The Brown Bomber
Joe Louis burst into the professional boxing world in 1934 in a style all
his own; winning his first 27 matches, all but four of which were knockouts.
In the early stages of his career he crushed such great Heavyweights as
Stanley Poreda, Natie Brown, and Rosco Toles. He had given the entire world
of boxing a premonition of the age of domination that was to begin.
Joe Louis was born in on May 13th, 1914. His father "Mun" Barrow
was a cotton picker from Alabama and, as a result, Louis grew up in poverty.
Having been raised in the south, Louis acquired the fighter's instinct and
anger amidst the evils of racial discrimination. His early boxing career
was without glamour or fame; It was a period of hard work and perseverance.
This determination elevated him to the National Amateur Championships; a
match which he lost to Max Merek. After this defeat Louis decided to turn
pro, and never look back. The first few years in the Louis pro career were
a continual climb up the pyramid of the Heavyweight class. On his way up
he had such highlights as a four-round smashing of Max Baer, a six round
schooling of Primo Carnera and to finish off this series of victories, was
a one-round joke with Charley Retzlaff.
On June 19th, 1936, Joe Louis stepped into the ring with Max Schmelling,
who was the underdog against the Brown Bomber. To the surprise of all, Louis
was creamed by the Bavarian Sensation. Although mentally and physically
battered, Joe Louis returned to the ring even more determined than before.
His promoter Mike Jacobs scheduled Louis a succession of fights which would
hopefully bring Louis his long anticipated title.
Louis proceeded to decimate Jack Sharky, Al Ettori, Jorge Brescia, Eddy
Simms, and Steve Ketchell; none of which lasted more than five rounds. Next
in line was Bob Pastor who able to last ten rounds only through a game of
cat mouse with Louis. After a pushover match with Natie Brown, Louis was
ready for a title bout. On June 22nd, 1937, Louis wrested away the title
from a fatigued and bloody Jim Braddock.
Joe Louis had reached the top of the boxing world, but in his mind his journey
was far from over. Louis' loss to Max Schmeling was the only blemish in
his career to that date, and revenge consumed him. The following excerpt
vividly describes one Joe Louis' most punishing bouts.
"The fists of the Bomber crushed his former conqueror in a manner that
left no doubt about his superiority. Though Schmeling complained bitterly
about being struck foul kidney punches, every blow was a fair one. Any that
struck Max in the kidneys were caused by the twisting of Schmeling's body
as he held o to the upper strand and tried desperately to avoid the vicious
attack of his opponent. The first two punches, powerful left hooks, started
Schmeling on his downfall. Once Louis got the range he kept up a steady
bombardment until Max had been halted." (Andre, Fleischer, 1975, 131-132)
Louis began a reign of terror which lasted for twelve years; never losing
a fight. During this stretch Louis had victories over, Lou Nova, Tony Galento,
Gus Dorazio, Buddy Baer, Johnny Paycheck, and Tony Zale. This stretch also
included the epic battle at the Polo Grounds with Billy Conn.
Shortly after the Louis-Conn fight, the Brown Bomber began a series of exhibition
matches which he won easily, but were detrimental when he defended his title
against Joe Walcott in Madison Square Garden in 1947. Walcott was an aging
fighter, who should have been a push-over for Louis, yet the match went
to 15 rounds. Louis was battered, and many people felt that the title should
have been Walcott's, but in the end it remained with the Bomber. This was
one of Louis' most difficult and controversial matches. But Louis bounced
back in his final successful defense of the title, again against Walcott,
in which Walcott was mashed to a pulp by the 11th round when he fell to
the mat. After this match Louis announced his retirement, a rest which was
short lived as he came back into the ring in 1950. But old age, and to much
time away from the ring had affected the champion, and he ended his career
with consecutive losses to Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano.
When Louis died in 1981, he was eulogized -- and continues to be known --
as one of the greatest prizefighters of all time.
p;--Prentiss Smith
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