Biography

Biography Joe Louis Barrow was born on May 13, 1914 in Alabama. His father was a cotton picker and suffered from mental illness. At the age of two, Joe�s dad was placed in an insane asylum and within the next two years, his mother remarried. For the first ten years of his life and like many other southern blacks, his family faced the issue of generating enough income to provide for food, clothing, and shelter. In 1924, Joe began looking into boxing after his family moved to Detroit.

For the next ten years, Joe boxed under the name Joe Louis with the Golden Gloves. He turned pro and won twelve contests in his first year of fighting. By 1935, Joe Louis had hit the big time and was ready to make a run at the Heavy Weight Championship of the World. He went on to defeat former champ Primo Carnera, and won an impressive victory over Max Baer with a 4th round knockout. He was undefeated with 23 of his 27 victories by knockouts. When he went into his first match against Max Schmeling on June 19, 1936, Joe�s Achilles Heal was revealed, he had to slow of a low left and Max was able to easily counter with a right to knock Louis out in the 12th round. After the match, Joe could not help letting the tears fall in the locker room. Joe Louis, however, was not going to let a bump in the road stop him from getting the title.

On June 22, 1937 Joe Louis became a legend as he defeated James Braddock by knockout in the 8th to become first black heavy weight champion of the world in nearly thirty years. After the match he made it clear, he wanted a rematch with Schmelling, �"I don't want nobody to call me champ until I beat Schmeling." One year later, he would have the chance and would be victorious in a match that was about more than boxing. Joe Louis became a household name that night. For 12 years that name would be corresponding to the title of champion.

Louis was much more than a boxer though, he was a proud American. In 1942 he enlisted in the army and would fight for servicemen for the next 4 years. He then defended his title successfully four more times between 1946 and 1949. He attempted to make two comebacks in order to pay his back taxes. After he retired for good in 1951 Joe faced serious financial problems that were mainly caused by his generosity to the military. He became a professional wrestler and would later suffer from cocaine addiction and paranoia. In 1981 at the age of 66, Joe Louis died of a heart attack. He had been married three times, given money to the underprivileged, and more importantly, he became the symbol of hope and pride for those who followed in his footsteps. He left boxing as the greatest fighter in the history of the sport and his streak of 25 title defenses remains today as the longest streak ever. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery at the request of President Ronald Reagan. The black community huddled around their radios to hear Joe Louis bouts in the beginning but by the end of his career black or white, the name Joe Louis meant champion.

Professional Profile

Name: Joseph Louis Barrow Born: May 13, 1914 Lafayette, Alabama Died: April 12, 1981 in Las Vegas Total Bouts: 71 Won: 68 Lost: 3 Drew: 0 KOs: 54 Induction into IBHOF: 1990 Class: Heavyweight

Achievements

He started boxing professionally in 1934. He combined a steady forward movement with a swift, two-fisted attack. He won the Heavyweight title in June of 1937 by knocking out James J. Braddock in the eighth round. He successfully defended his title 25 times and scored 20 knockouts in the course of those 25 wins. He retired in March of 1949 and later failed in two separate comeback attempts. He held the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship longer than any other man did in history.

The Event That Changed The World:1938 Title Bout Against Max Schmeling

It is considered to be the most important fight of the 20th century, Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling part two. This fight was much more important than a rematch that saw Louis receive his only defeat in his prime be handed to him by Schmeling just years earlier. It was about two nations Louis' United States against Schmeling's Germany. At the time Hitler had already began persecuting Jews and displayed Schmeling as a sign of Aryan Supremacy. Although, Max wasn't a Nazi it didn't matter to the people of the United States, the important thing is he was used as propaganda to the Nazi way. Like Jesse Owens had been two years earlier Joe Louis represented and inferior race to Hitler and Joe Louis knew it. The nation listened on radios, 70,000 plus packed Yankee Stadium on June 22, 1938, and for one night it seemed like the color of a black mans skin meant nothing but the country listed on his birth certificate meant everything.

Joe would say later, "I knew I had to get Schmeling good. I had my own personal reasons and the whole damned country was depending on me." With all of the weight on his shoulders he did not disappoint. The match lasted just 2 minutes and 4 seconds before Schmeling's team threw in the white towel of surrender. Schmeling managed to hit only two punches and was on the receiving end of a fury of punches to the head and a knock out punch to the body. The most important fight of the "Brown Bomber's" career had just ended and it was easy to see that this fight was about much more than a boxing match or two rival beliefs. This fight was about a man's pride to make the country he lived in proud of man who may be of different colored skin. Joe Louis fought and stood stood for many things but most importantly was the man that was always generous to his country through the donation of money, time, and for this night the sweat that it took to overpower a German Fighter. President Roosevelt has said before the match, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany." But in truth we needed courage like his to beat racism.