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Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses, a record for all weight classes.[nb 1][2] Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any boxer in history.

"Brown Bomber" redirects here. For other uses, see Brown Bomber (disambiguation) and Joe Louis (disambiguation).

Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow

(1914-05-13)May 13, 1914

April 12, 1981(1981-04-12) (aged 66)

The Brown Bomber

6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1]

76 in (193 cm)

69

66

52

3

Louis's cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African-American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938.[3] He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, helping break the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor's exemption in a PGA event in 1952.[4][5][6]

Early life[edit]

Born on May 13, 1914, in rural Chambers County, Alabama—in a ramshackle dwelling on Bell Chapel Road, located about 1 mile (2 kilometres) off State Route 50 and roughly 6 miles (10 kilometres) from LaFayette—Louis was the seventh of eight children of Munroe Barrow and Lillie (Reese) Barrow.[7][8] He weighed 11 pounds (5 kg) at birth.[7] Both of his parents were children of former slaves, alternating between sharecropping and rental farming.[9]


Louis suffered from a speech impediment and spoke very little until about the age of six.[10] Munroe Barrow was committed to a mental institution in 1916 and, as a result, Joe knew very little of his biological father.[11] Around 1920, Louis's mother married Pat Brooks, a local construction contractor, having received word that Munroe Barrow had died while institutionalized (in reality, Munroe Barrow lived until 1938, unaware of his son's fame).[12]


In 1926, shaken by a gang of white men in the Ku Klux Klan, Louis's family moved to Detroit, Michigan, forming part of the post-World War I Great Migration.[13][14] Joe's brother worked for Ford Motor Company (where Joe would himself work for a time at the River Rouge Plant)[15] and the family settled into a home at 2700 Catherine (now Madison) Street in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood.[16][17]


Louis attended Bronson Vocational School for a time to learn cabinet-making.[15][17]

Amateur career[edit]

The Great Depression severely affected the Barrow family, but Joe still made time to work out at a local youth recreation center at 637 Brewster Street in Detroit. His mother attempted to get him interested in playing the violin.[18] He is rumoured to have tried to hide his pugilistic ambitions from his mother by carrying his boxing gloves inside his violin case.[17]


Louis made his debut in early 1932 at the age of 17. Legend has it that before the fight, the barely literate Louis wrote his name so large that there was no room for his last name, and thus became known as "Joe Louis" for the remainder of his boxing career (more likely, Louis simply omitted his last name to keep his boxing a secret from his mother). After this debut—a loss to future Olympian Johnny Miler—Louis compiled numerous amateur victories, eventually winning the club championship of his Brewster Street recreation center, the home of many aspiring Golden Gloves fighters.[17]


In 1933, Louis won the Detroit-area Golden Gloves Novice Division championship against Joe Biskey for the light heavyweight classification.[17] He later lost in the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. The next year, competing in the Golden Gloves' Open Division, he won the light heavyweight classification, this time also winning the Chicago Tournament of Champions against Joe Bauer.[17][19] However, a hand injury forced Louis to miss the New York/Chicago Champions' cross-town bout for the ultimate Golden Gloves championship. In April 1934, he followed up his Chicago performance by winning the light heavyweight United States Amateur Champion National AAU tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.[17][19]


By the end of his amateur career, Louis's record was 50–4, with 43 knockouts.[20][17][nb 2]

World light heavyweight champion who, attempting to move up a weight class, was knocked out in the first round by Louis on January 25, 1939.[64]

John Henry Lewis

"Two Ton" , who was able to knock Louis to the canvas with a left hook in the third round of their bout on June 28, 1939, before letting his guard down and being knocked out in the fourth.[64]

Tony Galento

Chilean , whom Louis fought twice in 1940, on February 9 and June 20. Louis won the first bout by a split-decision, and the rematch by a knockout in the eighth round.[64]

Arturo Godoy

Al McCoy, putative heavyweight champion, whose fight against Louis is probably best known for being the first heavyweight title bout held in Boston, Massachusetts, (at the Boston Garden on December 16, 1940). The popular local challenger dodged his way around Louis before being unable to respond to the sixth-round bell.[64]

New England

who pressed Louis for nearly five rounds at Madison Square Garden on January 31, 1941, before succumbing to a series of body blows.[64]

Clarence "Red" Burman

Gus Dorazio, of whom Louis remarked, "At least he tried", after being leveled by a short right hand in the second round at 's Convention Hall on February 17.[64]

Philadelphia

who endured thirteen rounds of punishment before 18,908 at Olympia Stadium in Detroit on March 21 before referee Sam Hennessy declared a TKO.

Abe Simon

Tony Musto, who, at 5'7½" and 198 pounds, was known as "Baby Tank". Despite a unique crouching style, Musto was slowly worn down over eight and a half rounds in St. Louis on April 8, and the fight was called a TKO because of a severe cut over Musto's eye.[65]

[64]

(brother of former champion Max), who was leading the May 23, 1941, bout in Washington, D.C., until an eventual barrage by Louis, capped by a hit at the sixth round bell. Referee Arthur Donovan disqualified Baer before the beginning of the seventh round as a result of stalling by Baer's manager.[64]

Buddy Baer

Professional wrestling career[edit]

In an effort to improve his financial situation, Joe Louis got involved with professional wrestling in 1954. His first recorded match was on August 6, 1954, in a victory over Bobby Nelson. [100]


In 1956, Louis went on a short-lived wrestling tour arranged by promoter Ray Fabiani.[101] This was cut short after a match against Cowboy Rocky Lee on May 31, 1956, when Louis' ribs were cracked, and he subsequently lost his wrestling license.[101]


Louis returned to the wrestling ring on March 15, 1959, where he lost to Buddy Rogers in Columbus, Ohio.[100] This led to a hiatus until the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he engaged in several wrestling matches.[102] His last match was in 1973 but he continued as a referee.[100]

In his heyday, Louis was the subject of many musical tributes, including a number of blues songs.

[153]

's short story "D.P." (originally published in Ladies Home Journal in August 1953) is about a black orphan boy living in post-World War II Germany who is nicknamed "Joe Louis" (after the boxer) by US soldiers stationed in the American Zone of Occupation. "D.P." was included in Vonnegut's short story collection Welcome to the Monkey House (1968) and filmed as "Displaced Person" for television's American Playhouse in 1985.

Kurt Vonnegut

Louis was portrayed by actor Bari K. Willerford in the film .[154]

American Gangster

In 2009, the Brooklyn band debuted the single "Ambling Alp" from their forthcoming album Odd Blood, which imagines what advice Joe Louis's father might have given him prior to becoming a prizefighter. The song makes reference to Louis's boxing career and his famous rivalry with Schmeling in the first person, with the lyrics such as "Oh, Max Schmeling was a formidable foe / The Ambling Alp was too, at least that's what I'm told / But if you learn one thing, you've learned it well / In June, you must give fascists hell".[155][156]

Yeasayer

An based on his life, Shadowboxer, premiered on April 17, 2010.[157]

opera

The aforementioned sculpture of Louis's fist (see above) was one of several Detroit landmarks depicted in 'Imported from Detroit', a two-minute commercial for the Chrysler 200 featuring Eminem that aired during Super Bowl XLV in 2011.[158]

Legacy

Louis is the inspiration behind 's eponymous song from the album Jagz Nation, Vol. 2: Royal Niger Company (2014).[159]

Jesse Jagz

The first track from 's 2002 debut LP Time Changes Everything is titled "Joe Louis", and the lyrics include references to his boxing and army career.[160]

John Squire

Louis' life is retold in the 1948 drama "Little David", a presentation from Destination Freedom.[161]

old-time radio

List of world heavyweight boxing champions

from BoxRec (registration required)

Boxing record for Joe Louis

YouTube

The Joe Louis Story (1953) - Biographical movie about boxing champion of the world - Full Movie

NBA World Heavyweight Title Fights

NYSAC World Heavyweight Title Fights

Boxing Hall of Fame

ESPN.com

ESPN.com -- additional information

FBI file on Joe Louis

at Cyber Boxing Zone

Joe Louis profile

NPR special on the selection of the radio broadcast to the National Recording Registry

The Fight of the Century

at IMDb

Joe Louis

WTVM

"Remembering Joe Louis"

old newspaper clipping

Louis to train in Thomas bout