Amateur Career
The Depression hit the Barrow family hard, but as an alternative to gang activity, Joe began to spend time at a local youth recreation center at 637 Brewster Street in Detroit. Legend has it that he tried to hide his pugilistic ambitions from his mother by carrying his boxing gloves inside his violin case.
Louis's amateur debut, at age 17, probably in early 1932, came as a light heavyweight. A legend exists that before the fight, Louis, only barely literate, wrote his name so large that there was no room for his last name "Barrow" – as a result becoming known as "Joe Louis" for the remainder of his boxing career. More likely, Louis simply committed his last name to keep his boxing pursuits a secret from his mother. After this debut (a loss to future Olympian Johnny Miller), Louis compiled numerous amateur victories – eventually winning the club championship of his Brewster Street recreation center, the home of many aspiring Golden Gloves fighters.
In 1933, Louis won the Detroit-area Golden Gloves Novice Division championship for the light heavyweight classification against Joe Biskey, later losing in the Chicago Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions. The next year, competing in the Golden Gloves' Open Division, he won the light heavyweight classification, this time also winning the Chicago Tournament of Champions. Although a hand injury forced Louis to miss the New York/Chicago Champions' cross-town bout for the ultimate Golden Gloves championship in 1934, he followed up his Chicago performance by winning the National AAU tournament in St. Louis, Missouri in April of that year. By the end of his amateur career, Louis's record was 50 wins against 4 losses, with 43 knockouts.
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