Joe Louis

Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 13, 1981), known as Joe Louis and nicknamed "The Brown Bomber, was a highly successful professional boxer. During his career he defended his heavyweight championship a record 25 times.

Early Life

Joe Louis was born in Lafayette, Alabama into a poor, sharecropping family with 8 children. When Joe was 2 his father, the son of a former slave, was admitted to the Searcy Hospital for the Negro Insane. After being told her husband had died, Louis' mother was remarried to another sharecropper named Patrick Brooks, who was a widower and also had 8 children. Brooks became a strong father figure in Joe's life.

In 1926, the family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where his father and brothers worked on the assembly line at a Ford plant. With the arrival of the Great Depression in the 1930's, his father and brothers lost their jobs and the family fell on hard times. Louis started attending the Bronson Vocational School, where he was learning to make furniture.

Eventually, things began to settle down and at his mother's insistence, Louis began taking violin lessons. The violin made him the object of ridicule for his vocational school classmates, except for Thurston McKinney who was a successful amateur boxer. McKinney invited Louis to come with him to Brewster's East Side Gymnasium. Eventually, McKinney invited Louis to spar with him. After being beaten around for a few rounds, Louis lost his temper and landed a right to McKinney's chin, nearly knocking him out. Thurston grinned and said, "Man, throw that violin away." From that point forward, Louis dedicated his life to becoming a boxer.

Boxing Career

Amateur

Louis began to draw the attention of Brewster's owner Atler Ellis, who with the help of Holman Williams, began to train him. His first amateur fight took place at the Naval Armory in Detroit, and was against a member of the 1932 Olympic boxing team, Johnny Miler. He was defeated in three rounds after being knocked down seven times. Louis was disheartened by his performance and temporarily gave up his training to work a regular job at the Ford factory. However, he would quit in January of 1933 to return to the gym because he "figured, if I'm going to hurt that much for twenty-five dollars a week, I might as well go back and try fighting again."

Louis' second amateur fight was against Otis Thomas at the Forest Athletic Club. He knocked Thomas out in the first round. Louis would go on to defeat the next thirteen opponents he faced. His success led him to enter into the Golden Gloves and Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) tournaments. Louis would end up winning 50 of his 54 amateur fights, with 43 knockouts.

Professional

In 1934, Louis moved to Chicago, Illinois, where he would be trained by Julian Black and John Roxborough for his professional career. His first professional fight was on July 4, 1934 at the Bacon Casino against Jack Kracken. He knocked Kracken out with a left hook in under 2 minutes. By the end of August, he was 5-0 with 4 knockouts. He would continue his dominance over the next 22 fights, until his first meeting with Max Schmeling.

References

Primary Sources

• Joe Louis, Art Rust Jr., and Edna Rust. Joe Louis: My Life (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1978)

Secondary Sources

• Jakoubek, Robert. Joe Louis (New York: Chelsea House, 1990)
• Margolick, David. Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005)

External Links

• Joe Louis' Boxing Record
• Joe Louis' International Boxing Hall of Fame Biography
• Information on PBS documentary The Fight
• The Official Website of Joe Louis
• Collection of Joe Louis Online videos