Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight by Max Wallace, Howard Bingham
Authors: Max Wallace, Howard Bingham
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Max Schmeling out of obscurity and offered him a fight with Louis. Schmeling had long been embraced by Adolf Hitler as a model of Aryan supremacy, and Jacobs believed a fight between a “member of the master race” and his new black sensation would generate huge interest.
The media, sensing a chance to cash in on nationalistic jingoism, touted the match as a battle between America and the “tool of Hitler’s oppression” rather than a fight between Black vs. White, but their support was not enough to overcome the racial divisions that still plagued parts of the country. Southern newspapers, predicting a Louis victory, reported hundreds of angry letters from readers outraged that they would champion a “darkie.”
But American support for Schmeling wasn’t confined to Southern crackers. This was made clear on the night of the fight. Overly optimistic, and believing the hype that he would easily vanquish Schmeling, Louis failed to train properly and was knocked out in round twelve. Frederic Jaher observed that the fight itself proved a testament to the enduring priority of racial over national affinity despite the fact that it took place in New York City, a center of American liberalism, racial tolerance, and opposition to Nazism. When Schmeling towered over his fallen opponent, he received a huge ovation from the crowd. Jack Dempsey declared his victory “the finest thing to happen to boxing in a long time.” Schmeling received more congratulatory telegrams from the United States than any other country. More troubling, the media started to turn against the defeated challenger, questioning his heart, his intelligence, and his talent—as if he had betrayed them for their support.
The Nazis wasted no time in capitalizing on Schmeling’s victory, hoping to convince white Americans that they and Germany were on the same side. German propagandist George Spandau declared that “through the German Schmeling the white race, Europe, and white America defeated the black race.”
Meanwhile, Louis was determined to claw his way back into contention for a title shot. Putting the Schmeling fiasco behind him, he won six consecutive fights in convincing fashion. Mike Jacobs sensed the time had come for Joe Louis to take his rightful place.
On June 22,1937, when Louis stepped into the ring with the champion James Braddock, it was the first time in twenty-two years a black boxer had fought for the heavyweight title. Media interest was subdued. Still unable to forgive him for losing to Schmeling, but recognizing the likelihood of his success, most newspaper editors counseled that a Louis victory should not be taken as a sign of black racial superiority.
Louis’s handlers continued their carefully orchestrated campaign to shape their fighter’s image and gain white acceptance for a black champion. His mother was quoted in the sympathetic Hearst press saying, “I know that if Joe wins the championship he is going to make Jack Johnson feel ashamed of himself again. Joe wants to win to show the white folks that a colored man can bring dignity and decency to the title just as well as a white man.”
When, as expected, Louis won to reclaim the title Johnson had first claimed for blacks in 1910, the reaction was significantly muted compared to the hysteria twenty-seven years earlier. Blacks poured out onto the streets of Northern cities to celebrate, but there were few incidents of violence. In the South, the jubilant black population made sure to celebrate in their own homes for fear of provoking retaliation. Louis’s characteristically modest reaction to his victory stood in stark contrast to Jack Johnson’s brash gloating after he first won the title from Jim Jeffries. This, and the changing racial attitudes, helped Americans tolerate, if not fully accept, the new titleholder, even in the Deep South. The Birmingham News reported “less race prejudice…less disposition to resent a Negro heavyweight champion.”
The
The media, sensing a chance to cash in on nationalistic jingoism, touted the match as a battle between America and the “tool of Hitler’s oppression” rather than a fight between Black vs. White, but their support was not enough to overcome the racial divisions that still plagued parts of the country. Southern newspapers, predicting a Louis victory, reported hundreds of angry letters from readers outraged that they would champion a “darkie.”
But American support for Schmeling wasn’t confined to Southern crackers. This was made clear on the night of the fight. Overly optimistic, and believing the hype that he would easily vanquish Schmeling, Louis failed to train properly and was knocked out in round twelve. Frederic Jaher observed that the fight itself proved a testament to the enduring priority of racial over national affinity despite the fact that it took place in New York City, a center of American liberalism, racial tolerance, and opposition to Nazism. When Schmeling towered over his fallen opponent, he received a huge ovation from the crowd. Jack Dempsey declared his victory “the finest thing to happen to boxing in a long time.” Schmeling received more congratulatory telegrams from the United States than any other country. More troubling, the media started to turn against the defeated challenger, questioning his heart, his intelligence, and his talent—as if he had betrayed them for their support.
The Nazis wasted no time in capitalizing on Schmeling’s victory, hoping to convince white Americans that they and Germany were on the same side. German propagandist George Spandau declared that “through the German Schmeling the white race, Europe, and white America defeated the black race.”
Meanwhile, Louis was determined to claw his way back into contention for a title shot. Putting the Schmeling fiasco behind him, he won six consecutive fights in convincing fashion. Mike Jacobs sensed the time had come for Joe Louis to take his rightful place.
On June 22,1937, when Louis stepped into the ring with the champion James Braddock, it was the first time in twenty-two years a black boxer had fought for the heavyweight title. Media interest was subdued. Still unable to forgive him for losing to Schmeling, but recognizing the likelihood of his success, most newspaper editors counseled that a Louis victory should not be taken as a sign of black racial superiority.
Louis’s handlers continued their carefully orchestrated campaign to shape their fighter’s image and gain white acceptance for a black champion. His mother was quoted in the sympathetic Hearst press saying, “I know that if Joe wins the championship he is going to make Jack Johnson feel ashamed of himself again. Joe wants to win to show the white folks that a colored man can bring dignity and decency to the title just as well as a white man.”
When, as expected, Louis won to reclaim the title Johnson had first claimed for blacks in 1910, the reaction was significantly muted compared to the hysteria twenty-seven years earlier. Blacks poured out onto the streets of Northern cities to celebrate, but there were few incidents of violence. In the South, the jubilant black population made sure to celebrate in their own homes for fear of provoking retaliation. Louis’s characteristically modest reaction to his victory stood in stark contrast to Jack Johnson’s brash gloating after he first won the title from Jim Jeffries. This, and the changing racial attitudes, helped Americans tolerate, if not fully accept, the new titleholder, even in the Deep South. The Birmingham News reported “less race prejudice…less disposition to resent a Negro heavyweight champion.”
The
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