Louis Worked Quickly in Rare L.A. Title Bout

It was the first heavyweight championship fight in Los Angeles in 32 years, and almost two decades would pass before another was held in Los Angeles.

Sixty years ago tonight, a crowd of 23,000 streamed into Wrigley Field to watch Joe Louis, 25, defend his title for the sixth time by knocking out Jack Roper, 36, in the first round.

Afterward, Roper sounded like a lot of guys Louis fought.

“My head was clear, I just couldn’t get up,” he said.

Louis hit Roper high on the head with a long right hand, then, as Roper backed up, Louis dug a left hook to Roper’s body. Roper sagged to his knees at the ropes, clutching the top rope with both hands. When the count reached eight, he pitched forward onto his face.

And just like that, it was over. Tommy Burns defended the heavyweight title four consecutive times in Los Angeles in 1906-1907, and Floyd Patterson beat Roy Harris at Wrigley Field in 1958.

In between, there were 2 minutes 20 seconds of Louis-Roper.

By all accounts, the overmatched Roper put forth a maximum effort, and in fact tagged Louis twice before the body shot felled him.

Roper, from Hollywood, came from a fighting family. His older brother, Bob, was the heavyweight champion of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe in World War I.

As a promotion, it wasn’t a bell-ringer for Louis. The house was scaled from $11.50 ringside to $1.25 upstairs. Louis earned $34,850.

Afterward, Louis was a late-night speaker at the Elks Club at 36th and Central in Los Angeles.

Also on this date: In 1976, Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies hit four consecutive home runs in an 18-16 victory over the Cubs at Chicago. . . . In 1947, the Dodgers’ Jackie Robinson got his first big league hit, a bunt single. . . . In 1963, NFL stars Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended indefinitely for gambling and were not reinstated until the next year. . . . In 1953, Mickey Mantle, 21, hit a home run that sailed out of Washington’s Griffith Stadium 60 feet above the 32nd and last row of the left-field bleachers and traveled an estimated 565 feet, not stopping until it rolled into the backyard of Perry L. Cool’s house at 434 Oakdale St.