I used to not be crazy about Joe. I thought he was overrated. And I still do, but hear me out. He is overrated by basic boxing fans who don't really know why he was so good. By real boxing fans, he is right to be treated so respectfully. As it stands now, he is one of my favorite boxers of all time. A lot of people do not like heavies because they are sloppy and wild, therefore resulting in ugly fights. Not a complaint that flies with Louis in a fight. I must admit though, I get why some people are not enthusiastic about Joe the first time and why some think he was not that great. He was a very subtle fighter and not overwhelming on a lot of notes. He was not an aggressive monster like Tyson, not a braggart like Ali, a fancy dancer like Robinson, a brutal fist-catcher like Matthew Saad Muhammad. He even looks unimpressive. He looks bored to death. But he really was a great fighter. Pretty fast and it goes without saying, damn strong. He had good stamina and knew how to conserve it. His chin was not the best, but it was still pretty good. He had a great jab, something few great boxers have. And although his footwork was not flashy, it was scientific, which actually makes Louis' footwork the definition of great footwork. Footwork that corresponds to what the rest of your body is attempting to do. My top two favorite aspects of Joe Louis are: 1) His combinations. He is such an underrated combination puncher, which is crazy. He could throw incredible 8 or 10 or 12-punch combos that were not just simple Floyd Patterson-like combos where you alternate fists over and over again. They were technical combos consisting of pretty much every punch you could think of, thrown with both hands. Earnie Shavers is the only other heavyweight I can think of who was pretty much equally dangerous with either hand. 2) And my absolute favorite thing about Joe Louis, is how economical he was. It took great brilliance and restraint. Louis just always knew how much was too much and when it was not enough. His sense of efficiency was something unequalled, and a trait spawned by his irregular patience. That to me is greater than any of Joe's great physical characteristics.
Good points! Actually Joe was not so swift overall, but his boxing intelligence-both learned & intuitive-was off the charts. I would also cite his incredible, unequaled title run, in length of time + championship bouts. Would have been somewhat more of the latter if they had formal fights in WW 2.
One of my all time favorite fighters. I must have like 25 or so Joe Louis fights from Lee Ramage to Rocky Marciano. He was great. I always consider him 1A or 1B vs Ali as the GOAT.
You have some additionally great points as well. I did certainly forget to mention the great title reign. Louis' career was kind of like those of Emile Griffith and Muhammad Ali. All three great boxers, some of the greatest of all time. However, had they not been in the circumstances they were in, they would be even greater.
Other thing that impress me about Joe was his punching ability, so text book perfect. he throw's it almost perfect, he often landed were he wanted to with power. The 6 shots he landed on Schmeling on the ropes were great. The comeback vs Walcott II were he needed precise punching to finally bring Walcott down. The ko over Max Baer was a thing of art.
I don't think Joe is overrated 1 bit, not 1 bit. I actually have him as the greatest HW of all time. His title run still hasn't been equaled 70 years later... and this was when there was only 1 belt per division.
