Joe Louis was a savage!

They had to pay his sparring partners enhanced rates, and still a lot of them quit.

 

Quite distasteful I have to say. Nothing bad ass in brutalizing your sparring partners. Most good fighters can do that. Great fighters shouldn't feel the need.

 

Agreed.

 

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Not sure. Curtis Sheppard stopped working as Louis’s sparring partner, because he said that no amount of money made it worthwhile.

In Louis’s defence, the sparring was a lot more vicious back then, and the sparring partners were typically better fighters.

I think that Louis used Willie Reddish as his main sparring partner for Schmeling II.

 

why is his sparring partner not wearing headgear while he is?

 

??

 

Who is going to lose money if the sparring partner gets injured?

 

Because Louis didn't want his glass chin to get shattered

 

Headguards are to protect against accidental cuts. Louis had a big fight coming up, so he was wise to protect against cuts.
The sparring partners probably best off without a headguard, since the headguard obstructs the vision, and they earn their money in sparring, not in the fight.

 

Nothing wrong with what Joe Louis was doing there, assuming that's a paid volunteer sparring partner.
The moral disapproval on this thread is interesting.
Everyone has their own POV I suppose.