Joe Louis: The Life of a HeavyweightJoe Louis held the heavyweight boxing championship longer than any other fighter and defended it a record 25 times. (In the 1930s and 1940s, the owner of the heavyweight title was the most prominent non-team sports competitor.) In addition, Louis helped bridge the gap of understanding between whites and blacks. During World War II he not only raised money for Army and Navy relief and entertained millions of troops as a morale officer, but became a symbol of American hope and strength. This biography of Louis outlines his rise from poverty in Alabama to become the best-known African American of his time and describes how an uneducated man, simple at his core, became so articulate and ended up on the side of right in the battles he fought, with fist or voice. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
1 The Brain Trust | 5 |
2 Alabama | 13 |
3 Detroit | 22 |
4 Joe Who? | 29 |
5 Laying Out the Big Plan | 36 |
6 Jack Johnson | 42 |
7 Going Pro | 50 |
16 Joe Bounces Back | 127 |
17 And the New Heavyweight Champion of the World | 135 |
18 Being the Champ | 143 |
19 LouisSchmeling II | 150 |
20 Bigger Than Ever | 160 |
21 TwoTon Tony and Tons of Others | 168 |
22 The Tough Guy from Pittsburgh | 178 |
23 Youre in the Army Now | 187 |
8 The Brown Bomber | 57 |
9 The Brown Bomber Versus the Italian Man Mountain | 67 |
10 Showdown with Killer Baer | 78 |
11 An Eye for the Ladies | 86 |
12 Working His Way to the Top | 96 |
13 Max Schmeling | 103 |
14 Schmeling Hitler and the Nazis | 111 |
15 LouisSchmeling I | 117 |
24 A Young Man Named Robinson | 197 |
25 After the War | 203 |
26 End Days of a Brilliant Career | 211 |
27 Real Life Tougher Than Boxing | 219 |
Chapter Notes | 231 |
| 237 | |
| 239 | |