I had heard great things about this fight, none of which turned out to be true. This content is protected 1. Farr showed surprising aggression as well as a surprisingly decent jab. Farr. 2-4. 2 belonged to Farr, 3 to Louis, and 4 was even. 5. Louis. 6. I noticed about now that Farr's left eye was completely, or almost completely closed. Yet, he still won the round. Louis still not doing much. Farr. 7. Louis finally exploded, with some outstanding combinations. Louis. 8. Louis. 9. Farr. 10. A Louis left-right caused Farr's knee to buckle just a tad. Louis. 11. Louis. 12. Farr's best round. Farr. 13-14. Both for Louis. 15. This was the best round, though still little was thrown. Louis. Final score: 9-5-1, Louis. Verdict: I love fightcity, but contrary to what it says, this is NOT A SLUGFEST. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a snoozefest. My dad and I were bitching about how boring the Louis-Pastor fight was, and this was only a shade better. Not even a good performance from Louis. I was disappointed. The only consolation for me was that Farr put up pretty stiff resistance for a guy with closed eyes from round 6 on, he fought pretty well without the use of his eyes.
Tommy did really, really well. He went 15 rounds with one of the greatest heavyweight champ s of all time. Louis would have wanted to make a good impression in his first defense more than likely so for Farr to keep in there round after round is amazing.
I disagree about the quality of the fight. Both men showed skill. Farr looked to me like he might have been able to win the championship against a lesser champion. He was a big, fast, tough, and skilled fighter. His big weakness is that he did not have a top level punch. I have read that Louis fought much of the fight with an injured right hand. I noticed he didn't use it much over the second half of the fight. My take is this film is certainly worth watching to see Farr's best effort. He scrubbed out the memory of Faintin' Phil, redeeming British heavyweight boxing.
I've watched this one a few times over the years. It's a long watch because we're used to a different kind of Heavyweight Boxing. The Golden Generation of the 70's quickened the game up and cranked up the risk taking. Louis and Farr is a fascinating tactical fight. All about feints and fencing then intense work when either man finds a way in. If Tommy had carried a real punch, this could have been very close. I thought he matched Joe for ability and acumen. Contests fought at this pace make the art of Boxing more obvious to the eye. Also, I could watch Joe Louis all night.
