Louis Held The Heavyweight Championship For A Record 12 YearsJoe Louis was the most powerful and fastest punching heavyweight boxer in ring history. His great hand speed, especially in combination, was awesome to behold. He had a powerful jab, threw every punch perfectly and with pinpoint accuracy. Louis' right cross, thrown short and straight, was sheer T.N.T. power. The "Brown Bomber" never ducked anyone as his record 25 title defences attests to. Of those 25 successful defences, 21 were won by knockout, 17 of those were ten counts! 5 in the first round! Joe Louis in his fighting career, also knocked out six men who held the Heavyweight Championship of the World. From 1934 to 1949, when Louis first retired as champion, his record was 60 wins and 1 defeat with 51 knockouts. Louis held the Heavyweight Championship for a record 12 years. As a puncher Louis had everything. When Joe first appeared on the scene he was hailed as a ring rarity. The great Joe "Brown Bomber" Louis was a boxer puncher with the fastest pair of hands with the hardest punch ever seen. Joe Louis was without doubt the greatest combination puncher to ever lace on a boxing gloves. Louis' Punches Were Short, Often Travelling Only InchesNo one could put their punches together as beautifully as did Louis. He threw every punch in the book with text book perfection, the jab, the hook, the cross, and the uppercut. He placed his punches accurately to vital points; the heart, the liver, behind the ear, under the floating rib, and to the chin. His punches were short, often travelling only inches, yet they landed with jolting power. In this extremely important category of punching efficiency Louis has no peer. Joe Louis was an extremely accurate puncher who wasted no motion and never threw a wild punch in his life. Braddock commenting on Louis power said, (McCallum, 46), Nobody hits like Louis. A punch is a punch and that's how it was with Louis. Take the first jab he nails you. You certainly will know what it's like. It's like someone jammed a electric bulb in your face and bust it. When asked about his right hand, he said, It ain't like a punch. It's like someone nailed you with a crowbar. I thought half my head was blown off. I figured he caved it in. After he hit me I couldn't even feel if it was there! Joe Louis was a two fisted power punching machine in the ring Joe Louis Was Knocked Through the Ropes by Buddy BaerRay Arcel, one of the greatest trainers in history of boxing who trained champions such as Barney Ross, Tony Zale, Roberto Duran, and Larry Holmes, also worked against Louis in 14 of his fights said, Louis once drove Paulino Uzcudin's teeth right through his mouthpiece! That's how hard Joe Louis could hit! Joe Louis had a certain range he liked to work in. A slippery opponent with good footwork who stayed outside Louis' punching radius could give him some problems. His style was made for a long fight. Often Joe would step into the ring not knowing an opponents style. A properly prepared Louis showed how dangerous he could be as he was 10-0 in rematches of opponent's who had given him trouble the first time round, Joe Louis knocked out and destroyed fighters like Max Schmeling, Arturo Godoy, Buddy Baer, Abe Simon, Billy Conn and Jersey Joe Walcott in rematches. Louis could spot the fault in an opponent's style and capitalise, demonstrating his worth as a master boxer puncher. Louis had exceptional recuperative ability. He was knocked through the ropes by Buddy Baer in their first bout. Many of the sportswriters at ringside were having visions of Dempsey and Firpo. Joe Louis Could Take A Punch and Fight BackMax Baer, who hit hard enough to send two men to an early grave, hit Joe Louis with some of his hardest punches, Louis took them easily but Joe Louis never hit the canvas until his first fight with Max Schmeling. In his only loss, from 1934 through to 1949 when he retired as champion. It took Max Schmeling 57 right hand power shots to finally bring Louis down. Schmeling, a first rate counter puncher, was able to exploit Joe Louis' mistake of dropping his left after jabbing and especially when launching a left hook. He then proved vulnerable to a straight right hand. Joe Louis afterward corrected that mistake. Louis proved he could take it. One punch could not knock out Joe Louis. He had to be beaten over the course of the fight. Nat Fleischer in the August 1936 Ring Magazine commenting on Louis loss wrote, Louis at least answered the critics who said he couldn't take a punch, but in reality he could take a punch, and how! He absorbed enough punishment to have laid low the average pugilist a half dozen times. Staggered time and again, he kept on his feet and fought back... That comment still stands. Joe Louis could take it and fight back, usually with a vengeance! |
Joe Louis Had the Perfect Physique For a FighterJoe Louis had the perfect physique for a fighter with long, smooth muscles which gave him great speed and reflexes. Though overlaid with racism, one of the top sportswriters of the 30's, Grantland Rice, described Joe Louis as a brown cobra and referred to his blinding speed as the speed of the jungle and the instinctive speed of the wild. Rice In Mead, Sports Illustrated 16th September 1985 also compared Joe Louis to a black panther stalking his prey, his speed and power was explosive. Louis was a rare heavyweight who could throw a triple left hook with power as he did against Max Baer. In terms of hand speed, Joe Louis, in his prime, ranks with the best in the heavyweight division. | |
