As a youngster growing up in the 1940s, it is not difficult to recall that Joe Louis was the number one boxer during the war years. His name was on everybody’s lips. Louis, the famous ‘Brown Bomber’, was heavyweight champion of the world and master of all he surveyed. Hadn’t he beaten the best that the division had to offer?

​

His lone defeat, against Max Schmeling in 1936, was well and truly avenged two years later. There seemed nobody who could take the title from Louis after he won it from a game James J. Braddock in 1937. Many tried and failed, some narrowly.

​

Billy Conn, an ambitious Irish-American from Pittsburgh, almost succeeded with a points lead after 12 rounds in 1941, but Louis knocked him out in the 13th. At the tail end of his career in 1947, Louis won an unpopular points decision over the veteran Jersey Joe Walcott. The referee voted for Walcott but the two judges opted for Louis, allowing him to keep his title. In a return bout six months later, Louis knocked out his man in 11 rounds. Even in the closing years of his career, 1950-1951, he beat top contenders.

​

It is often hard to point out to modern boxing people how great Louis was, or the powerful influence he had on the fight game. He transcended the sport. He was world heavyweight champion for 11 years and eight months, and put his title on the line no fewer than 25 times, feats that no previous heavyweight champion had ever achieved. It was also more than the combined total of defences by Louis’ nine immediate predecessors going back 32 years. Moreover, if there were any doubts or controversies surrounding any defence, Louis would give the challenger a second shot. 

​

Louis also helped to smash the despicable colour bar that denied many great boxers in the heavyweight division an opportunity to fight for the title. John L. Sullivan, the first world heavyweight champion under the Queensberry Rules in the late 1880s, refused to put his title on the line against a black challenger. In the 1920s, Jack Dempsey never took on his number one contender Harry Wills, the ‘Black Panther’.

​

In the first half-century of the heavyweight championship, only one black boxer, Jack Johnson, managed to win the title – and the big Texan only got deserved chance by following Tommy Burns across three continents before catching up with him in Australia.

​

At Rushcutter’s Bay Arena in Sydney on 26 December 1908, Johnson made the French-Canadian pay for every ounce of anger, frustration and discrimination he had endured over the years. Taunting and tormenting the outclassed champion, Johnson won when the police at ringside mercifully instructed the referee to stop the one-sided fight in the 14th round.

​

Johnson lost his title seven years later to a white boxer, Jess Willard, on a controversial knockout in the 26thround. There would not be another black heavyweight champion for 22 years until Louis came along in 1937.

​

Louis helped to open the way for many other great non-white boxers to compete on level terms. He gave black contenders a chance at the title, an opportunity they would have been denied in the past. In the modern age, black champions seem the norm in any division, which is only right and proper.

​

This writer was fortunate to have met Louis – thankfully outside the ring – when he was on a promotional tour of the UK and Ireland in 1970. For well over an hour of fascinating chat over lunch in a Dublin hotel, the boxing legend proved to be a charming and pleasant individual.

​

In between fans coming over to our table for an autograph or just to say hello, the ‘Brown Bomber’ was always open and frank, revealing many stories never told before. He offered insights into his big fights and supplied many quotes. Where appropriate, the author has used some of this information in the following pages.

​

On the downside, Louis was not without his faults, inside and outside the roped square. In the ring, despite his powerful blows, underrated boxing skill and resilience, he was open to a right-hand punch, even though he was beaten inside the distance on just two occasions in 67 fights.

​

Outside the ring, Louis was a serial womaniser and had a string of lady friends, including many celebrities, all through his three marriages. A Notoriously big spender but a decidedly poor businessman, he was forever plagued by income tax demands and in his closing years was ravaged by ill health. It was a sad end to one of the greatest ever boxing champions. 

​

Whenever or wherever Louis’ name comes up for discussion, one big question will surely linger. Was he the best of all the heavyweight kings? Would he have beaten Jack Johnson, or Jack Dempsey, or Rocky Marciano in their primes? What of Muhammad Ali? Could he have landed his powerful punches on the fleet-footed ‘Louisville Lip’? Who can tell? Different eras, different situations, different rules. The answers will never be satisfactorily found but speculation certainly makes for lively discussion.

​

In The 100 Greatest Boxers published by Boxing News in 2017, Louis is ranked fourth, directly behind Sugar Ray Robinson, Ali and Henry Armstrong, the incredible fighter who held three world titles simultaneously – featherweight, lightweight and welterweight – in the days when there were only eight divisions in the whole of boxing, flyweight to heavyweight.

​

You could name the eight champions then at the moment’s notice. The world champion was what he claimed to be, the best boxer in the world. America’s two main controlling bodies, the National Boxing Association and the New York State Athletic Commission, often disagreed but generally came together and recognised one official champion in each division. The British Boxing Board of Control and the European Boxing Union usually came on board too.

​

All that changed drastically from the 1960s when new boxing organisations started popping up like flowers in springtime, each setting up their own ‘world’ champions. By the 1980s, more had come on the scene. Today, there are no fewer than 17 weight divisions, from minimumweight to heavyweight, and conceivably 17 ‘world’ champions. Can you name the 17? Very unlikely. And the 17 does not even include today’s ‘super’ champions.

​

There are at least seven ‘world’ organisations around the world. The four main ones are the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, the International Boxing Federation and the World Boxing Organisation. They are recognised by their initials, the WBA, the WBC, the IBF and the WBO, and are collectively known as the alphabet boys, or alphabet soup. On this subject, the WBA, once a very respected organisation, now lists 29 ‘world’ champions across the 17 divisions. Where will it all end? Maybe Sir Walter Scott had something when he said, ‘Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.’

​

Meanwhile, enjoy the journey through simpler if turbulent times in the following pages.

​

​