Nicknamed Brown Bomber, Louis helped elevate boxing from a nadir in popularity in the post- Jack Dempsey era by establishing a reputation as an honest, hardworking fighter at a time when the sport was dominated by gambling interests. He is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Joe Louis ( Joseph Louis Barrow - April 12, 1981), was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. Plenty of people made fortunes on the back of Joe Louis couldn't they have helped? His descent doesn't reflect badly on Louis just on those people who could have helped. When the widow of Louis calls Max a 'true friend' then you know it was something special. Their friendship is one of the most touching you will read about in sport. As far as I can tell the only person outside of his family who went out of his way to help Joe over the years was his great nemesis, the German Max Schmeling, who he fought twice. By the time of his death in 1981 he was a cocaine addict working as a 'meet'n'greet' doorman at the big Las Vegas casinos. Which makes his fall from grace or the more inexplicable. He and Owens were to sport what Abraham Lincoln was to politics or what Elvis was to music I would venture that with Jesse Owens he is the most important sportsman of the 20th century if only for the fact that he was the first African American to become a nationwide icon within the United States. They were to Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano. Three! And two of these were at the end of his career when the sole factor for fighting was money. Just three defeats in his glittering career. ![]() An icon of the American spirit, the American way of life. By that I mean he is a true American hero. If he could have acted he would have been perfect for It's A Wonderful Life if 'race' hadn't been an issue in those days. Outside the ring he was the epitome of all things great in sport: a gentleman, courteous (apart from when Jersey Joe Walcott was getting in his face on the 1970s nostalgia programme The Way It Was recalling their bouts and then his tetchy behaviour was only remarkable because it was Joe Louis being tetchy! Or an irritation with Tony Galento on the same programme but anyone sitting next to Galento would be made to feel irritable!), hardworking, honest, as unassuming as say a Cary Cooper or a Jimmy Stewart. Joseph Louis Barrow or Joe Louis as the world will always remember him as. Joe Louis signed items (direct link to signed items) - grab yourself a Louis treasure ![]() W O R L D H E A V Y W E I G H T B O X I N G C H A M P I O N | Gallery | Schmeling | Carnera | Conn | Dempsey | Farr | Baer | Advertise | Search Site Joe Louis (World Heavyweight Boxing Champion) | Biography (1914-1981) | Gallery
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