LIsa Boothe
Joe Louis was a professional boxer in the United States from 1934 to 1951. Louis has earned the nickname “Brown Bomber” and is regarded as one of the best and most significant boxers in history.
Joe Louis | Early Life And Family
An American professional boxer, Joe Louis was born on On May 13, 1914, in a hut outside of Lafayette, Alabama.
Louis was the seventh of eight children born to Munroe and Lillie (Reese) Barrow.
Furthermore, both of his parents were the offspring of former slaves who alternated between sharecropping and renting farming.
Munroe was half Cherokee and half European, while Lillie was half African American and half European.
Louis’ early years were shaped by financial difficulties. However, his adversity drove him to the success and fame he achieved.
Louis was only two years old when his father was committed to an asylum, and he and his siblings shared a bed three or four beds.
Similarly, his lack of education hampered his progress, and he eventually developed a stutter.
Later, in 1920, Louis’ mother married Pat Brooks, a local construction contractor, after hearing rumors that Munroe Barrow had died while hospitalized.
The family relocated to Detroit shortly after Lillie Barrow remarried to widower Patrick Brooks.
Education
Louis Brooks went to the Bronson Trade School to learn cabinet making. But after losing his job at Ford, he was forced to take odd jobs.
Lillie enrolled Louis in violin lessons after he began hanging out with a neighborhood gang to keep him out of trouble.
Louis, on the other hand, had been introduced to boxing by a friend and began training at the Brewster Recreation Center with the money from his violin.
Joe Louis | Career
Career in Amateur
Joe started his career in early 1932, at the age of 17. According to legend, before the fight, Louis scribbled his name so large that there was no room for his last name, and thus became known as “Joe Louis” for the rest of his boxing career.
Similarly, Louis defeated Joe Biskey for the Detroit-area Golden Gloves Novice Division title in the light heavyweight division in 1933.
He was defeated, however, in the Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions in Chicago.
The following year, he won the Golden Gloves Open Division light heavyweight title, as well as the Chicago Tournament of Champions against Max Bauer.
Louis followed up his success in Chicago by winning the light heavyweight United States Amateur Champion National AAU competition in April 1934 in St. Louis, Missouri.
In addition, he finished his amateur career 50-4 with 43 knockouts.
Professional Career
Louis made an immediate impact in 1934 as a professional boxer, obliterating opponents with his deadly combinations and potent jab.
However, he did not put much effort into getting ready for his first fight against Max Schmeling, a former Heavyweight champion of Germany.
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On June 19, 1936, Schmeling defeated Louis by knockout in the 12th round, handing him his first defeat as a professional.
Louise defeated Heavyweight Title of Braddock
On June 22, 1937, Louis was given the chance to face James J. Braddock in a heavyweight championship match.
Despite Braddock’s renown for tenacity, Louis was knocked out early, and his younger, stronger opponent eventually outweighed him.
Braddock was pummeled by the “Brown Bomber” throughout the middle rounds before being stopped in the eighth to win the heavyweight championship.
Rematch with Schmeling
Louis was given permission to confront Schmeling once more on June 22, 1938.
Adolph Hitler hailed Schmeling as an example of Aryan dominance, raising the stakes and giving the fight more overtly nationalistic and racial overtones.
Louis became a hero to both black and white Americans when he eliminated his German opponent in the first round.
Billy Conn Fight
When Louis faced Billy Conn, the light heavyweight champion and a well-known challenger, his streak of low-profile opponents came to an end.
In front of 54,487 spectators, the fight took place at the Polo Grounds on June 18, 1941.
Similar to that, a lot of people thought the fight was among the greatest heavyweight boxing contests ever. Late in 1942, a rematch with Conn was planned.
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The rematch had to be canceled because Conn broke his hand during a well-publicized altercation with his father-in-law, Major League Baseball star Jimmy “Greenfield” Smith.
Later, when Conn was prepared for the rematch, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place.
Heavyweight Champion
Louis proved by winning that he was a kind, even generous, victor.
He received praise for his contributions to the nation’s war effort, including his 1942 enlistment in the US Army and his gift of prize money to military aid organizations.
After an unprecedented 11 years and 8 months as heavyweight champion, Louis announced his resignation on March 1, 1949.
Defeat by Marciano
Despite financial difficulties, Louis returned to the ring in September 1950 to face newly crowned heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles, ultimately losing a 15-round decision.
He put together a recent winning streak against a string of inferior opponents. But he couldn’t compete with the favorite, Rocky Marciano.
With a 68-3 record and 54 knockouts following their fight on October 26, 1951, which ended horribly in the eighth round TKO, Louis officially announced his retirement.
Professional Golf
Another one of Louis’s passions was golf, and he was a well-known figure in the game. Having been introduced to the sport prior to the 1936 debut of Schmeling, he had been a longtime enthusiast.
Louis was invited to play as an amateur on a sponsor’s exemption in the San Diego Open. He made history by becoming the first African American to compete on the PGA Tour.
Similarly, he was key to the creation of The First Tee, a charity that teaches underprivileged children how to play golf.
Retirement Career
Even though he continued to enjoy widespread popularity, his financial situation was never stable due to unpaid taxes.
He briefly competed in professional wrestling in the mid-1950s before switching to refereeing boxing and wrestling matches.
In Las Vegas, Caesars Palace allowed the former champion to work as a greeter. And regain some financial stability when the IRS finally forgave his debt.
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Joe Louis | Film And Television
Louis played a boxer who resembled him in many ways in the 1938 racing movie Spirit of Youth. Louis also appeared in two short films and six feature films.
He made a guest appearance on You Bet Your Life in 1955.
A movie about Louis’ life, The Joe Louis Story, which was helmed by Robert Gordon in 1953, depicts the athlete’s life and career.
In the Hollywood movie, Coley Wallace, a Golden Gloves boxer, and Louis clone played the lead role.
The movie also had a low production value and budget, intercutting scenes from Louis’s actual fights slowly and having bad audio sync.
Joe Louis | Net Worth
Despite earning $5 million, Louis’s financial situation was a complete disaster.
Even the financial aid his family received from Detroit during the Great Depression was repaid by him.
Another problem was that Louis made a number of bad financial decisions, including buying several failed businesses and putting his trust in people who misled him.
Joe Louis, the IRS, took the biggest financial hit. Louis owed $500,000 in back taxes, and the total after additional fines was more than $1.2 million.
Poor accounting, an absurdly high tax rate of about 90%, and the exorbitant cost of living contributed to Louis’ demise.
Joe Louis | Personal Life
Two children were born to Louis and his wife Marva Trotter (daughter Jacqueline in 1943 and son Joseph Louis Barrow Jr. in 1947).
Nevertheless, they did get divorced in March 1945, get remarried a year later, and got divorced again in February 1949.
Louis later married Rose Morgan, a well-known businesswoman from Harlem, on Christmas Day in 1955; their marriage ended in divorce in 1958.
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On St. Patrick’s Day in 1959, Louis married Martha Jefferson, a Los Angeles attorney, and the union endured until his passing.
They had two sons, John Louis Barrow and Joseph Louis Barrow Jr., along with Janet Louis Barrow, a daughter. Joe Louis Barrow Jr., Joe Louis Barrow’s younger brother, is a boxer who resides in New York City.
Joe Louis | Death
Louis’ final years were marred by substance abuse. In 1969, he was taken to the hospital after collapsing on a New York City street.
While the tragedy was initially attributed to “physical collapse,” deeper issues soon surfaced.
His wife, Martha, and son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., admitted him for paranoia to the Colorado Psychiatric Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital in 1970.
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Louis’ health deteriorated later in the decade as a result of strokes and cardiac problems. Finally, in 1977, he had surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm and had to rely on a POV/scooter for mobility.
Louis died of a heart attack in Desert Springs Hospital outside Las Vegas on April 12, 1981, just hours after his last public appearance, which was to see the Larry Holmes-Trevor Berbick Heavyweight Championship match.
Joe Louis | Body Measurement
Joe Louis is a fighter and movie star. Moreover, Taurus is the zodiac sign of Joe.
Joe stands 6 ft 2 inches tall and weighs 92 kilograms. Taurus is his zodiac sign.
Social Media Presence
Instagram: 1326 followers (52 Posts)
FAQS:
The Joe Louis Weight: What Is It?
82 kg is Joe Louis’ weight.
What year was Joe Louis born?
May 13, 1914.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Joseph Louis Barrow |
| Nickname | Brown Bomber |
| Birthdate | May 13, 1914 |
| Birthplace | Chambers County, Alabama, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | African-American |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Zodiac Sign | Taurus |
| Age | 66 years old (during his death) |
| Father’s name | Munroe Barrow |
| Mother’s name | Lillie Barrow |
| Sibling | Seven |
| Sibling Name | Alvanius Barrow DeLeon Barrow Vunice Barrow Eulalia Barrow Susie Barrow Lonnie Barrow Emmarell Barrow |
| High School |
Bronson Trade School
|
| College | Not Mentioned |
| Marital status | Married |
| Wife’s Name | Martha Jefferson |
| Ex-Wife | Marva Trotter Rose Morgan |
| Children | One son and daughter |
| Children’s Name | Jacqueline Barrow Joseph Louis Barrow Jr. |
| Weight | In Kilograms – 92 kg |
| Height | In Centimetres – 188cm In Feet and Inches – 6 ft 2 in |
| Eye Color | Not mentioned |
| Hair Color | Not mentioned |
| Profession | Heavyweights |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Total fights | 69 |
| Total wins | 66 |
| Wins by KO | 52 |
| Losses | 3 |
| Medals | Golden Gloves (1934) Chicago Golden Gloves (1934) US National Championships (1934) |
| Death | April 12, 1914 |
| Death place | Paradise, Nevada, U.S. |
