50 Years Ago : Tyson-Spinks Fight Is in the Shadow of Louis-Schmeling Rematch

It is fitting that Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks will be climbing into an Atlantic City ring in a week to decide the heavyweight championship of the planet. It’s fitting because it helps draw attention to the fact that in a few days we mark the golden anniversary of one of the great ring battles of all time.

June 22, 1938, a packed Yankee Stadium. Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling. The ultimate revenge.

The fight lasted just two minutes and four seconds, the amount of time some observers give Spinks against Tyson next Monday night. Louis hammered Schmeling to the canvas three times, and then the German lay motionless in a heap.

This was so much more than a simple boxing match. Adolph Hitler’s Third Reich wanted the title to bolster its “superior race” propaganda campaign, wanted it so badly, in fact, there were reports Schmeling would be tossed in jail if he returned home to Berlin without the belt.

Contrary to popular belief, the fight game then wasn’t a whole lot different than it is now: tawdry. Promoters and managers did as they pleased and more than a few bouts stunk.

The events leading to Louis’ total destruction of Schmeling had their genesis eight years before. Then, and in every succeeding June, a big championship fight was staged. The title changed hands almost annually. Gene Tunney had retired in 1928 as champion and it took two years to determine who would fight for the vacant crown. It wasn’t worth millions in those days.

Schmeling and Jack Sharkey were the nominees and, in the fourth round, Max sunk to the mat writhing in pain. Schmeling’s very astute American manager, Joe Jacobs, leaped into the ring claiming foul--a low blow--and, amazingly, everyone seemed to believe him. Schmeling’s hand was raised.

A year went by and Schmeling beat Young Stribling in Cleveland. Another year and Schmeling was in the ring against Sharkey again, this time to lose a 15-round decision. In 1933, on June 29, Sharkey lost to Primo Carnera and the infamous “sneak” uppercut.

A check of the gloves uncovered that the “Ambling Alp” had nothing but fists inside, no brass knuckles or lead pipe. No one bothered to check Sharkey’s jaw (or heart).

On June 14, 1934, Carnera was wiped out in 11 rounds by Max Baer. A week prior to the fight, the head of the sanctioning New York Boxing Commission took one look at Baer and referred to him as a “poorly-conditioned bum.” The plain facts were that Carnera couldn’t fight, most of his career having been “arranged.”

One of the fighters on the Baer-Carnera undercard working for $250 because he was a laid-off railroad worker was a washed-up fighter named James J. Braddock. For apparent reasons, he was given a shot at Baer’s title the next June and, as a 10-to-1 underdog, won. Now, you know why Braddock carried the nickname “Cinderella Man” from that day forward.

After beating Baer, Braddock didn’t even fight for two years save for one three-round exhibition match. The following year, 1936, was left to one bout: Louis-Schmeling I.

Joe Louis Barrow then just 22 and but two years removed from the Chicago Golden Gloves. His record was 27-0 and contained 23 knockouts. Sound familiar to Tyson’s start?

Schmeling, since losing the title to Sharkey, had fought just seven times in the ensuing four years and had been knocked out by Baer and held to a draw by Paulino Uzcudun.

Clearly, Louis was supposed to win the fight against an aging campaigner and proceed to the championship. June 19, 1936, was the date of the dramatic reversal. Schmeling, using only his right hand, hammered the defenseless Louis throughout before registering a knockout in the 12th round.

At long last, Schmeling would succeed where James J. Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jim Jeffries and Jack Dempsey had failed. He would be the first to retain the heavyweight title. But “Black Uhlan” (Schmeling’s nickname) never got the call to face Braddock.

Craftily, promoter Mike Jacobs had both the champion and Louis under contract and, come hell or high water, they were going to meet for the crown. Braddock did an admirable job against Louis for eight rounds before the “Brown Bomber” put him away. Schmeling didn’t even get the first shot at Louis, or the second, or the third.

For the previous several years, heavyweight title holders defended just once a year, outdoors, where big crowds insured hefty purses. Louis, already a full-fledged hero in the black community, soon added to his domain by fighting as often as possible.

The return bout against Schmeling was what sent Louis on his way. More than 80,000 packed Yankee Stadium that night, paying as much as $30 a seat. The gate amounted to more than $900,000. Schmeling got off just two punches and one missed. The right, which had given Louis so much trouble two years before, landed flush and Louis hardly blinked.

Meanwhile, Louis opened with a left hook and Max turned away from it. A right crashed into Schmeling’s kidney area and he said later that the punch paralyzed him. Louis, a 2-1 favorite, was all over his man. The fight was being broadcast worldwide via shortwave radio in English, German, Spanish and Portuguese. It was 3 a.m. in Germany, yet the country was buzzing.

Unable to make political hay with the result as intended, Hitler gave Schmeling the cold shoulder upon his return to the Fatherland. Schmeling fought one more time, joined the German Army and served as a paratrooper. He fought professionally five times after the war.

Louis went on and on. He served in the Army, fighting exhibitions throughout World War II and donating his purses to the Army and Navy Relief Funds. He defended his title successfully 25 times over an 11-year period. He was a genuine American hero.

Would that Tyson and Spinks are up to staging an event even mildly resembling the Louis-Schmeling bash of 50 years ago. And may both enjoy a pleasurable day after, as Louis did. Louis showed up the following morning to collect his check ($306,000) and then sauntered out to a game at the Polo Grounds.