What was so great about Joe Louis?????

Louis was the most techically perfect textbook HW in history. You could take his technique and use it to teach welterweights. I cant think of another HW in history you can say that about.

 

Joe Louis was almost perfect as a fighter, his punch variation and power combinations were incredible. Watch the 2nd Walcott KO or the Billy Conn 1st fight KO for starters and watch Schmeling 2nd fight if you still dont think he is amazing take up tennis

 

He wasvery accurate. He kept his punches short and didn't leave himself open when he was on the attack. He had quick hands, but he wasn't quick on his feet. He positioned himself well and was good at cutting the ring off though. He had excellent power in both hands and was a great finisher. Once he had a guy hurt he usually kept him hurt until he finished the guy off. His chin wasn't the best ever but when he was knocked down he usually got up and eventually stopped his opponent.

Only 2 fighters ever stopped him. Max Schmeling (before Louis was the HW Champ) and Rocky Marciano (after Louis' HW Title reign, his last pro fight). Ezzard Charles won a decision over Louis when Louis came out of retirement. Nobody else beat him. Sure, Jersey Joe Walcott lost a disputed decision in their first fight but this was a past prime Louis, Louis stopped Walcott in their rematch. He also stopped Schmeling in their rematch.

Only one fighter beat more Lineal HW Champs than Louis and that was Holyfield. Louis beat HW Champs Schmeling, Sharkey, Carnera, Baer, Braddock, and Walcott. He also beat Hall of Famers Jimmy Bivins (one of the best fighters ever who never got a World Title Shot, but deserved at least one shot), John Henry Lewis, and Billy Conn x2. He also beat plenty of other good fighters like Paulino Uzcudun KO4, Lou Nova KO6, Tony Galento KO4, Tommy Farr W15, Abe Simon x2, Buddy Baer x2, and others.

At 6'2" with a 76" reach and 200 solid Lbs. he could have beat plenty of great HWs but it's hard to imagine him beating some of the super huge HWs who were also great fighters like Lewis, Foreman, either Klitschko, or even Bowe. He'd have a better chance vs. the likes of Ali, Holyfield, or Tyson due to being closer in size. Vs. Marciano (both in prime), Frazier, Liston, Norton, Witherspoon, Young, Dokes, and some others he'd have more than a good chance of winning.

As for Tyson? Well. Tyson would have a solid 15Lbs. on Louis but Louis is 3" taller with a 5" reach advantage. Louis had the much better jab but Tyson was more explosive in the early rounds which would make things very tough for Louis. If Louis reaches the 5th round without taking too much damage he'd have a decent chance of winning. I'd go with Tyson though, no shame. Tyson was a great fighter.

 

Louis would have probably beat Marciano, Dempsey, and Frazier... Marciano and Frazier would be very tough to beat though. I'd pick Holyfield, Foreman, and Tyson over Louis though. I think Louis deserves most of the praise he gets though.

 

Eddie Futch modeled Ken Nortons gameplan for Ali based on Joe Louis. That tells you a lot

Eddie futch himself picked Louis to beat Ali in a fight

I don't agree with the last part - but then again my opinion doesn't mean nothing. Either way you can't diminish Joe Louis

 

Louis asked Futch to spar, but Futch told him to go after the middleweights, that they were fast enough for him. Louis insisted on sparring with Futch because he was so fast. Futch decided that he would study the technique of the larger fighter so that he would not get hurt in sparring with him. It was then that he laid the groundwork for his years as a successful trainer. "By studying Joe, that's when I first found that if you look, you can see things. Studying him, I picked up some things that maybe nobody else ever thought about. Things I've used working with fighters ever since," he told author Dave Anderson for In The Corner.

 

His offense was all-time great. His defense and ring generalship were nothing special.

 

This.

His combination punching was impressive in his day, today and will still be impressive 100 years from now. In addition his finishing ability was unsurpassed.

 

Oh look Tommo/Glover is back with his thinly veiled threads atsch

 

Eddie Futch and Ali also picked Spinks to outbox Tyson too

 

To other appreciative statements, I would add that Joe used the whole target and also exhibited a controlled aggression that made a certain opportunity and motivation for his opponent to try to punch him off -- just what Louis wanted to bring his counter-punching into play. He showed this at a fairly young age, e.g. the filmed Ramage KO.

 

Controlled aggression is a great term to describe Louis. How many punches did this man ever telegraph? No more than a handful and I can't specifically think of even one example.

One also has to admire his self-control; in fights where he was being given stick or even losing on points, he never became anxious or lost his wits. He would either win or lose on his pugilistic ethos, but he would never ever abandon it. That takes some kind of cool, unflappable temperament and a self-belief.

If there can be a criticism of Louis, it was maybe that he was a little too methodical sometimes and this could hurt him against unconventional or slick fighters. Still, if you got into his danger zone, you were in deep trouble.

 

Don't waste my time...

 

Hah! Good one Burt.