I Love Boxing

Another radical change was underway for the boxing world in the 1940s. Two major influences of this were World War II, which affected the sport's development, and television, which would become a permanent game changer. Throughout all of this, the decade would belong to two boxers in particular...

The draft in the Second World War greatly affected boxing. It essentially put the sport on hold, as any would-be new talent was sent overseas to fight for their country while prewar champions maintained their dominance much longer than was to be expected under normal circumstances. The war also proved to "make or break" the fame of many post-war boxers. Those who served instantly won the favor of audiences while those who ducked the draft were routinely shamed for it. After the war, while television was in its infancy, it would inevitably become involved in boxing and completely changed the sport's landscape.

When fights started being aired on television, it was done almost every night of the week and watched by fans all around the country. This greatly helped the careers of many fighters by granting them more exposure, but it also hurt the careers of those in the more disadvantaged communities whose fights wouldn't be televised, making it even harder for them to work their way up the ranks. Television effectively ended the regional club scene in boxing. Because there was more money and exposure in television, professional bouts were no longer held in clubs. This was one of the biggest factors that led to fighters having much less active fight records. Before, it was normal for boxers to have hundreds of fights over the course of their career, now they only have dozens or so.

The mafia tainted boxing during the 30's with their influence, but by the 40's, the extent of the mob's control escalated further. They controlled entire promotions, sanctioning bodies, championship titles, venues, fights and more. Several boxers back then were known for their involvement with the mafia as well. Some figures in boxing would even be fined or arrested over their ties to organized crime. A few infamous examples of fixed fights thanks to the mob's influence would occur this decade. Mafia corruption in boxing would continue well into the following decade and still exists in the sport today.

Racial standing in boxing would be greatly improved during the 40's, largely thanks to the championship reigns of two African-American boxers that the title of this part in the series is named after: Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis. Audiences of any race simply had to admire the incredible talent of both fighters. While open racism among fans and the media would still be prevalent, the undeniable dominance of two black boxers led to increased acceptance of racial diversity in the sport. The morale of the African-American community would prosper from this as well, giving blacks all over the country a strong sense of hope, pride and accomplishment.

After defeating Max Schmeling in their highly anticipated 1938 rematch, Joe Louis became a superstar and it earned him his nickname "The Brown Bomber".  Louis' victory over Schmeling was only the beginning of his peak years. He became renown as one of the greatest heavyweights in boxing history, proving to be completely unmatched by any boxer who came to face him in his subsequent title defenses. Opponents would often be dispatched quickly and convincingly by the champion. The frequency at which he defended his title was a reign that hadn't been seen since the end of boxing's bare-knuckle days. These ill-fated challengers even earned a nickname by fans: the "Bum of the Month Club". Though most members of this "club" were top heavyweight contenders.

Louis' streak of decisive victories would end on Jun 18, 1941 in his historic match with Billy Conn. Conn was the physically smaller fighter in the bout, which led to Louis admittedly underestimating his power. Conn would utilize an evasive "hit-and-run" strategy that gave him the upper-hand for the first 12 rounds of the fight. Going into the 13th round, Conn was winning on the scorecards and Louis was visibly exhausted. Conn attempted to take advantage of Louis' worn state and started engaging him more closely, but this backfired as Louis was able to knock Conn out at the end of the 13th round. The fight created an immediate rivalry between Louis and Conn and a rematch was scheduled for the following year, which would be canceled after Conn suffered an injury that prevented him from fighting. By the time Conn was healed, the attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place, sending the US into the war and Louis to start his military service.

On January 10, 1942, Louis enlisted in the US army. He was never sent into combat and was instead used to boost the morale of US troops, going on a celebrity tour, along with Sugar Ray Robinson, to perform a number of exhibition bouts in front of thousands of soldiers. When Louis was granted a release and returned to boxing in 1945, a long-awaited rematch with Conn was expected but had to be delayed to the Summer of 1946. On June 19, 1946, the rematch finally happened and turned out to be much less eventful than the first. Conn evaded Louis throughout the fight until Louis secured a knockout victory in the 8th round. The issue of finding a suitable opponent for Louis arose again, but was soon answered when he met Jersey Joe Walcott on December 5, 1947. Walcott knocked Louis down twice early in the fight. Louis still won by split decision, but was severely booed by the audience, who felt Walcott controlled all 15 rounds of the fight.

After his bouts with Conn and Walcott, it became clear that Louis' age had come to show and his boxing skills were deteriorating. Louis was well aware of this himself, but he remained determined to retire as champion and signed on for an immediate rematch with Walcott. The two met again on June 25, 1948, where Louis was knocked down early in the fight again, but this time, he was able to win by an 11th round knockout. This would be his last title defense because in March the following year, Louis announced his retirement from boxing. However, Louis' retirement would be short-lived, as he had fallen into a large amount of debt and was forced to make a comeback the very next year.

On September 25, 1950, Louis would get one last chance at becoming champion against then-heavyweight champion Ezzard Charles. But Louis couldn't keep up with the younger champion and lost via unanimous decision, the second loss of his career. This greatly disheartened Louis but due to his expenses, he had to keep fighting. Louis was able to win his next eight fights (mostly by decision) and was eventually pitted against top heavyweight contender Rocky Marciano on October 26, 1951. Although Louis was the favored fighter to win the match, again, it was his younger opponent who was more than a match for him. Marciano knocked Louis out in the 8th round and Louis' career was brought to an end. Still, Louis was able to flourish for two whole decades and achieved much during his career. His status as an all-time great would be rivaled by only one other boxer during this period...

Sugar Ray Robinson is widely considered to be the pound-for-pound greatest boxer of all time. After wrapping up his amateur career with more than 80 wins and no losses, Robinson made his professional debut in 1940 and went on to assert his rule over boxing, winning his first 40 professional bouts, 29 of them by knockout. Robinson quickly made a name for himself in boxing and became a respectable and feared force. When he defeated lightweight champion Sammy Angott in 1941, Angott made sure the fight was held above the lightweight limit so he wouldn't risk losing his title to Robinson. On October 2, 1942, Robinson would face Jake LaMotta, the first of their six fights and the start of their legendary rivalry.

In their very first bout, LaMotta knocked Robinson down in the first round but Robinson recovered and controlled the rest of the fight, winning by unanimous decision. Robinson and LaMotta had a rematch months later on February 2, 1943. This time, LaMotta dominated the fight and even famously knocked Robinson out of the ring in the 8th round. LaMotta won by unanimous decision, giving Robinson the first loss of his career. The two met again later that month on the 26 where Robinson won by unanimous decision, though LaMotta claimed the fight was given to Robinson because he was being inducted into the army the very next day. Two more fights occurred in 1945, the fourth on February 23 and the fifth on September 26. Robinson won both fights by a decision victory. However, the outcome of the fifth bout was controversial as LaMotta seemed to have the upper-hand during the fight, yet the win was given to Robinson. Their sixth and final fight wouldn't take place until 1951.

By 1946, Robinson had beaten every top boxer in the welterweight division, yet he was never granted any title shot through his career at that point. This was not due to Robinson's race, as the "color line" had long been diminished, but due to his refusal to work with the mafia, which controlled much of the boxing world at this time. By the end of the year, Robinson would finally be given a title shot against Tommy Bell for the then-vacant lineal welterweight title. The fight was said to be incredibly competitive but in the end, Robinson was able to secure a win by unanimous decision to become the new welterweight champion.

Robinson would remain a very active fighter and continue to win all of his matches in the following years. Two of his title defenses would be against future world champion Kid Gavilán. Both were won by Robinson via unanimous decision, but were said to be very close contests, the outcomes of which would come with some controversy by those who felt Robinson lost. In 1950, Robinson would go up against a top welterweight contender named George Costner who also adopted the moniker "Sugar" and claimed he was the rightful bearer of that name. When the two met in the ring before the bell, Robinson said to Costner, "We better touch gloves, because this is the only round". Robinson knocked Costner out in just under 3 minutes of the first round.

Despite his triumphant rule over the welterweight division, Robinson found it increasingly difficult to make weight for the division and decided he would move up to middleweight. He defended his welterweight title one last time on August 9, 1950 against Charley Fusari, winning by decision. After that fight, he made the move to middleweight and the welterweight title was subsequently vacated. But the move up a weight class would prove to work out in Robinson's favor as that division had the best competition in the sport at the time and Robinson would quickly fight his way up to a title shot against his old nemesis, Jake LaMotta.

We'll pick up on that fight, the rest of Sugar Ray Robinson's story and 1950's boxing in the next post. 

Thanks for reading

Next part:
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