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Joe Louis Vintage United Clock
VINTAGE 1930 JOE LOUIS SCULPTURED UNITED CLOCK
Joe Louis
£395.00
When he was ten years old, Louis moved with his mother and
step-father to Detroit, where he developed his physique
by delivering fifty-pound blocks of ice as a teen-ager.
At eighteen, he learned that a boxing club paid fighters
in food. He won $7 worth of food in a match, but was knocked
down seven times in two rounds and he swore he'd never fight
again.
However, a short time later a professional fighter, Holman
Williams, gave him some lessons and persuaded him to enter
Golden Gloves competition. He won 50 of 54 amateur fights,
41 by knockout, and was AAU national light heavyweight champion
in 1934.
Louis turned professional later that year. He became a
genuine contender after knocking out Primo Carnera, King
Levinsky, Max Baer, and Paulino Uzcudun in 1935, when he
was named Associated Press athlete of the year.
He suffered his first professional defeat on June 19, 1936,
a 12th-round knockout by Max Schmeling of Germany. Despite
the loss, Louis was selected over Schmeling to meet heavyweight
champion Jim Braddock on June 22, 1937, in Chicago. He knocked
Braddock out in the 8th round to become the second black
heavyweight champion.
Nicknamed the "Brown Bomber," Louis was taught
by manager John Roxborough, a black lawyer, and trainer
Joe Blackburn to be quiet and modest in demeanor, unlike
the first black champion, Jack Johnson. As a result, Louis
was a very popular champion among whites as well as blacks.
His popularity reached a peak after he knocked out Schmeling
in the 1st round of a title fight on June 22, 1938. Schmeling
was unfairly viewed by many as a tool of Hitler and Nazism,
while Louis was seen as the champion of the American way.
A crowd of 70,000 watched the fight in Yankee Stadium and
millions more listened to the radio broadcast.
Louis defended his title twenty-five times in five years,
knocking out twenty-three of his opponents. He entered the
Army in 1942 and was used basically as a good-will ambassador,
including an appearance in a movie, The Negro Soldier, an
attempt to boost morale among black fighting men. He also
fought exhibitions throughout the country.
After World War II ended, he defended his championship
five more times. Louis announced his retirement in 1949,
but he owed more than $1 million in back taxes, so he resumed
fighting in 1950, only to be outpointed by Ezzard Charles
on September 27 in an attempt to reclaim his title. In his
last fight, he was knocked out by champion Rocky Marciano
in the 8th round on October 26, 1951.
Louis won 67 professional bouts, 53 of them by knockout,
and lost 3, 2 by knockout. He spent several months in a
psychiatric hospital in 1970 and then became the official
greeter at a Las Vegas casino.
