The Joe Louis Era

From June 1937, when 23-year-old Joe Louis won the world heavyweight title from James J. Braddock, until his retirement in March 1949, Joe Louis held the heavyweight championship for 11 years and 8 months. He defended it 25 times — both records that still stand. Louis's career intersected with global history: his June 1938 rematch with German heavyweight Max Schmeling (who had knocked Louis out in 1936) became one of the most politically charged sporting events of the 20th century. Schmeling was promoted by the Nazi regime as Aryan supremacy in the ring; Louis was an African-American whose career was overseen by white promoters in a country still under Jim Crow. The fight lasted 2 minutes 4 seconds — Louis knocked Schmeling down three times and the referee stopped it. Louis enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and donated his entire purse from two title fights — Buddy Baer and Abe Simon — to military relief funds. He emerged from the war as the most respected athlete in America. Retired 1949, briefly came back to face Rocky Marciano in 1951 (TKO 8), and died in 1981.