? about Jack Johnson's dislike for Joe Louis

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by wordisbond, Aug 26, 2012.


  1. wordisbond

    wordisbond Active Member Full Member

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    What's up guys,
    I just finished reading Braddock: The Rise of the Cinderalla Man, and it stated that Jack Johnson was willing to train JB to beat Joe Louis, who he despised. Does anyone know the reason for the hate? Was it because Johnson wanted to train Louis himself, but instead he went with Jack Blackburn? Or was it because fighters are always jealous of the new generation of fighters? Any insights?
     
  2. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Just plain ol' spite and jealousy, really. Until Louis came along, Johnson could claim to be the only black heavyweight champ, and despite the fact that the crown wasn't an easy thing for Johnson to deal with, I imagine he was justifiably proud of his status.

    Not only was Louis coming in to lay claim to what Johnson had been.......people of all races liked him better, adding insult to injury. Trying to jump on the bandwagon, Jack tried to offer his services to the Louis camp and was told to beat it.

    Purely understandable human reaction, if you think about it.
     
  3. WhyYouLittle

    WhyYouLittle Stand Still Full Member

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    S'up, man. As far as I know, two things stood between Johnson and Louis:

    1. The fact that Louis's managers, Roxborough and Black, did their best to paint Louis as the complete opposite of Jack Johnson to increase Joe's chances of getting a title fight, to the point they actually released to the press seven rules that Louis promised to follow that clearly pointed out to Johnson's reign as a champion.

    2. There was bad blood between Blackburn and Johnson from the time they were pros.

    Apparently during a spar Blackburn lost his head with Johnson's usual antics and bloodied his nose. Johnson, of course, got furious and gave everything he had to try and stop Blackburn but failed. That became Blackburn's favorite story and a most humiliating one for Johnson (since Blackburn was just a lightweight.).

    Later at the end of Blackburn's term in prison, when common friends of both fighters approached Johnson for help in organizing a charity event to help Blackburn start over again Johnson bitterly refused to help.

    The bad blood between them might have been the biggest reason for Johnson's disdain for Louis as a fighter, seeing how his criticism was always pointed towards how Louis was shaped technically (even if he genuinely seen through Louis's technical flaw leading to Schmeling I).
     
  4. frankenfrank

    frankenfrank Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Joe Louis was n uncle Tom , as much as a 50% native American and probably a little white 2 is a viable example 4 n uncle Tom .

    More importantly , Louis was not exactly Evariste Galois' soul and mind capsuled in a big dumb body , if u know what i mean , and it is hard 2 like such a person , if i may call him this way , especially when he reiter8s everything that he is told 2 like a circus show mmkay and then gets praised 4 it .

    I think that Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis were d 2 most lowly intelligent heavyweight titlists ever .

    Regarding Johnson's willingness 2 train Braddock after being turned down by Louis , when a man is rejected by a certain workplace , it is best 4 him 2 look 4 it somewhere else , do not u sink ?
     
  5. Boilermaker

    Boilermaker Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    THis article about Joe louis from the Piqua Daily on page 8 quotes johnson as calling Blackburn one of the greats. I tend to agree with him. Maybe even the most underated all time great today. It is interesting that Langford is a lock as a top 10 atg yet he could not beat blackburn.

    BLACKBURN WHO DEVELOPED BROWN BOMBER WHIPPED HEAVIES THOUGH ONLY Blr Bitty KOCHE Famous Referee To convince that he could do 133 pounds Jack Blackburn did 134 ringside for George Memsic Two weeks later Blackburn knocked down Jim ry In giving that hard-hitting a pasting Blackburn sought a match with McFarland who was not alone in wanting no part of him Jack Johnson calls Blackburn one of the greatest He certainly was Best known now as the man who taught and developed Joe Louis Blackburn a rangy Negro whose every rib showed had to fight out of his class to get action Joe Gans alone beat Blackburn while he was himself taking a round decision in in 1904 They met on two other in contests in Philadelphia Blackburn battled Sara Langford five times for a total of 58 rounds and the best the fabulous Boston Tar Baby ever got was a draw Shooting Halted Career He spotted the superlative clever Philadelphia Jack O'Brien 35 pounds and closed his right eye with what became known as the punch a right tossed as he moved away from the Irishman's jab Early in 1909 at the height of his career Blackburn got mixed up in a shooting affair in Philadelphia and spent four years in a penitentiary where he acted as boxing instructor to inmates and after being out of the ring for more than five years Blackburn took on the heavyweight Gunboat Smith in Philadelphia in 1914 then disappeared from the City ot Brotherly Love Two years later a wiry skinned soldier with a whalebone body reported to Gen Hugh son of Gen Pershing's staff in the punitive expedition into Mexico to chastise Pancho Villa Times Changed with Louis The trooper confided to Gen Johnson that he was Jack burn a prizefighter under a eu- name requested sion to stage boxing bouts put on battles rivalling anything seen in professional rings In later years Blackburn frequently returned to Mexico Charles born in Versailles Ky in 1883 He and his brother sold pers on the streets of the languid little town and at the age of nine Jack was inspired to become a er by a front page illustration of John L Sullivan and James J Cor- bett in battle array Blackburn drifted to Indianapolis where he acquired the name Jack They called him Jack the Bootblack The happy-go-lucky fellow was as fine a handler as he was a fighter He brought out Bud Taylor and Sammy Mandell Blackburn called everybody pie after San Langford returned from London with the term bum and Louis called each other Chappie At first Blackburn who died in years ago balked at joining the Louis menage holding that because Joe was a Negro they couldn't get important money with him When saw Joe Louis in action ha changed his mind Times had changed
     
  6. Kendom

    Kendom Member Full Member

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    Utter nonsense
     
  7. TheSouthpaw

    TheSouthpaw Champion Full Member

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  8. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Johnson picked Louis to ko Carnera and Schmeling to ko Louis, 2 out of 2 ain't bad.
     
  9. Stevie G

    Stevie G Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    "Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis were the two most lowly intelligent heavyweight titilists ever" ??????? :huh

    Even making allownces for varying opinion,this is complete and utter CRAP...!!
     
  10. frankenfrank

    frankenfrank Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    So Joe Louis was not n uncle Tom ? what about det list of promises his handlers published ? d 1 hi promised 2 obey ?

    Even extrim partizan posters shud hev e bit of following reality in der posts .

    So Ali & Louis were 2 highly intelligent personas ?
    wu woz les inteligent ?
    u se lyston ? i se no .
    Lyston woz a jinies komperd 2 dem .
     
  11. Stevie G

    Stevie G Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    I have n't really graded heavy champs under the criteria of intelligence. Hard one to call. Neither Ali or Louis have ever struck me as being thick though.
     
  12. frankenfrank

    frankenfrank Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    den y u jump and reply 2 my post ? bikoz ali got his due ez e borderline ****** ?

    it was a clinical observation made by certified professionals BTW .
     
  13. Stevie G

    Stevie G Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    As for the dislike Johnson had for Louis,it could well date back to when Johnson and Blackburn were both young,as has been said. Also Louis getting the acceptance from whites,on the surface anyway,that Jack never had.
     
  14. frankenfrank

    frankenfrank Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    bikoz luis woz n ankel tom
     
  15. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Not erudite geniuses, but I believe they could write a coherent sentence, one that was intelligible to others .:patsch