Joe Louis: The Heavyweight Champion Who Knocked Out Fascism

By Owais Tabassum: The year was 1938. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party had just annexed Austria. Humanity held its breath as the world teetered on the brink of the most devastating conflict in history—World War II.

Amidst this looming catastrophe, another battle was taking centre stage across the pond in New York City. The air was thick with the smog of The Great Depression as seventy thousand spectators packed the Yankee Stadium, and an estimated one hundred million listeners tuned in on the radio worldwide as boxing’s heavyweight champion Joe Louis, faced Germany’s Max Schmeling.

Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party’s ‘chief propagandist’ Joseph Goebbels had propped up Schmeling as their publicity stooge in the world of boxing and with good cause.

Schmeling was a slick boxer, fast on his feet, and a technician of the ring who held knockout power in both fists. He had proven his abilities in stopping Louis in their first encounter two years prior, inflicting him with his first defeat. He was a formidable pugilist, and Hitler knew it all too well.

Public sentiment hinged on a Louis victory; millions huddled around the crackling of their radios in anticipation. Such was the gravitas of the event that President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally told Louis: “These are the muscles we need to defeat the Germans.” The situation was simmering with tension, and the burden on Louis’ shoulders was heavy.

‘FDR’ needn’t have worried, Louis understood the assignment. Marching toward centre ring in an elegant, crouch-like stance, leveraging his devastating power, he delivered crushing blows to Schmeling’s head and body. He knocked him down three times, halting the contest emphatically with a first-round knockout.

The picture of fascism was all but decimated within 124 seconds.

A furious Joseph Goebbels frantically signalled the broadcast engineers to pull the plug on the transmission as Schmeling lay on the ropes, succumbing to Louis’s punches.

As word of Louis’ triumph quickly spread, streets in every state erupted with joy. People sang and danced in celebration of their hero’s victory. Louis’ win had helped pave the way for race relations across the country. Louis, an African American born in Alabama to a sharecropping family, had quite literally fought his way out of the dirt and defeated Adolf Hitler’s notion of Aryan supremacy. Victory was sweet.

Louis subsequently joined the war effort in 1942, becoming the original inspiration for Marvel’s ‘Captain America’ holding exhibition bouts in army camps, entertaining troops and fostering unity amongst the different races fighting side by side in this bloodiest of conflicts.

Schmeling, for his part, never joined the Nazi party; his relationship with the Führer was complex. He risked his life and reputation to help Jewish children escape persecution. He, too, was a hero.

Back in the ring, Louis reigned as heavyweight champion for nearly 12 years—a staggering achievement that remains unparalleled to this day. It was not until 1950 that the exceptional Ezzard Charles dealt Louis only the second loss of his legendary career

Louis’ later life was marred by financial troubles, his handlers had pocketed most of his career earnings leaving him with only a fraction of his winnings. Louis was also extremely generous, helping family and friends climb out of the hole of poverty. But sadly, many of Louis’ business ventures had also failed.

Perhaps the most devastating blow of Louis’ career came not in the ring but from the IRS, which claimed he owed over $500,000 in back taxes. With interest and fines, this figure swelled to over $1,000,000—equivalent to $13 million today. When Louis’ mother passed away, she left him her life savings, a modest $500. Tragically, the IRS seized this sum immediately. While my exploration of the tax laws of the time confirmed the government acted within its legal rights, I found no justification for the moral indecency of confiscating a personal gift from a deceased mother to her son.

Riddled in debt, slowing reflexes, and sporting a bald patch, Louis, with a stellar career of 66 wins, 52 knockouts and only 2 defeats, was forced back into the ring for the final time.

This time his foe was none other than future hall of famer, future undefeated record holder, devastating knockout artist; The ‘Brockton Blockbuster’ Rocky Marciano.

Although Rocky expressed his regret at having to fight his hero whose victory against Schmeling, he himself had celebrated as a youth. The way in which he dismantled Louis would have you think otherwise. Marciano had knocked Louis out in the 8th round with an earth-shattering right hand, sending him through the ropes and clear out of the ring. As Louis was hopelessly being helped to his feet, a feeling of sadness passed over the boxing world. Louis’ boxing career was over

Louis’ legacy lives on in modern media.

It’s fascinating to think that just decades later, we can view these historic encounters in stunning colour and high definition. Technology has advanced to the point where we can now step into the ring as an almost perfect graphical rendition of Joe Louis in the newly released boxing simulation game, ‘Undisputed.’ Could fans of that era have ever imagined such a leap?”

Louis and Schmeling became friends for the remainder of their lives, Schmeling even provided Louis with financial assistance during his most desperate years. This bond was proof that reconciliation is possible even amongst foes on opposing ends of the ideological spectrum.

Other figures of boxing and the wider celebrity world, namely Jack Dempsey, baseball icon Jackie Robinson, and music legends Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr, aided Louis financially in his final years

Boxing icon Muhammad Ali later took care of Louis’ funeral arrangements when he passed away on April 12, 1981. On the 69th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking, the world of boxing mourned the loss of one of its most titanic figures.

Joe Louis lived through an era defined by deep segregation, racial hatred, World War II, and the Great Depression. Yet, with nothing more than a pair of boxing gloves, he shattered racial barriers, built bridges, united a divided nation and knocked out Fascism.