rouge Plant. Ten years after his arrival in the Motor City he won the Golden Gloves as a light heavyweight.
He, immediately, turned professional.
In June of 1935 he fought Primo Carnera, the former heavyweight champion, at Yankee Stadium in front of 62,000 people and knocked out the 6' 6", 265 lb. Carnera in 6 rounds!!
Louis captured the heavyweight title on June 22, 1937 by knocking out James J. Braddock in 8 rounds! This was a HUGE accomplishment because, during this era - in the 1920's and on through the depression - Boxing was filled with corruption, controlled by gambling interests and rife with racism.
Black fighters were used by white managers as vehicles to make money and the majority of them died penniless! There also existed a racial barrier to the heavyweight title because white America DID NOT want a black champion!!
However, the times were changing. In the 1930's the sport of boxing was desperate for a marketable hero! Boxing had become a sordid mixture of poor athletes, gambling, fixed fights, thrown matches, and was overwhelmingly controlled by organized crime
When Joe Louis won the heavyweight championship black Americans across the land celebrated in the streets and this practice continued after EVERY Louis' victory!!
One of the MOST FAMOUS SPORTING EVENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY occurred on June 22, 1938.
Two years earlier German boxer Max Schmeling handed Joe Louis his FIRST professional loss. Schmeling was a national hero in Germany. The Nazi Party used Schmeling's victory over a black man as proof of their doctrine of Aryan Superiority.
When Schmeling arrived in New York in June, 1938 for the rematch, he was accompanied by a Nazi party publicist who issued statements that a black man could not defeat Schmeling, and that when Schmeling won, his prize money would be used to build tanks in Germany. The fight was held in Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 70,043. It was broadcast by radio to millions of listeners throughout the world, with radio announcers reporting on the fight in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
The fight lasted two minutes and four seconds!!!Schmeling was knocked down three times, and only managed to throw two punches in the entire bout!!!!
Joe Louis successfully defended his title 25 times between 1937 and 1948! He was the World Heavyweight Champion for 11 years and 10 months!! The BROWN BOMBER was named the greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization and was ranked number one on Ring Magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. In 1982 Louis was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. In 1993 he became the first boxer to be honored on a postage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service. And, today, if you drive down Jefferson Avenue in Detroit you'll see a giant sculpture of Joe Louis' fist - it's symbolically pointed toward the South!!!
Joe Louis and Max Schmeling
Joe Louis died on April 12, 1981. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Once again....HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!....
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