![]() ![]() "We usually find an opponent two to three days before a fight," Road Manager Paul Toole said, adding they had a boxer lined up June 22 who ended up backing out. He is scheduled to appear on the July 1 Showtime boxing card in Michigan and, as of June 22, the search was still on for someone to go up against. He can back that up just look at his stats.īrunson is making such quick work of his opponents, he has trouble getting fighters to step into the ring. "I am not surprised about it because I can punch and if I hit anybody they’re going to fall," the 21-year-old said. His longest fight was in November, going 2:15.īrunson said the early wins were something he expected. The quickest came in August, when he knocked out Terry Rork in 17 seconds. All 11 of his victories have come via first-round knockouts. The legacy left behind by Louis's magnificent boxing career would create a path for future generations of African American athlete activists to further advance the civil rights movement in America.Tyrone "Young Gun" Brunson, the Mid-American Middleweight champion with the perfect 11-0 record is the man with the golden gloves. He received full national military honors due to President Reagan waiving the requirements for burial. Joe Louis succumbed to a heart attack in 1981 and currently rests in the Arlington National Cemetery. The government would eventually pardon Louis's tax debt. He would later make television appearances and even attempt professional wrestling. Louis's comeback would end in 1951, when he lost to Rocky Marciano. Yet, due to financial difficulties caused by back taxes he owed, Louis soon returned to boxing. After the war ended, Louis returned to boxing, where he held on to his title four more times before retiring in 1949. For example, famous baseball player Jackie Robinson, assisted by Louis, would be accepted into the Army Officer Candidate School. Louis’s prolific boxing abilities encouraged the advancement of other African American soldiers and athletes in the military. His service consisted of raising funds for Army Emergency Relief and promoting enlistment to the Army through boxing matches. Louis enlisted into the military during World War II. Louis said, "The one-time cotton picker was now the heavyweight champion of the world." However, his boxing career would be halted in 1942. Further, Louis's victories made him the first African American to achieve the status of a national hero. With his illustrious boxing career, he became a symbol of hope, pride, strength, and dignity for African Americans against the Jim Crow laws and segregation in the U.S and abroad. With his win, Louis chipped away at the superior Aryan race belief held not only by Germany at the time, but also the U.S. Yet, Louis would defeat Schmeling in the first round, lasting only two minutes and forty seconds. German leader, Adolf Hitler, hoped to witness the defeat of Louis to prove his theology of white superiority. The rematch between Schmeling and Louis would take place at the Yankee Stadium on June 22, 1938. ![]() ![]() Louis would win the heavyweight champion title a year later but refused to recognize himself as such until his rematch with Schmeling. Louis would suffer his first professional loss to German Max Schmeling at the Yankee Stadium, resulting in a knockout in the twelfth round. However, one match alone will determine Louis's fame and legacy in the world of boxing. ![]() He would also hold onto his heavyweight title for eleven years, a record lasting today. He won a total of sixty-eight matches, losing only three and winning the first twenty-seven bouts. With these two men guiding him, Louis’s professional career would soon set him apart from other boxers. Roxborough recognized Louis's potential and helped develop his professional career by providing him a manager Julian Black, an African American nightclub owner and gambling organizer. These impressive feats would capture the attention of a wealthy African American businessperson, John Roxborough, who ran a real estate office as a coverup for gambling operations. He would also win the National Amateur Athletic Union in 1934. Louis would acquire an amateur record of 50-4 (wins-losses,) placing in the Golden Gloves finals in 1933. Joe Louis Barrow became known as Joe Louis when he ran out of space to print his full name on the form for his first amateur fight. ![]()
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