The Impossible Greatness of Joe Louis - Boxing’s Most Dominant Champion (The Real Captain America)

because of this amazing record the sporting press has nicknamed lewis the proud bomber before jackie robinson or muhammad ali there was joe lewis black team's brown bomber was a champions champion known as the brown bomber for his punch and string of knockout victories a great inspiration in so many ways to so many people the brown bomber greatest heavy weight of all time it's gonna be joe lewis the brown bottle born in alabama in 1914 lewis's parents were sharecroppers he was around at a time when this country didn't treat black people properly yeah there are about nine million negroes in our southern states and the majority of them live on farm long and blistering days working the fields hardened the young lewis his father was committed to an asylum early in joe's life so his mother moved the family to detroit it was here at age 15 he discovered boxing he won the golden gloves and turned pro people don't realize how many times he fought as an amateur he fought over 50 times one of gold gloves and found that area of confidence that all kids are looking for lewis fought and won 23 fights in his first year as a pro knocking out all but full of backing off only courage keeping him up another good right hand by lewis and another and down goes alex he's one of the most balanced fighters i ever saw ken always in position with his footwork and that left hook he's being counted out he's just so pragmatic and he's so delivering his attorney and does it like he's breathing he's a master i think he was the best heavyweight that i ever saw in my life joe lewis goes on to one another in his march to the world's heavyweight championship his management came up with the brilliant strategy to grow lewis's name he would fight in the hometown of almost all of his opponents giving the home crowd a chance to see their fighter stop this mythical brown bomber as a result lewis set record gates at most every fight he had i am the king i am [ __ ] in my life and i'm going out to be joel turn back the clock to 1935 that sweet good-looking colored players joe wolves is above kingfish slovenski is seasoned gladiator cocky and assured way to do his battle lewis toured through the division a true first of his kind he never gloated he never boasted he didn't stand over his defeated foes all of this was part of the image he knew he needed if he ever hoped to get a title shot the press treated black fighters as horribly as you'd imagine they would in the 30s boxing writers in particular delighted in devising nicknames for the new black prospect you see there had only ever been one black heavyweight champion jack johnson just seconds before the police stopped the motion picture cameras and enter the ring to halt this very one-sided fight jack johnson becomes heavyweight champion of the world but white america found johnson offensive johnson had been despised by white america he was loud and arrogant and even dared to have affairs with white women because of this black boxers were frozen out of title shots for 29 years discrimination was very prominent in those those years there was almost a conspiracy not to let another black near the championship jack blackburn really didn't want to train him really didn't want spending time with him because he didn't think he'd ever get a shot for the title because he's black he famously told him if you ever hope to be champion you'll need to be twice as good as the competition he's a great trader jack blackburn he they will great partnership this is primo carnera he was a six foot seven two hundred and seventy pound former champion down on the cut he's being counted out and that's all [Music] world war ii was just around the corner joe louis the sensational brown bomber from detroit annex heavyweight champion primo cronera never out of position and he was a great puncher with either hand and he didn't waste anything there was no space in between his punches there was short concise explosive it's not a third time and there it tells the referee he can't go on it's all over jolo is the winner by a tko lewis's victory over mussolini's giant elevated him in the american public's eye he was the only black man that was portrayed in newspaper articles other than crime joe lewis was respected by everyone in the world i mean he was loved he was an idol of black america proof that if given a real chance they could compete and they could win whenever he fought the streets were empty now the minute the fight was over you'd see hundreds of guys and we would imagine it better than we ever saw it max baer was known as one of the hardest right hand punchers in the history of the game he was a former champion and a seasoned veteran i'm not making a prediction with ronald knox next bad idea but i'm going to knock him out just as soon as possible in the midst of the depression joe lewis versus max bear sold out yankee stadium and cleared the first million dollar gate in over a decade i thought he was the turning point in boxing [Music] there was a moment in time when a fighter threw punches that you didn't see and the other man fell and then we knew it would become the sweet science joe louis a very very economical mover waste very little very hard hunter two a true practitioner of the sweet science he's gone down now from the right to the chin slow motion fall there from maxie bayer [Applause] and he was the greatest finisher maybe of all time in heavyweight division not maybe he was he got you hurt he got rid of you he got you out of there you didn't get a second chance joe lewis dropped him four times in four rounds a fourth round winner by knockout of a maxi vale didn't he do well pressure was mounting to grant lewis a title shot but there were many who still could not accept a black fighter he was passed over again and again and the 21 year old joe lewis the only sensation of the heavyweight division meets highly regarded charles westlaw lewis fought everyone who was out there it's not lewis's fault he was so much better than they were lewis was a devastating counter puncher powerful the lightning will pop that valve into the canvas he stalked the guy he was calm his demeanor real calm all the time to the body to the head oh boy oh boy [Music] his dominance in the ring and unquestionable character outside of it made joe the first black sports superstar in the world just one more hurdle lingered before they'd have to give lewis his title shot max schmeling smelling was a hell of a fight joe lewis was the brown bomb he was coming up he was undefeated schmeling had studied film of lewis a privilege not afforded to most fighters in this era a great famous saying from that fight again before the fight where schwelling a german fighter said i see something max from watching joe lewis pictures in action have you discovered any particular weakness in the blind bomber yes i did but i would tell you was that when lewis threw his jab he brought it back low that happened all the time he was always doing that but no one else was able to take advantage of it because lewis was so fast and what he saw was that lewis would jab and he would leave you should never leave your head on the right side he noticed a flaw in the brown bomber's style [Music] smelling had noticed that he was vulnerable to right hands schmeling was precisely the type of skilled and crafty veteran who could exploit it schmoe was a great fighter and he was a real good puncher accurate puncher and he took advantage of that a dynamite right and lewis goes down max schmeling puts a temporary halt to the meteoric rise of the brown bomber joe lewis the lewis defeat made max schmeling next in line for a title shot [Music] the brown bomber won his first 28 fights before being knocked out by max milli a former world heavyweight champion from west germany now here's something funny joe lewis was continuously passed over for title shots because he was a black fighter however max schmeling was viewed as hitler's poster one of the fears was that schmeling would win the title from james j bratty take the belt home to nazi germany and nobody would see it again so america was stuck between a rock and a hard place a title fight between joe lewis and jim braddock was made passing over max schmeling though lewis had to sign away 10 of all his future purses to braddock braddock's manager basically made lewis agree to give him a percentage of his person for the rest of his career to get them what yeah but there was an understanding that you know you're not getting a fight otherwise for the first time in 29 years a black fighter would get a shot at the heavyweight title i know here in chicago the heavyweight boxing title is at stake will joel lewis walk out of the ring as heavyweight champion of the world we'll soon know there were history of black families you know poor black families that would would get hope from just saying hey lose did it i don't want to hear that you can't do this joe lose a challenger from detroit joe lewis [Applause] and so he was that important that's all that's the only point i'm making here he was that freaking important that what they thought what they did what they overcame where they came from when you talk about all the things that we're here to talk about about character about talent about perseverance about resiliency about about caring about more than yourself about strength when you talk about all those things that we try to say that we care about he was all that he was all of that the brown bomber had captured the heavyweight title he was champion at last a living legend the heavyweight champion of the world from detroit michigan the immortal joe lewis the most powerful individual in the world the strongest individual in the world a black man was once again the heavyweight champion of the world in the black community he was more than a hero he was the shining example of overcoming the odds joe lewis wears the crown of all the heavyweights despite the arguments as to whether he is the real champion or not here he wins the title and of course the biggest sport in the country so right all the press is there and there joe is champion words not yet not toy beat that man he didn't even have to say his name that man was max schmeling joe refused to call himself a champion until he avenged his only defeat joe lewis defends his world heavyweight championship against former title holder max schmaling the only man who has ever defeated the champion lewis secluded himself into training he knew as did everyone else that this fight was the most important of his life viewed as a battle of nations politics ideas boxing is war individualized pitting man against man the heavyweight championship its meaning was transcending pure supremacy in the ring its meaning was really that of a world beater german troops marched into austria for what the germans called the reunification of the two countries everybody recognized what smelling represented that stage is set for their historic rematch the match had become more than sport war was coming on the verge of world war ii with hitler mad men trying to create a master race take over the world i mean the whole world's watching you talk about pressure that's why lewis is the greatest yankee stadium new york city if he didn't win this world title fight against max schmeling he was ruined and it's a yankee stadium outdoors i mean you talk about a setting a stage the eyes of the world would watch the clash the gate was the biggest ever for a boxing match the whole freaking world's watching the president of the united states it calls up lewis and says you got a witness for the good guys i mean you talk about pressure a black fighter carried the hopes of the free world world heavyweight champion the largest audience in the history for a single radio broadcast tuned in us against germany black guy against a white guy you couldn't draw more divisive lines at those times it was a watershed moment that transcended sport that he's got to save the basically the united states and the world from scourge and disease of the nazi for party night joe lewis had united the free world under a single cause a crushing right explodes on smelling's jaw joe stepped back and schmeder was in fear right from the beginning he realized that this is something else a different kind of cat how does he respond to it he destroys him he annihilates him he knocks him out in one round that to me is one of the best stories of a heavyweight fight schmeling fell victim to the brown bombers blitzkrieg i think that's the greatest single event in the history of the world it doesn't look like smelling's going to make it it's all over lewis victory electrified the country [Applause] and joe lewis and benny leonard they were fighters they let people know they had value that their race had value their people had value they had value they pulled people out of those places it was the most uniting force i've ever seen in my life he began his historic run of 25 straight title defenses 22 by way of knockout we interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin the white house has just announced that the japanese are attacking military and naval establishments on the island of oahu in 1942 with america firmly involved in world war ii he enlisted in the army i'm only doing what any red flood american would do during the warriors joe lewis bought some 96 fights all over the world who said that some five million servicemen had a chance to see the champion boxing's ring career was never interrupted not even for world war ii when he staged exhibitions under the claim i'm not fighting for nothing i'm fighting for my country he frequently donated his entire purse to the army or navy emergency relief fund an act of kindness that would haunt him here we are in madison square garden for the joe lewis abe simon heavyweight championship house private joe louis barrera reports for duty duty in this case means that he is defending his million-dollar world's heavyweight championship and donating his entire purse to the army emergency relief joe's mad now and he shows it fighting man he's throwing dynamite and joe always had a heart of gold during that time it was not on just one occasion that when a loved one died joe would pick up the funeral expenses for a fellow service man here it comes now [Music] wow duluth is an incredible incredible incredible fighter and individual a great soldier a great champion and a great man as joe lewis once again his hand raised in triumph never before and probably never again as a champion donated his entire purse in this instance around seventy thousand dollars in the bright and brave cause of patriotism the irs would come at lewis years later saying he owed millions on these donations lewis would suffer financial ruin from this for the remainder of his life this world's heavyweight championship for the benefit of the navy relief fund all these fights for the troops sacrificing so much to be an example for the country and he was ultimately left penniless as a result and he's gone over billy khan on the floor in round with but nothing thirteen waiting for my country and i think that's not the biggest piece of work that anybody can do the heavyweight king joe lewis joe lewis was an authentic hero as opposed to a surplus hero in all lewis spent 17 years in the ring 12 reigning as heavyweight champions now it's joe lewis the brown bomber it is the war was over that the forces of germany have surrendered lewis had now been championed ten years father time is undefeated and many were speculating when it would come for lewis between the champion joe lewis and his challenger jersey joe walcott the super fight brought out all the celebrities and from hollywood jack benny and bob hope eddie cantor joan blondell and producer mike todd and fbi chief jay edgar hoover boom perfect timing for the heavyweight championship of the world champion joe lewis in the black trunks challenger jersey joe walcott in the white trunk win loser draw lewis had stated his intent to retire following this fight walter is out in front he's not joe lewis down and the crowd the big crowd here at yankee stadium now is really on the edge of the seat [Applause] walcott was ahead on points watch joe lewis the devastating joe lewis of old reigning punches now in slow motion here's the champion and all his fighting fury lewis delivered the perfect combination and put jersey joe down for the real trouble and the fight is over in joe lewis 25th title defense he looks like the great champion of old he had now defended his title 25 times an unmatched record that stands to this day is the retirement of joe louis for 11 years heavyweight champion of the world he has defended the championship 25 times since winning it from jimmy braddock in it started when he donated two purses one to the navy and the army relief fund and they wrote the checks to joe lewis and he immediately signed the checks to the navy in the army relief fund but because they were made payable to joe lewis they wanted him to pay taxes on it could the irs have made an exception yes could they have interpreted differently yes after two years in retirement lewis was faced with massive financial problems you're away for two years always two years yeah and uh income tax has awesome also something to do with me coming back too yeah we know that with a good payday the brown bomber was desperate and so he returned winner by unanimous decision and heavyweight champion of the world as a child he fought and lost by decision to ezra charles but his financial problems still lingered and so he accepted the biggest payday he could find against an up-and-coming rocky marciano louis has three inches on marciano in height and nine inches in reach he had no subtlety he had a susie q the greatest right hand in the history and joe lewis said he doesn't really fight by the book but i got hit by a library tonight marcelo's the sluggard type of fighter his arms are unusually short for a heavyweight but he's strong and he's powerful you can compare him to a street fighter with a huge heart and uh he never lost his career finally came to an end when he met rocky marciano in 1951 marciano knocked him up in the eighth round marciano's hard left hook sends lewis brawling to the canvas it was immediately clear that marciano's power was too much for another left lewis floor a blazing rifle marciano was known like like having unbelievable strength in his punches rocky marciano had something that you can't teach people which is just brutal brute strength brutal power he just had the ability to land these bone crushing shots the fight would be a passing of the torch moment from one legendary champion to the next [Music] being the great joe ross defeated ending up his career that way i think at that moment it might have influenced me in retiring maybe a year before i would a tragic and sad ending to the career of perhaps the greatest of all time he would spend the rest of his life doing everything possible to repay the debt including participating in a wrestling match for one hundred thousand dollars on cowboy rocky lee 320 pounds after 10 minutes of tugging hauling and poking a right forearm smash sends lee out of the ring and the winner is joe despite this final payday louis was still deeply in debt he couldn't catch up to the irs who were charging him 50 000 a year in interest alone he ultimately found a home at caesar's palace in vegas how long have you been working here at caesars as a greeter seven years where he lived and worked until he died at age 66. today america lost one of the finest boxers of all times joe lewis died of heart failure today in las vegas he was 66 years old an emotional service in memory of the former heavyweight boxing champion joe lewis who died of a heart attack last sunday he was laid to rest in arlington national cemetery with full military honors former heavyweight champions jersey joe walcott joe frazier muhammad ali all came to arlington cemetery yesterday to pay their last respects to joe lewis who may have been the greatest heavyweight of them all he was buried to the words of the new testament i have fought the good fight called by many the greatest ever he broke down numerous glass ceilings [Applause] and inspired the next generation of black americans paving the way for the likes of robinson and ali [Music] um i think that people would say that because there was a joe lewis there's jackie robinson in baseball and joel is the sensational young heavyweight from detroit they call him the brown bombers for a record 25 world heavyweight title defenses joe lewis becomes a legend in his own time joe lewis the brown bomber [Music] adored by fight fans throughout the world respected and feared by all heavyweight challengers joel lewis will be remembered for not only his record his fights but as a man revered in boxing's hall of fame as the greatest heavyweight champion of all time nobody brings it home like it's nobody make it so

Channel: Joseph Vincent

Views: 557,600

Keywords: Movies, Sports, Film, Comics, Fights, Highlights, Spin, Truck, Juke, History, edit, diving, leaping, catching, one handed, dunk, slam, jam, alley oop, jordan, lebron, vincent, bored film, knockouts, documentary, best, top, greatest, boxing, match, joe louis, champion, first, last, taxes

Id: FK_i12K4g74

Length: 29min 47sec (1787 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 14 2021