Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling and a World on the Brink, Margolick - B+

                      On June 22, 1938 over a hundred million people around the world tuned in t their radios to the fight at Yankee Stadium between the young twenty-four year old 'Brown Bomber' and the older German who had throttled him two years before. There were more visitors in the city than there had been at anytime since the 1924 Democratic convention. Two thousand Germans also traveled to America for the bout. Joe Louis was the most popular black man America had ever seen. Max Schmeling received a telegram the morning of the match wishing him success from Adolph Hitler. 

                     Schmeling, born in Cologne in 1905, won the heavyweight title in NY in 1930 by defeating Jack Sharkey. However, he won on a foul and the rules were changed to prevent it from happening again. He lost to Sharkey a year later. He regularly fought in the US and Europe in the 30's. His career was perennially up and down, winning big ones and losing easy ones. No matter how well he fought though, he was Germany's and the Chancellor's hero. Louis was born in Alabama in 1914. His family moved to Detroit when he was 12. He won the Golden Gloves in 1933, and a year later, the national title in Chicago. His trainers taught him how to fight and most importantly, how to act. No Black man would ever achieve the title if he acted as brazenly as Jack Johnson had decades earlier. He became an immediate contender because he consistently knocked out his opponents. His first 'big' fight was in June, 1935 at Yankeee Stadium, where he took on 6'7" Primo Carnera, whom he pounded for six rounds before a TKO was called. Joe was one of the most popular people in America, even meeting FDR at the White House. A preacher in Detroit said he had done more for his race than anyone since Lincoln. Later that summer, he devastated Max Baer in four rounds. Louis dramatically increased the popularity and profitability of boxing. He himself made $400,000 in 1935 and rode in his own Pullman car.

                    The first bout with Schmeling was in June, 1936. Louis was the consensus pick to hand Schmeling his head in an early round. The Stadium was not full, many surmised because Jewish fans boycotted the event. It was, however, a global phenomenon wired around the world and heard on American radio by 60 million. Many thought Louis wasn't ready and looked ill at ease that night. Schmeling had a plan. He had observed that Louis dropped his left and that a right cross might be able to hurt him. Louis won the early rounds and Schmeling's left eye was closed by the 3rd round. In the 4th, Louis was knocked down by a right cross for the first time in his career. All of a sudden, the presumptive champ was wobbly and glassy-eyed. He was now a punching bag barely defending himself. Schmeling sent him to the canvas in the 12th. It was over. Louis couldn't get up. In Germany, the nation cheered for their Maxe.  Berlin ordered him home on the Hindenburg. Many, many whites, including members of the US Congress cheered the defeat of a man of color. Black America was in shock and despondent.

                    Next up for Schmeling was the champ, James 'Cinderella Man' Braddock, and Louis would fightJack Sharkey. Sharkey lasted only three rounds. Braddock-Schmeling was postponed because Braddock had injured his hand. Talk of boycotting Schmeling because of his connections to the Reich bubbled up in the boxing world. That played right into the hands of those who wished for the big money payday of Louis and Braddock. A brouhaha ensued, involving Schemeling in NY on the day the fight was originally scheduled, litigation in the federal courts, and an offer by Berlin to host the fight, all to no avail. Braddock and Louis were scheduled for Chicago at Comiskey Park. It was the first time the challenger was favored against the defending champ. Braddock floored Louis in the second, before the tide turned. In the sixth, Louis knocked Braddock out. It took twenty minutes for Braddock to come to.  The twenty-three year old was the new champ. 

                  The Louis-Schmeling rematch was scheduled for June in NY. Both fighters fought a few easy tune-ups and prepared vigorously for the bout. On June 22nd, they weighed in at the Garden and headed to their respective hotels to rest. The fight was scheduled for 10 P.M. Hardly anyone in Germany had gone to bed. Virtually all activity in the US stopped as people huddled around their  radios. When the introductions were made by the ring announcer, Schmeling received the bigger hand. The bell rang at 10:08. Within 20 seconds, Louis had Schmeling on the ropes. At the minute mark, Louis had hit Schmeling more than he had in the first five rounds two years earlier. Schmeling screamed out in pain. At 90 seconds, the challenger was on his knees. Twice he got up and the referee stopped the count. The ref called the fight in the third minute with Schmeling bleeding from the mouth and on his hands and knees. Black America exploded in joy. Half a million people took to the streets of Harlem. Around the world, Jews joined in the celebration.  Communists too were ecstatic. Schmeling was stretchered out of the hospital two weeks later and quietly returned to Germany.

                     Joe Louis defended his title for the next few years against what the sportswriters called the 'bum of the month club.' Only Billy Conn wasn't a pushover. After Pearl Harbor, he joined the Army. Schmeling was still treated like a hero in Germany, but after the authorities saw the tape of the match, they quietly pushed him into retirement. When the war began, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and became a paratrooper. He was part of the successful invasion of Crete. He was injured and spent a few years performing public relations duties before his 1943 discharge. After the war, he fought a ten round match at 43 and finally retired after the loss. As for Louis, the post-war years saw him in financial trouble. "A soft touch for flashy new clothes, pretty women, people in need, buddies promising him a good time, investors with dubious schemes, he long lived well beyond even his considerable means..." He fought and beat Conn once and Jersey Joe Wolcott twice in an attempt to pay off debts estimated at $350,000. He retired with a 61-1 record in 1949. Two comebacks led to humiliating losses to Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano. Schmeling wrangled a distributorship for Coca-Cola in northern Germany and eventually became a very wealthy man. Joe Louis did not do as well. He was a wrestler and slipped into mental illness. He worked as a greeter in Las Vegas, where he died in 1981. Schmeling, Germany's sportsman of the century died in 2005.

                  Thanks to my brother, Will, for recommending this superb book. The author extensively quotes newspapers, announcers, and public figures, all of whom were extraordinarily racist. Joe Louis was compared to King Kong, called Massa Louis, a pickaninny, a sambo, a primeval savage, and a negro with a fuzzy noggin. In addition to being constantly called the n-word by newspapers around the country, one ex-champ said that as a Black he "had no understanding for the honor and dignity of being world champion." Another newsman said he "was a healthy negro boy with the usual streak of laziness."For providing such detail of our racist past, this book could be banned in Florida.