The time you're talking about is basically the reign of Joe Louis, the
"Brown Bomber," arguably the greatest boxer of all time. He defended
the heavyweight title for more consecutive fights (25) than any other
boxing champion and reigned as champ for 12 years.
Here are the heavyweight championship bouts from 1930, when Max
Schmeling captured the vacant title, to 1949, when Joe Louis retired:
12/06/1930 Max Schmeling DQ4 Jack Sharkey
03/07/1931 Max Schmeling TKO15 Young Stribling
21/06/1932 Jack Sharkey PTS15 Max Schmeling
29/06/1933 Primo Carnera KO6 Jack Sharkey
22/10/1933 Primo Carnera PTS15 Paolino Uzcudun
01/03/1934 Primo Carnera PTS15 Tommy Loughran
14/06/1934 Max Baer TKO11 Primo Carnera
13/06/1935 James J Braddock PTS15 Max Baer
22/06/1937 Joe Louis KO8 James J Braddock
30/08/1937 Joe Louis PTS15 Tommy Farr
23/02/1938 Joe Louis KO3 Nathan Mann
01/04/1938 Joe Louis KO5 Harry Thomas
22/06/1938 Joe Louis KO1 Max Schmeling
25/01/1939 Joe Louis TKO1 John Henry Lewis
17/04/1939 Joe Louis KO1 Jack Roper
28/06/1939 Joe Louis TKO4 Tony Galento
20/09/1939 Joe Louis KO11 Bob Pastor
09/02/1940 Joe Louis PTS15 Arturo Godoy
23/09/1940 Joe Louis KO2 Johnny Paycheck
20/06/1940 Joe Louis TKO8 Arturo Godoy
16/12/1940 Joe Louis RTD6 Al McCoy
31/01/1941 Joe Louis KO5 Red Burman
17/02/1941 Joe Louis KO2 Gus Dorazio
21/03/1941 Joe Louis TKO13 Abe Simon
08/04/1941 Joe Louis TKO9 Tony Musto
23/05/1941 Joe Louis DQ7 Buddy Baer
18/06/1941 Joe Louis KO13 Billy Conn
29/09/1941 Joe Louis TKO6 Lou Nova
09/01/1942 Joe Louis KO1 Buddy Baer
27/03/1942 Joe Louis KO6 Abe Simon
Joe Louis served in the US Army 1942-1945
19/06/1946 Joe Louis KO8 Billy Conn
18/09/1946 Joe Louis KO1 Tami Mauriello
05/12/1947 Joe Louis PTS15 Jersey Joe Walcott
25/06/1948 Joe Louis KO11 Jersey Joe Walcott
Joe Louis retired on March 1, 1949
Max Baer was the heavyweight champion at the beginning of the era you
asked about. Baer killed a man in a boxing match in 1930, was charged
with manslaughter but later cleared of all charges, and nearly quit
the sport. Baer TKO'd Max Schmeling in 10 rounds in 1933, in what
many regard as his best fight. Buddy Baer, Max's brother, would later
lose twice to Joe Louis in heavyweight title fights. More info on
Baer at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Baer
http://www.ibhof.com/baer.htm
Baer lost to James Braddock in a major upset - more info here:
http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/823/braddock-baer-boxing-great-fistic-upset/
More on Braddock at:
http://www.jamesjbraddock.com/
http://www.ibhof.com/braddock.htm
Joe Louis' two fights with Max Schmeling are probably the two biggest
fights of this era because of their impact on the social
consciousness. Though the first fight was initially overlooked, the
outcome shocked many. On June 19, 1936, Louis was upset by a
supposedly washed-up Schmeling, who dominated the fight from the
fourth round and KO'd Louis in the 12th. The loss was a major blow to
Louis and the black community that supported him. The second fight
was viewed as a symbolic battle between an Aryan Superman and a black
man who rose out of poverty, not to mention German Fascism and
American Democracy. On June 22, 1938, Louis knocked out Schmeling in
the first round.
You can listen to the radio play-by-play of both fights here:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/fight/sfeature/sf_radio.html
The website for the PBS program about the rematch, "The Fight":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/fight/index.html (great website with lots
of info about the "golden age" of boxing as well)
You can read more about the famous Schmeling-Louis rematch (and see a
few photos) here:
http://www.ibhof.com/ibhfhvy5.htm
Bios of Joue Louis:
http://info.detnews.com/history/story/index.cfm?id=52&category=sports
http://www.ibroresearch.com/Articles/THE%20COMING%20OF%20JOE%20LOUIS.htm
http://www.cmgww.com/sports/louis/louis.html
Joe Louis pictures and memorabilia:
http://www.antekprizering.com/louis.html
Schmeling passed away on Feb. 2, 2005 at the age of 99:
http://www.detnews.com/2005/moresports/0502/04/01-79992.htm
More info on Schmeling at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Schmeling
http://www.ibhof.com/schmelin.htm
Information on Schmeling's involvement with, and struggle against,
Nazism can be found here:
http://www.auschwitz.dk/schmeling.htm
Joe Louis also fought a famous fight against "Two Ton" Tony Galento in
June 1939, in which Louis was hurt in the first, knocked down in the
3rd, but came back to win by TKO in the 4th.
Photo and more on the fight here: http://www.fighttoys.com/Louis-Galento%20KO.htm
More on Galento (and the fight) here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Galento
In another famous bout that's frequently considered one of the best
fights of all time, Louis defeated Billy Conn, the light heavyweight
champion who had come up to heavyweight to fight Louis, in June 1941.
Before the fight, Louis famously said of Conn, "he can run, but he
can't hide." Despite giving up 30 pounds, Conn led the fight on the
judges cards through 12 rounds, but became overconfident and tried to
knock out Louis in the 13th round. Instead, Conn was himself knocked
out by the more powerful Louis with 2 seconds remaining in the round.
They fought a rematch in 1946, with Louis knocking out Conn in the 8th
and sending him into retirement.
More on Conn at:
http://billyconn.net/aPhotos/main%20page.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Conn
http://www.ibhof.com/conn.htm
More good info on the history of boxing at
the International Boxing Hall of Fame website:
http://www.ibhof.com/
The Time Tunnel:
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/timetunnel.html
Boxing's Golden Age (Photos):
http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/mainHTML.cfm?page=winkler1.html
Boxing in the 1930s:
http://www.answers.com/topic/boxing-in-the-1930s
Boxing in the 1940s:
http://www.answers.com/topic/boxing-in-the-1940s |
