Joe Louis Vs. Max Schmeling - Aftermath

Aftermath

The fight had racial as well as political undertones. Much of black America pinned its hopes on the outcome of the fight, seeing Louis' success as a vehicle for advancing the cause of African Americans everywhere. Poet and author Maya Angelou, among others, recounted her recollection of the Louis-Schmeling fight while growing up in rural Arkansas, listening to the fight over the radio in her uncle's country store. While Louis was on the ropes,

My race groaned. It was our people falling. It was another lynching, yet another black man hanging on a tree .... this might be the end of the world. If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only a little higher than the apes ....

Conversely, when Louis won the fight, emotions were unbounded:

Champion of the world. A Black boy. Some Black mother's son. He was the strongest man in the world. People drank Coca-Cola like ambrosia and ate candy bars like Christmas."

In his autobiography, Schmeling himself confirmed the public's reaction to the outcome, recounting his ambulance ride to the hospital afterward: "As we drove through Harlem, there were noisy, dancing crowds. Bands had left the nightclubs and bars and were playing and dancing on the sidewalks and streets. The whole area was filled with celebration, noise, and saxophones, continuously punctuated by the calling of Joe Louis' name."

Reaction in the mainstream American press, while positive toward Louis, reflected the implicit racism in the United States at the time. Lewis F. Atchison of The Washington Post began his story: "Joe Louis, the lethargic, chicken-eating young colored boy, reverted to his dreaded role of the 'brown bomber' tonight"; Henry McLemore of the United Press called Louis "a jungle man, completely primitive as any savage, out to destroy the thing he hates."

Although Schmeling rebounded professionally from the loss to Louis (winning the European Heavyweight Title in 1939 by knocking out Adolf Heuser in the 1st round), the Nazi regime would cease promoting him as a national hero. Schmeling and Nazi authorities grew further in opposition over time. During the Kristallnacht of November 1938, Schmeling provided sanctuary for two young Jewish boys to safeguard them from the Gestapo. Conversely, as a way of punishing Schmeling for his increasingly public resistance, Hitler drafted Schmeling into paratrooper duty in the German Luftwaffe. After brief military service and a comeback attempt in 1947-1948, Schmeling retired from professional boxing. He would go on to invest his earnings in various post-War businesses, among other things becoming the first man to bring the Coca Cola brand to Germany. His resistance of the Nazi party elevated his status once again to that of a hero in post-war Germany. Schmeling died in 2005, just shy of his 100th birthday.

Further information: Max Schmeling

Louis went on to become a major celebrity in the United States and, moreover, is considered the first true African American national hero. When other prominent blacks questioned whether African Americans should serve against the Axis nations in the segregated U.S. Armed Forces, Louis disagreed, saying, "There are a lot of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain't gonna fix them." He would go on and serve the United States Army during World War II, but he did not engage in battle while the war was going on. He mostly visited soldiers in Europe to provide them with motivational speeches and with boxing exhibitions. He kept defending the world heavyweight title until 1949, making twenty five consecutive title defenses – still a world record among all weight divisions.

Louis' finances evaporated later in life, and he became involved in the use of illicit drugs.

Further information: Joe Louis

Louis and Schmeling developed a friendship outside the ring, which endured until Louis' death in 1981. Their rivalry and friendship was the focus of the 1978 TV movie Ring of Passion. Louis got a job as a greeter at the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas, and Schmeling flew to visit him every year. Schmeling reportedly also sent Louis money in Louis' later years and covered a part of the costs of Louis' funeral, at which he was a pallbearer.

Both Louis and Schmeling are members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.