Joe Louis The Greatest in History - Why the lack of respect?

Joe Louis the longest reigning heavyweight champion in history. The greatest puncher who ever lived, yet why the lack of respect from today's fight fans? who make ridiculous claims, like Vitali, Wlad or Lennox would easily beat Joe Louis... Today's fight fans claim, Earnie Shavers to be the hardest punching heavyweight ever, which is laughable. Joe Louis stands alone, in terms of punching power, and greatness.

 

No one disrespects him, but that doesn't make him immune from criticism. He fought a lot of sub-par heavyweights (in fact men who wouldn't even be called heavyweights today), struggled when he shouldn't have, and showed numerous flaws/vulnerabilities that could be capitalised on by other fighters in a H2H scenario.

There's no need to deify him to give him proper respect.

 

He probably was the greatest but Schmeling did knock him out. Despite what Louis did the Schmeling in the rematch, the KO loss in the first fight shows he was human and beatable. So, I don't think he stands alone in greatness. Other heavyweights are comparable.
In terms of textbook boxing skills and sheer punching ability he stands alone among heavyweights. He was the classic boxer-puncher.

 

I think quite a few would surpass him for punching power but when you add the whole "punching package" together he would be trumps.

 

Joe Louis garners a lot of respect for us fans because of what he did in his prime..great puncher by any imagination..and we love bangers..always have..The Brown Bomber was no exception..his record of 25 defences stands alone in the HW division..nobody will ever come close in our lifetime.

Still..he was not unbeatable..not by any means..even in his era..got KOd by Max..lsot to Jersey Joe in the first fight IMHO..was on his way to getting stopped by that The Pittsburg Flash when he got lucky.

There are a HWs,then and now who could had a good chance of beating Joe..Muhammad Ali being at the top of that list..guys like Mike Tyson,Lennox Lewis,Sonny Liston,George Foreman..and yes Vitali Klitschko to a name a few..woeld have a great chance too.

Styles make fights..and Joe was a small HW..smaller than Mike Tyson.

But we love him..Always will..At his best,with them combinations coming off..there were few like him.

 

Some great replies in this thread.

 

Maybe it's cos he fought a lot of mediocre white guys. He fought more black fighters at the end of his career then he did at the beginning.

 

Dempsey and Marciano hit harder than Louis. I don't see why people having a problem with Shavers being the hardest heavyweight puncher. Especially when it was corroborated by two ATG heavyweight champs that fought some of the hardest hitting guys in heavyweight history.

 

How many rounds does168lbs Billy Conn go with Liston, Foreman,Lewis ,Tyson?

 

What was it ,7 out of 69 fights?

 

Over/under against Tyson: 2 minutes

 

Who knows.
Conn claimed to be 169 pounds, officially he was 174.
That may be a reason to knock Joe Louis.

But then again, often the same people who would knock Louis for taking 13 rounds to stop 170 pound Billy Conn, are unimpressed when he knocks out 250 pound Buddy Baer in 1 round too.
Can't win.

 

I have Great Respect for Joe Louis . The man was a legend . Beautiful combination puncher . Lights out power . Quick hands .

I had many debates with my friend on Joe Louis vs Cleveland Williams . He would always repeat Williams was severly underrated and felt he could give any HW in history a loss on his best night .

My Prediction : Louis batters Williams into submission in 7 rounds .

His Prediction : Williams TKOs Louis against the ropes in 10 rounds .

We would always go back and forth on this one and laugh hard because we are both so stubborn and neither would refuse to be silent and give up our argument .

Good times though LOL

 

Louis was a devastating puncher .

Yet I have three other fighters ahead of him when it comes to punching power .

1 . Earnie Shavers
2 . Sonny Liston
3 . George Foreman
4 . Joe Louis

 

probably the best all around fighter at this weight and his questionable chin always kept us in suspense. Of course, when he fell, he did have to fall to a German. Makes you wonder