Joe Louis
Joe Louis ![]() |
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Data | |
Birth Name | Joseph Louis Barrow |
Fight name | The Brown Bomber |
Weight class | Heavyweight |
nationality |
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birthday | May 13, 1914 |
place of birth | La Fayette , Alabama |
Date of death | April 12, 1981 |
Place of death | Las Vegas |
style | Left delivery |
size | 1.87 m |
Range | 1.93 m |
Combat Statistics | |
Struggles | 69 |
Victories | 66 |
Knockout victories | 52 |
Defeats | 3 |
draw | 0 |
Profile in the BoxRec database |
Joseph Louis Barrow (born May 13, 1914 in La Fayette , Alabama , † April 12, 1981 in Las Vegas , Nevada ), called The Brown Bomber , was an American boxer and undisputed heavyweight boxing champion . Louis became an idol and symbol of emancipation for the marginalized and discriminated African-American population in the United States. The professional world recognizes him as one of the best boxers in history.
Life
Joe Louis was born the seventh child of eight siblings in a southern farming family. After his first successes in boxing, black businessmen John Roxborough and Julian Black signed him. They tried to build him up as a positive counter-example to the former black boxing world champion Jack Johnson and to portray him in the media as a "good black". Above all, that meant answering reporters politely and as blandly as possible, and not having affairs with white women.
In 1935, Louis was honored with the Associated Press Athlete of the Year award . As early as 1936, after knockout victories over almost all strong opponents of the 1930s, including several former world champions such as Primo Carnera and Max Baer , he was considered invincible. This year, however, he was defeated by the German ex-champion Max Schmeling by knockout in the 12th round. Schmeling had previously discovered a weakness in Louis through an intensive study of film recordings: After a straight line on the left, he did not take his forearm back in front of his head, but let his arm hang down. In pre-fight interviews, he confirmed several times that he had found a weakness in Louis' boxing style. In fact, he was able to hit Louis on the chin with a right hook and full force already at the beginning of the 2nd round after a left straight and downward movement from Louis.
In 1937, Louis became heavyweight world champion with a knockout victory in the eighth round over Jim Braddock , although he should have defended his title against Schmeling first. Only after several offers to increase his income could Louis' promoter Braddock persuade to fight Louis.
From 1937 to 1949 he dominated with 26 successful title defenses. This makes him the boxer who has been world champion for the longest uninterrupted period. He sensationally knocked out Max Schmeling in the 1938 rematch in the first round after two minutes and four seconds. The press wrote of "2 minutes of murder and manslaughter". The African-American people celebrated this victory with exuberant enthusiasm on the streets of the United States. Then there are many other big names in his fight record, such as Buddy Baer , a world-class man with extreme clout. Louis even boxed twice against him, in the first fight Baer even knocked Louis out of the ring in the first round with a single blow, Louis came back in time, dominated him and beat him in the seventh round by disqualification. In the second fight Baer had no chance, Louis knocked him to the ground three times in the first round and knocked him out classically. At the end of his winning streak he had a lot of trouble against Billy Conn and Jersey Joe Walcott .
In early March 1949, he announced his retirement from the boxing business; Cab Calloway then set him a musical monument with the title Ol 'Joe Louis . In 1950 he was forced to step back into the boxing ring due to tax debts. He lost a title fight against Ezzard Charles only on points, a non-title fight against Rocky Marciano by knockout; Marciano is said to have cried afterwards in his dressing room. In 72 professional fights, Louis suffered only three defeats.
Most recently, he worked as a bouncer in a Las Vegas nightclub and had drug problems. He died impoverished, sometimes still financially supported by friends like Sonny Liston or Max Schmeling. At the request of Ronald Reagan, he was given a hero's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery , which was partially financed by Max Schmeling.
In 1977 Louis had a brief guest appearance on the series Quincy (episode "Ring Free for Death"), in which he played himself.
The Joe Louis Arena in Detroit , completed in 1979, was named after him. In 1990 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame . The square in front of Penn Station in New York was named after him.
List of professional fights
66 wins (52 knockout wins), 3 defeats , 0 draws | |||||
year | Day | place | opponent | Result for Louis | |
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1934 | July 4th |
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Victory / KO 1st round | |
July 12 |
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Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
30th July |
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Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
13 August |
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Points victory (unanimous) / 8 rounds | ||
August 27 |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
September 11 |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
September 26th |
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Points win / 10 rounds | ||
October 24th |
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Victory / KO 8th round | ||
October 31 |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
14th November |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
30th of November |
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Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
December 14th |
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Victory / TKO 8th round | ||
1935 | January 4th |
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Points win / 10 rounds | |
11th January |
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Victory / TKO 10th round | ||
21st of February |
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Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
8th of March |
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Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
March 29 |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
12. April |
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Victory / TKO 3rd round | ||
April 22 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
25th June |
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Victory / TKO 6th round | ||
August 7th |
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Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
September 24th |
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Victory / KO 4th round | ||
13th December |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
1936 | January 17th |
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Victory / KO 1st round | |
June 19th |
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Loss / KO 12th round | ||
18th of August |
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Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
September 22 |
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Victory / KO 5th round | ||
9th October |
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Victory / KO 3rd round | ||
December 14th |
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Victory / TKO 1st round | ||
1937 | 11th January |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | |
January 29th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
February 17th |
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Victory / KO 4th round | ||
June 22 |
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Victory / KO 8th round | ||
August 30th |
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![]() NBA / NYSAC Heavyweight Title Defense |
Points victory (unanimously) / 15 rounds | ||
1938 | February 23 |
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Victory / KO 3rd round | |
April 1st |
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Victory / KO 5th round | ||
June 22 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
1939 | January 25th |
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Victory / KO 1st round | |
17th April |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
June 28th |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | ||
September 20th |
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Victory / KO 11th round | ||
1940 | February 9 |
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Points win (split decision) / 15 rounds | |
March 29 |
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Victory / TKO 2nd round | ||
20th June |
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Victory / TKO 8th round | ||
December 16 |
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Victory / abandonment 5th round | ||
1941 | 31 January |
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Victory / KO 5th round | |
February 17th |
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Victory / KO 2nd round | ||
March 21st |
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Victory / TKO 13th round | ||
April 8th |
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Victory / TKO 9th round | ||
23. May |
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Victory / Disqualification 7th round | ||
18th of June |
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Victory / KO 13th round | ||
September 29th |
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Victory / TKO 6th round | ||
1942 | January 9th |
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Victory / KO 1st round | |
27th of March |
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Victory / TKO 6th round | ||
1944 | 14th November |
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Victory / KO 1st round | |
1946 | June 19th |
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Victory / KO 8th round | |
September 18 |
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Victory / KO 1st round | ||
1947 | December 5th |
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Points win (split decision) / 15 rounds | |
1948 | 25th June |
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Victory / KO 11th round | |
1950 | September 27th |
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Point loss (unanimously) / 15 rounds | |
November 29th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
1951 | January 3rd |
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Victory / TKO 4th round | |
February 7th |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
February 23 |
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Victory / TKO 10th round | ||
2.May |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
15th June |
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Victory / KO 6th round | ||
August 1st |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
15th of August |
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Points victory (unanimously) / 10 rounds | ||
October 26th |
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Loss / TKO 8th round | ||
Source: Joe Louis in the BoxRec database |
literature
- Randy Roberts: Joe Louis: hard times man , New Haven [u. a.]: Yale Univ. Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-300-12222-0
- David Margolick: Beyond Glory. Joe Louis Vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink. Alfred Knopf, New York 2005, ISBN 978-0-375-41192-2 ; German edition: Max Schmeling and Joe Louis. Battle of the Giants - Battle of the Systems . Blessing, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-89667-169-1
- Chris Mead: Champion - Joe Louis: black hero in white America , New York [u. a.]: Penguin Books, 1986, ISBN 0-14-009285-4
Filmography
- The Brown Bomber (The Joe-Louis-Story) feature film, USA, 1953, 88 min., Director: Robert Gordon
- Joe & Max . TV film, USA, Germany, 2002, 109 min., Director: Steve James , u. a. with Til Schweiger as Max Schmeling
- The fight of the century. Max Schmeling versus Joe Louis. Documentation, USA, 2004, 87 min., Director: Barak Goodman, summary ( memento from June 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) by Phoenix
- Max Schmeling - A German Legend . Movie, Federal Republic of Germany, 2010, 123 min., Director: Uwe Boll , with Henry Maske as Max Schmeling, Susanne Wuest as Anny Ondra , Vladimir Weigl as Joe Jacobs , and others. v. a.
musical
- The fight of the century - Max Schmeling versus Joe Louis. A boxing musical by Paul Graham Brown (music) and James Edward Lyons (book), website
See also
Web links
- Literature by and about Joe Louis in the catalog of the German National Library
- “The Brown Bomber. The man behind The Fist, " Detroit News, Jan. 24, 1996, (biography with pictures)
- "Joe Louis, 66, Heavyweight King Who Reigned 12 Years, Is Dead" , New York Times , April 13, 1981
- On the 20th anniversary of death , boxingpress.de
- "June 19, 1936: Schmeling versus Louis" , Deutsche Welle
- Joe Louis in the BoxRec database
supporting documents
- ↑ How Joe Louis became world champion. Schweizer Film = Film Suisse: official organ of Switzerland, accessed on June 8, 2020 .
- ↑ Joe Louis, the "brown bomber", had returned the most important belt in boxing after twelve years in the heavyweight division and 26 defending titles.
- ^ NYSAC World Heavyweight Champion
- ↑ The Battle of the Century. Max Schmeling versus Joe Louis. ( Memento from June 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Documentation, USA, 2004, 87 min., Director: Barak Goodman
- ↑ Cab Calloway in Chronology, Ol 'Joe Louis (08-18-49) .
- ↑ The Battle of the Century. Max Schmeling versus Joe Louis. ( Memento from June 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Review: Beyond Glory by Joyce Carol Oates , New York Times , October 2, 2005
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Louis, Joe |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Barrow, Joseph Louis (real name); Brown Bomber, The (battle name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American boxer |
DATE OF BIRTH | May 13, 1914 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | La Fayette , Alabama |
DATE OF DEATH | April 12, 1981 |
Place of death | Las Vegas , Nevada |