This blog aims to tell particular stories of sports and sports that become epiphanies, previews, eloquent demonstration of the climate, the historical context of the period. To better understand the intentions, it is better to start with the first story: the two boxing fights between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling in 1936 and 1938.
In a few seconds at the beginning of the rematch between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling. E 'June 22, 1938. The referee, Arthur Donovan, approached the two boxers and warns them: "I want to remind you of the extraordinary responsibility you guys need support on this ring tonight. " Never was most sascrosanta truth, truth never so heavy it will be expressed by a figure so ordinary as a boxing referee. It 'a unique event. Why is a unique gathering. And the world heavyweight title was the least post up for grabs that night.
Who Is Joe Louis
50 wins, 43 by knockout, and just 4 defeats. This is the record of Joe Luis amateur. Results that will not leave indifferent the promoter of professional boxers. In fact, Luis is a promoter, a bookmaker in Detroit, John Roxborough. Maybe not the best, but it's black, like Luis, e lo convince che i manager bianchi non avrebbero avuto abbastanza interesse a promuovere la scalata di un nero al titolo mondiale . “I manager bianchi non sono interessati agli uomini che curano, ma solo ai soldi che possono ricavarci”: questo il senso del messaggio di Roxborough, che Luis ricostruisce nella sua biografia. Parlava già del Black Power, molto prima che diventasse celebre.
Roxborough conosceva un promoter di Chicago, Julian Black, e organizzò 12 combattimenti nel primo anno da pro, il 1934, per Louis, che vinse tutti gli incontri. Mentre si allenava per uno dei combattimenti, contro Lee Ramage, Louis incontra Marva Trotter, giovane segretaria del Chicago Defender. Si sposeranno nel 1935.
But there was no talk of defending the world title. All came down to a matter of race, although officially the boxing was not a segregated sport. white Americans simply wanted to avoid a repetition of the unpopular "reign of terror" by Jack Johnson . On March 29, 1935 Louis signing an exclusive contract with the promoter Mike Jacobs (after the defeat of the measure with Natie Brown): the future would be but half of the fees went to Roxborough and Black. To try to avoid the "Johnson effect" the two prepared seven "commandments" to uphold the public image of Louis, including not to be photographed with white women, not mocking opponents to the ground, not to participate a rigged fights, live and fight clean. Politics, history is intertwined with the career of the boxer for the first time June 26, 1935, when Louis knocked Carnera, who represented the collective regime of Mussolini, in six rounds. African-Americans, who had sympathized with Ethiopia during the Italian invasion, celebrated the victory of the man who would become "The Brown Bomber".
On 9 June 1936, the Bomber, considered unbeatable, he was asked to take on Max Schmeling, who had won the title of world champion in 1930, for the disqualification of Jack Sharkey, and then he defended the crown the following year. In 1936 he had thirty years and few considered him a rival for the Bomber class.
Max Schmeling, the hero who contains multitudes
And 'the only German world champion heavyweight boxing. He had no particular Nazi sympathies, although he is remembered as the last great champion of the Third Reich. The 'hero Hitler ", which gave the Fuhrer is the only sport joy of his dictatorship, was a man full of contradictions and conflicts, significant that humanity has struggled with his demons just as much as with His opponents in the ring. Schmeling had touched fame before Hitler took power in 1933. An honest worker became champion, who married the film actress of the time, Anny Ondra, who candidly said that he had turned his head away to avoid seeing the horrors that are rampant in Nazi Germany. He met Hitler several times, but at the same time tried to keep some distance from the Fuhrer. refused his Cross of Honour not fired his manager, the jew-American Joe Jacobs, who first reported the low blow that led to the disqualification of Sharkey and Schmeling in the first world title. At the risk of his own life at his home hid two Jewish children, children of a friend, Hans Lewin, during Kristallnacht . The seizure of power changed the attitude of Nazis against Schmeling and sports in general, which until 1933 were held in low regard because, they claimed, served the wrong gods: themselves. The victory over Hitler von Hindemburg changed things. Hitler was a fan of boxing and invited Schmeling (which Hindemburg had never done, even after winning the title) before leaving for the United States where, ten weeks after the election was scheduled for a fight with the young heavyweight Max Baer. Hitler wanted to exploit the boxer as an ambassador, as a message that living in the Reich everything is going well.
But Schmeling could not help noticing the close of repression, particularly against German Jews, who was also involving the world of boxing. bondholders Jews were deprived of the crown and the promoters were prevented from working, the fighters were driven out gyms, boxers and German was insistently asked to cut all ties with fellow Jews.
addition, one year before the fight Hitler announced that it would give rise to a strong remilitarization of Germany, for a strengthening of the army in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Immediately after the Reich's army, marching under the swastika, occupied the Ruhr region before demilitarized. The act increased the popularity of the Fuhrer in Germany, but not in the rest of the world. In this context, the 1936 Olympics and the match between Louis and Schmeling were many opportunities to promote and improve the international image of the new German course. But Jesse Owens ruined the scene on the stage more important.
In any case, what, in Hitler's plan was to become the ambassador of a false positive image of the Reich in America is prepared for the match with Louis in a resort run by Jews, Catskills Mountains, chosen by Joe Jacobs, hoping to reduce the opposition supporters to the Jewish boxer who represented the Third Reich and its trends pro-Aryan.
Louis vs. Schmeling Schmeling
notes studied the style of Louis. It 's a perfectionist, attentive to detail, and is a weak point in the Bomber, that no one had yet to put carpet . The U.S. tended to lower the left hand after a direct body: that Schmeling was intended to do was to move back, move right and hit with a counter-jab right .
With this strategy in mind enters the ring of Yankee Stadium in New York. The hall was packed. Referee Arthur Donovan, the legendary: the choice of the fifteen shooting distance. The bookmakers assigned to very few chances German, quoted 8 to 1. He was paid 3 or 4 to 1 ko Louis, and could play is a chance that the U.S. shut before the fifth round.
For the first three rounds Schmeling just use the right control, surveillance, waiting . But a right to his temple in the fourth round is to try the carpet Louis for the first time in twenty-eight professional meetings . Is counted: gets up after two seconds. From this point on, the U.S. loses the grace and ease of movement that had marked the rise. Staggers, attacks without seeing, without strategy, twice striking down the eighth and twelfth rounds, was penalized twice. He can no longer recover its equilibrium after the shock of the fourth round. In the fourth, fifth and sixth round, the fight goes on for a few seconds after the gong, in the enthusiasm of an audience that sees the German underdog transformed into a bloodthirsty tiger against what should have been the great champion of the evening. In one of these outbreaks of violence and further outside regulation, Schmeling loads a right with all the weight of the body and opens a gash on the jaw of the American, who ends up semi-unconscious in his chair to his corner while the blood stain the square .
Schmeling is taking nothing for granted, continues with its tactical intelligence and power of shots. Five go right to the face to mark the sixth round, but showed some hesitation in the seventh too ; you put Louis on the ropes and directed a couple of claims to the body. The round ends with a succession of left and right winners. In the eighth exchange blows to the face of rare ferocity. Schmeling's left eye almost closed for the bruises and wounds, but it's the fresher of the two after the halfway point in mid-match. Schmeling's fists are surgical: in the head, face, jaw, all the tenth and eleventh rounds, although sometimes the points are denied. The German, who had let slip too much chance against Jack Sharkey, is perfect in the eleventh round. And after 2 minutes and 29 seconds of the twelfth round yet another right (at the end of the meeting will be at least 54) manda Louis giù . L'americano cade sulle ginocchia, si affloscia, la testa ciondola; McAvoy lo conta, al “cinque” va con le spalle a terra, al “sette” pende senza forza sul gomito sinistro. Il “dieci” sigilla una sconfitta che avrebbe potuto rivelarsi disastrosa per la carriera del Bomber. Ad assistere a quella storica sconfitta c'era anche Langston Hughes, un intellettuale di punta del Rinascimento di Harlem, che così descrisse la reazione degli americani all'evento: “Camminavo sulla Settima Strada e vedevo uomini adulti, perfino anziani, piangere come bambini, e donne sedute sull'orlo dei marciapiedi con la testa tra le mani. Per tutta la nazione c'era gente che scoppiava in lacrime just heard the news. "
In contrast, the warmth of victory in Germany is a rare delight. Hitler's wife contacted Schmeling send her flowers with a message: "To the wonderful victory of her husband, our great boxer, I must congratulate you with all my heart." Schmeling returned with comments to the nationalistic German press. A reporter said, after the fight: "I n this time I have to say to Germany, and the Fuhrer in particular, that the thoughts of all my countrymen were with me tonight ; that the Fuhrer and his faithful people were thinking of me. And this closeness has given me the strength to win this battle. He gave me the courage and strength to achieve success under the German flag. "
Hitler and the leaders of the regime sought to transform Schmeling's victory a success of Nazism and Reich, as he declared the Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. The weekly SS Das Schwarze Corps ("The Corps Blacks") wrote: " Schmeling's victory was not just a matter of sport. It 'been a matter of prestige for our entire race . The regime tried to transform Schmeling in a "fighting Hitler, the Fuhrer distributed video of the match for Germany. The boxer was also invited to dinner by Hitler; accepted the invitation, but did not attend the party later. Years later he was asked why he had gone to dinner with the Fuhrer. Schmeling said: "I refused to go there four times, and nobody says no to the Fuhrer to five times. But this does not make me a Nazi. I also ate with Roosevelt, but this does not make me a Democrat. " But on the issue of race remains close to its position to that of the regime. "I never fought a black man if I did not think I can beat," he said after the match to reporters in New York.
The consequences of victory
The success made up for Louis Schmeling appointed the challenger for the title of world champion heavyweight held by James J. Braddock. The German boxer signed a contract because the title match was played at Madison Square Bowl in Long Island. But the manager of the Braddock, Joe Gould, exploited the anti-Nazi sentiments common in the American people to prevent him from winning the title : behind even though there could be various reasons, such as the possibility that Schmeling, in case of victory, did not allow then to deal with American challengers for the title or simply the best prospect of built-guaranteed by a comparison between Braddock and Louis. Gould signed a contract with Louis in Braddock, which guaranteed $ 300,000 and 10% of the profits that the bomber would have achieved in the following decade . The match ebbe luogo il 22 giugno del 1937, a Chicago. Louis vinse per ko all'ottava ripresa, ma dichiarò subito: “Non voglio essere chiamato campione finché non avrò battuto Schmeling”. E ottenne quello che voleva. La rivincita venne fissata a un anno esatto dalla vittoria di Louis su Braddock.
La situazione geopolitica era profondamente diversa rispetto allo scenario di soli due anni prima. Gli Stati Uniti continuavano a soffrire le conseguenze della Grande Depressione e del Mercoledì Nero del 1929, e molti americani cercavano consolazione e ispirazione nel mondo dello sport. Tra il 1936 e il 1938 si era poi inasprito il conflitto ideologico e politico tra gli Usa e la Germania nazista, che nel frattempo aveva completato l'Anschluss, the annexation of Austria, making the war between the Western powers an almost predictable outcome, even if Chamberlain and the Allies thought they had stopped the intent of handing over the Sudetenland Fuhrer conference in Monaco. A conclusion that prompted Churchill to comment, contrary to international public opinion but with a sadly prophetic vision, that political leaders "had a choice between dishonor and war. They chose dishonor, will have war. "
Hitler's regime, through its "director", the propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, continued to build on the success of Schmeling in the first match to communicate the winning image of the Reich, even several times if his friend Jack Dempsey tried to convince the German boxer to defect and to declare an American citizen . Therefore, when the rematch, Hitler forbade the trip to his mother and his wife, to try to reduce the temptations of defection. Schmeling was a member of staff is also a journalist of the Nazi Party, which controls every negative comment by the boxer and above all made to the publication of allegations that a black boxer could not beat Schmeling, and that the premiums for the boxer would were used by Hitler to build more tanks. Hitler eliminated the curfew for a day so they could pass on the bars and cafes to meet beneficio di clienti e proprietari .
L'immagine di Schemling presso il popolo americano era dunque molto cambiata tra il 1936 e il 1938. Prima del rematch, Schmeling venne fatto oggetto di lettere minatorie con su scritto “Heil Hitler” o simili, fu bersagliato in albergo e sul ring dal lancio di oggetti e cicche di sigarette.
Intanto, poche settimane prima della sfida, Louis andò in visita alla Casa Bianca dal Presidente Franklyn Delano Roosevelt. Il New York Times raccontò che il presidente gli disse “Abbiamo bisogno dei tuoi muscoli per battere la Germania”.
Quando mancavano pochi giorni al combattimenti, la New York State Athletic Commission stabilì che Joe Jacobs, Schmeling's manager, could not stay in the locker room or corner of the boxer, as punishment for an offense dating back a few years ago that involved a match of Tony Galento. Even the assistant who was usually the corner of Schmeling, Doc Casey, resigned to go to the U.S. for fear of bad publicity.
The big day arrived. Schmeling looked forward to the start of the match, while the audience roared and the launch of all. People who in all probability he had read an article on almost all the newspapers carried a statement from Joe Louis: "Tonight not only fight for my personal revenge, to avenge the only blemish of my career, but I fight for America against the threat of a foreign invader , Max Schmeling. It is no longer a man against another, me against Schmeling, but the good old United States against Germany. " The rematch
There were 80 000 at Yankee Stadium for the rematch. They had paid $ 30 each for a collection estimated at between 900,000 and one million dollars. The audience included the Cabinet of President Roosevelt, Postmaster General James A. Farley, Governors of several states, mayors of cities of the East, South, Midwest, deputies and senators, judges, lawyers, doctors, bankers, eminent exponents the world of entertainment, former champions of boxing and other sports. all gathered together for a show that lasted just one hundred twenty-four seconds . Schmeling is not even got to the bell of the first round but he had time to finish the mat three times before the meeting was declared closed. He scored just two hits against Joe Louis, who had never started a match with such ferocity, with a similar fury. Now two claims in the face, then a left to the jaw. Schmeling try a reaction, but is forced to the ropes by a succession of left and right in the face. Donovan The referee separates the two boxers, but can only bring the German to the center of the square. Louis expects a couple of seconds and start hammering. with an uppercut right Scheling sent to the mat for the first time : German is the count of three but got up, although it is not too firm on my legs. Louis does not stop, striking the body with scientific accuracy, before sending a another right to the face that sent Schmeling down for another second o. He gets up, but does not last long. left hook, right cheek to direct: the view of Schmeling becomes blurred, the knees give way, is down again . The public cries out, Donovan is not exempted from the duty to call Donovan to remain neutral in the farthest while Eddie Josephs, arbitrator under license converted to the role a timekeeper, it starts counting. One ... two ... three. At this point a white towel into the ring flies. He launched Max Machon, coach and great friend of Schmeling is the signal that normally is used in Europe to indicate surrender. But not in America, it is ignored for years. Donovan throws the strings out of the square, while continuing to rely Josephs.
Four ... five ... Donovan then bends down to look for some signal of the pulse rise. But it is only an indication that that account could go on forever: Schmeling would have been helpless on the ground. Donovan opens his arms, Josephs stops at five. The good old USA won. Even if you have not completed the account up to ten to prevent Louis heading to victory as happened to ko, but only as a technical knockout. But it is a technicality that is of secondary importance in an evening where there was at stake much more than the world heavyweight title.
There are still three years at Pearl Harbor and U.S. entry into World War II. But to be able to look, and it's easy with the eyes of memory, development and the end of history had already been written on the square of Yankee Stadium in New York.
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