Joe Louis Annihilates Max Schmeling in 124 Seconds
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In 1936, Max Schmeling, a German boxer and former world champion, came over to New York to face the up-and-coming African American boxer Joe Louis, who was undefeated and considered unbeatable. Upon his arrival, Schmeling claimed that he had found a flaw in Louis' style, observing the way in which he dropped his guard after throwing a punch. He surprised the boxing world by handing Louis his first defeat, dropping him in round four and knocking him out in the 12th. Schmeling returned to Germany on the Hindenburg as a hero.
Louis and his mainly black supporters were devastated by the defeat. Schmeling himself was also affected; when Louis finally won the world Heavyweight crown in 1937, he said he would not consider himself a champion until he beat Schmeling in a rematch.
The rematch came, at Yankee Stadium, on June 22, 1938, with Louis defending his crown. By then, a second world war was clearly looming on the horizon, and the fight was viewed worldwide as symbolic battle for superiority between two likely adversaries. In American pre-fight publicity, Schmeling was cast as the Nazi warrior, while Louis was portrayed as a defender of American ideals.
Louis won in 124 seconds, by TKO.
While Schmeling was branded as a "Nazi" by many boxing fans, but this is debatable. In reality, Schmeling became quite unpopular among the Nazis after the embarrassing loss to an African-AMerican, and was not used anymore in Nazi propaganda, which was a relief to him. In 1928, he hired Joe Jacobs, a Jew, to be his manager. He would point to this fact for the rest of his life in defending himself against charges of Nazi sympathy.
Nevertheless, the political undertones of the fight were felt around the world.
