When we think of sports, we pretty much think of “who won”, “what was the score”, or simply stated “what was the outcome.” But this match was not as much about boxing, as it was of German supremacy vs. America’s prejudice of blacks.
In Germany, Hitler did not want the fight to take place. If Schmeling lost to a black man, it was a major setback for his racial theories.
In America it would have been a devastating loss for not only Louis, but blacks in general. In a society where they were thought of as less than human, blacks felt as if this was a fight that might raise them in social acceptance and equality. If he lost, their race would be back to slavery and prejudice.
Joe Louis was 22 years old at the time of the first Schmeling fight in 1936. He was undefeated in 27 fights, and he had never even been knocked down. Most boxing fans thought he had the heavy weight title in the bag and it was only a matter of time.
Schmeling was an ex-champion from the 1930’s, and most people thought he was washed up. However, Schmeling did his homework and detected a flaw in Louis’ style which helped him defeat the mighty Joe Louis.
Hitler and Germany rejoiced. Schmeling was welcomed home with great celebration and Hitler even had a film of Schmeling’s victory made and had it shown across Germany. As for America’s black society, they would have to wait for a rematch.
From then on Schmeling was as a Nazi. His manager may have been Jewish, and Schmeling may not have worn the swastika on his arm, but he was branded. He was used by Hitler to support him and his ideas of a perfect country.
The rematch would come about in 1938. Joe Louis was determined to become the heavyweight champion, and ultimately did. But he felt he could not be the true champion until he defeated Schmeling.
In America, newspaper cartoons depicted Louis as somewhat of an animal. They used derogatory names for him, and exaggerated his features by drawing him with huge lips and using a broken dialect. They could never get past the fact that he was black.
Even though President Roosevelt personally gave Louis encouragement, America had a difficult time with a black man representing their great empire. Here was a man who could not drink from the same water fountain, eat in the same restaurants, sleep in the same hotels, and was made to ride in the back of a bus, representing America in what some called the greatest sports event of the 20th century.
When it came time for the second fight, Louis was prepared. This time Louis studied up on Schmeling and found his weaknesses. One weakness in particular that Louis noticed was Schmeling’s straight right. He had to prepare himself before he threw it. Louis used this discovery to his advantage and destroyed Schmeling. After a right roundhouse from Louis the event came to an end. Louis had broken two of Schmelding’s vertebrae and had him on the ropes. By that time Schmeling had had enough and his coach jumped in the ring to admit defeat.
Joe Lewis was as an undefeated boxer for a long time and was also a heavyweight champion. Even though Joe Lewis is considered to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, the one fight he could not win was that of prejudice in the U.S.
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