My thoughts on Joe Louis

There is nothing revualtionary or shoking about my statement.
Recently I moved Joe Louis to my #1 all time heavyweight ratting over Muhammad Ali. This is no inditement of Ali who is a great boxer in his own right and deserves all the phrase he recives.
Louis in my opinion is better.
First there is his 25 stright defenses of the heavyweight championship. Considering that World War 2 interuped his reign from from early 1942 to lte 1946. Who knows how many more there would have been. Sure it would have been nice to see him take on the likes of Lee Q. Murry and Elmer Ray. Sure he had his share of bums but he also fought exlent heavyweights both as champion and on his way to being champion.
Louis was able to go undefeted from 1936 to 1950. Due to the fsct he is one of the best boxers inside of the ring. at 6′ 2″ and a reach of 76" Louis is a decent sized man in any era. I saw a youtube video phrasing Louis suguesting that if he was around today he'd be 2" taller. So imange a 6'4" Louis with a 78" reach, if that is true. Anyways lets talk about Louis the boxer. In my opinion every boxer and trainer needs to watch Louis. There are more athletic boxers than Louis was but his form was as close to perfect as I've seen. His hands were held in a poistion that alowed him to both pick off punches and fire his own shots. His counter punches are somne of the best the sport has seen.
His foot work gets critized a lot. It is true he was not slick or fast. He still had great foot work. While he may not have been as flashy as Ali. Louis's foot work got him in poistion to land his punches and had him properly balanced to get the most out of his punches. When Louis got the most out of his punches the fight was over.
Along with Louis's fundamentals he was also one of the hardest punchers the sport has seen. Max Bear may have said it best when he said "(I define fear as) standing across the ring from Joe Louis and knowing he wants to go home early." The combonation of his fundemantals and punching power makes Louis one of the most, if not the most dangures boxers ever to lace'em up.
In terms of head to head prime for prime fanasty match ups. I don't think I'd favor anyone over Louis. I think some of the modern guys: The Brothers Klitchko, Lenoxx Lewis and Riddick Bowe with their modern straagty of staying away can give Louis trubble. Vittaly's undoing may be that he likes to fight more than he should. However only Bowe who may be the worst "boxer" of the group has the chin to stand a chance. Larry Holmes and the already mentioned Ali have the skills to bother Louis. However I fell that their argarance will get the best of them.
Louis was not impervious from tasting the canvas himself his only loss before he became champion was a 12th round KO by Max Schmeling in 1936. However the rest of the times he went down he went up intell he met Rocky Marciano in 1951.
Louis is not invincible by any means. No one is. However combine his real life resume with his fanasty potitional. It is my opinion that Joe Louis is the best heavyweight there has been.

 

I think Bowe is the most well rounded out of the group. In terms of both being on the inside and outside. When I hear the word technician I tend to think about who is best on the outside.
On the outside I'd rank them 1. Wald 2. Lewis 3. Bowe 4. Vitaly
On the inside I'd go with 1. Bowe 2. Vitaly 3. Lewis 4. Wald
Chin (abillity to take punches): 1. Bowe 2. Lewis 3. Vitaly 4. Wald
Tottal: 1. Bowe (5 points) 2. Lewis (7) 3. Tie The Brothers Klitchko (9).
To beat Joe Louis your chin has to hold up for 12 or 15 rounds. This is a chalanging task for anyone in the same ring as Joe Louis. Of these four Bowe is the only one who I think has a chance to last that long.

 

Enough about Riddick Bowe.