Joe Louis: America’s Hero

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

I just returned from a recent mini vacation to Las Vegas this past week, and one of my many stops was to Caesar’s Place Hotel & Casino, where a huge seven foot statue of Joe Louis is displayed 다운로드. The plaque mounted at the base that identifies it simply says to all: The Immortal Joe Louis.

As I stood there looking at this replica of Louis, my mind became an instant kaleidoscope of his spectacular career; what a true great champion this man was in the sport of boxing 삼국지 12 다운로드.

His record of twenty-five successful heavyweight title defenses is a mark that still stands today, almost sixty years later 다운로드.

On the menu part of this website and listed under “Categories”, click on the Heavyweights (blue) icon and you will see a story that I wrote called Rating the Heavies, where I rate Joe Louis as the third best of all time rcs.

Louis, by many boxing experts, was called the best heavyweight champion ever, and I really can’t argue with that assessment, as he could very well have been 123d design 맥 다운로드. The late Ring magazine founder Nat Fleischer rated Louis number six; boxing historian Bert Sugar rates Louis number two; Johnny Ortiz of Ringside L.A 다운로드. rates Louis number one; my good boxing associate and friend, Jim Carlin, rates Louis number one; and, in the 2003 Ring Magazine yearbook edition called The 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time, Louis was rated number one 다운로드.

One thing is certain, that all of these boxing experts I mentioned place Joe Louis at or near the top with the obvious other three great heavyweight champions who are Jack Johnson, Muhammad Ali, and Jack Dempsey 다운로드.

I want to mention (in order) some Ring magazine awards worth noting that involved Joe Louis during his career:

1935 – Fight of the Year, KO 4, vs sketch. Max Baer

1936 – Fight of the Year, KO by 12, vs. Max Schmeling

1937 – Fight of the Year, W 15, vs. Tommy Farr

1937 – Round of the Year, 8th, vs 다운로드. Jim Braddock, KO 8

1938 – Fighter of Year

1938 – Round of the Year, 1st, vs. Max Schmeling, KO 1

1939 – Fight of the Year, KO 11, vs. Bob Pastor

1939 – Fighter of the Year

1939 – Round of the Year, 3, vs. Tony Galento, KO 4

1941 – Fight of the Year, KO 13, vs. Billy Conn

1941 – Fighter of the Year

1941 – Round of the Year, 13th, vs. Billy Conn, KO 13

1942 – Round of the Year, 1st, vs. Buddy Baer, KO 1

1947 – Round of the Year, 4th, vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, W 15

1948 – Round of the Year, 11th, vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, KO 11

1951 – Round of the Year, KO by 8, vs. Rocky Marciano

I want to bring to your attention a TV special event that will take place on Saturday, February 23, in honor of black history month. HBO Sports will debut a documentary called Joe Louis: America’s Hero, Betrayed.

The start times are at 8pm Eastern; and at (approximately) 9pm Pacific immediately following the live telecast of the IBF / WBO heavyweight championship fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov.

The East Coast will see the Joe Louis special before the fight, and the West Coast is just reversed and will see the fight first.

This HBO special is a must for all boxing fans to view, as it follows the life and career of a legendary boxing icon who was the first black heavyweight champion since Jack Johnson.

In closing, I will share with you one of the best quotes that I, personally, have ever heard in boxing, and that was a comment by sports writer Jimmy Cannon. He said: ‘Some call Joe Louis ‘a credit to his race’. Yes, Louis is a credit to his race – the human race.’

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