You Should Know 07.19.09: The Most Important Boxing Match in History

Posted by John Curry on 07.19.2009

Two men, two cultures, two fights, one war, one ring.

To name one fight the most important in the history of boxing is something that one would deem a challenging quest but to me it really isn't. One of the greatest battles between two men who represented more than just two boxers in a ring, they represented two races from two different countries that were at war with one another. They represented hope for two entirely different groups of people. This why You Should Know that no other fight in the history of boxing had greater implications or was ever more important than that of the two between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling.

When Joe Louis agreed to fight Max Schmeling in 1936, there was really no ulterior motive for the two to fight than the fact that Joe Louis was the number 1 ranked Heavyweight contender and Max Schmeling was an undefeated former champion. Max Schmeling was a German fighter who fought under the German Nazi flag while Joe Louis was an African American from the deeply segregated Alabama. Schmeling wasn't considered a serious challenge for the hard hitting boxer known as the "Brown Bomber". It is rumored that Louis saw Schmeling this way and spent more time golfing than he did training for the fight. Schmeling on the other hand saw this as his chance to be considered a legit challenger to the title and trained as hard as he possibly could.

On June 19th, 1936 at the legendary Yankee Stadium, the two met for a 12 round war that saw Louis obviously seem out matched and outclassed as the former German Elite Paratrooper defeated Joe Louis by finding the one kink in his armor, the fact that Louis dropped his left hand to jab and knocking him out with a devastating right hand.



Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling I

Following this win over Louis, Schmeling would become the face of the Nazi Party. Joseph Goebbels declared his win a victory for Germany and Nazi Party over the United States and proof that the Nazi's "domination" was evident. Ironically, while Nazi Germany used Schmeling as its Schmeling never once publicly supported the Nazi party and even risked his life to save two Jewish children. With World War II growing more and more into a global problem, the idea of a Nazi champion was too much to sit back and accept.

Louis on the other hand was devastated by his loss to Schmeling. Refusing to give up Louis fought his way through former champion Jack Sharkey and "Cinderella Man" James Braddock to secure his title. Unfortunately, as history later revealed, Louis bypassed Schmeling by his management's scrupulous tactics fueled by anti-Nazi sentiment. Louis however refused to let his loss to Schmeling fade into the shadows of history, declaring that he would never consider himself a true champion until he avenged his loss to Schmeling.

With the fight building up, the media began to drum up the sounds of freedom, declaring this a battle between the righteous Americans against the horrid Nazi's. Unfortunately ironic, due to the United States continuing segregation and prejudice towards African Americans, for while he was still their hero he could not stay in the same hotels or eat in the same restaurants. So for every victory Louis scored, the entire African American population celebrated as a small victory of their own. Meanwhile, Nazi Germany cited Schmeling's win over the African American Louis as evidence of Aryan superiority. Posters were painted showing Schmeling's superiority and more importantly the superiority of the Nazi cause.

On June 22nd, 1938 the battle between the two men, built up by their countries as the face of their times, took place for the second time at Yankee Stadium in front of more than 70,000 men and women and was heard by millions around the world in numerous languages.. The fight was nowhere near as challenging for Louis as it was the first time. The fight lasted a little under three minutes into the first round with Louis defeated Schmeling by technical knockout due to Schmeling's trainer throwing in the towel after a series of devastating blows to the body. Schmeling would later claim that Louis had hit him with three consecutive illegal kidney shots.




Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling II


The end of Schmeling was the beginning of Louis becoming the first widely accepted African American hero in the United States. He would serve as the face of the United States Army, giving up the wealth and fame of the ring to fight for the U.S. and helping the country sell more war bonds to help support the war. While he was solidifying himself as a hero, he was still subject to the rules of the segregated military and responded to questions about it by stating that "while there are still a lot of things wrong with America, Hitler isn't going to fix any of them." Following the war Louis faced many issues with taxes and bad accountants. Louis would end up dying poor.

Schmelling went on to serve in the War after being drafted by the Nazi's. Following his time in the war he was offered a partnership in the German branch of Coca-Cola which made him extremely wealthy. His constant respect for Louis was unmatched. He and Louis would meet more than 12 times following the war. Schmelling helped pay for Louis's medical bills and ultimately the funeral that saw him be the pall bearer.

In the end, two fights between two ordinary men, would become the hopes of millions for millions of reasons. For equality, for supremacy, for money, for racism and domination, but between these two men it was for respect and only respect from each other.

Credit:Erenberg, Lewis A. (2005). The Greatest Fight of Our Generation: Louis v. Schmeling. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195177749.