Joe Louis's Classy Tribute At Rocky's Funeral

I watched a documentary years ago that stated Joe looked up and said "God is getting a beautiful man". There was definitely a bond there. I understand that Rocky idolized Joe as so many did.

 

Aye, Rocky idolized him when he knocked him through the ropes.......

 

RESPECTING someone and idolizing them is two different kettles of fish.

 

You don't batter someone you idolize senseless, i know that for sure. Boxing is very romantic indeed. The terms definitely do not match the deeds.

 

Just like to keep common sense in order instead of regurgitating cliched bull****!

 

I'm always amazed how (most) boxers embrace after a fight, like Ray Mancini and Livingstone Bramble did
after 15 brutal rounds, or how Mickey Ward and Gatti became such good friends. I suppose because they feel they are part of a special group known only to themselves. Like I suppose men who lived through a battle feel.

 

There is a fraternal bond among boxers. I just read Scott Ledoux's book this past summer. When Ledoux's wife was diagnosed with cancer, one of the first people to call him was Earnie Shavers, asking Ledoux if there was anything he can do for him. Ledoux didn't even know Shavers at the time. When Scott's wife went into remission, they did invite Shavers over their house a couple years later for dinner and a get together. Nice things to hear among the brotherhood that boxers have.

 

Rocky idolized Joe from the time he was a kid. That doesn't mean he wasn't going to do what he had to do once the bell rang. It`s not that complicated.

There is a documentary on Youtube from the early 90s {HBO} that talks about Marciano and his fight with Louis. One of Rocky`s childhood friends said that he and Marciano {as kids} followed Louis into the men`s room and were about to ask for his autograph and he picked them both up and gave them each a silver dollar. That would lead me to believe that Marciano did indeed idolize Joe Louis

 

When Ken Norton was doing commentary for one of Shaver's fights (I think it might have been with Cobb) the other announcer (Bob Sherridan?) kind of awkwardly mentioned Norton's knockout loss (it was one of those lines like, "We all know you've felt his power") and Norton went out of his way to stress what an extremely nice guy Shavers was, which I've heard several other people say.

 

Rocky stated something like: "Having to knock out Joe Louis was one of the hardest things I ever had to do (and Rocky wasn't talking about the boxing physical effort)".