Alternate History - Schmeling beats Louis in the rematch

It would have been beyond awful because Joe was an avatar for democracy in our battle against fascism. That's not to suggest Schmeling had any part in the battle or wanted to be an avatar for fascism. He had a Jewish manager. I do wonder how Hitler reacted to the loss.

 

We already stipulated that Schmeling from all accounts was a decent guy but had Joe lost he would have let a whole nation down and as a Black guy to lose to a German who was championed by Hitler it would have been a massive disappointment.

 

He became a Coca Cola distributor and had a great life after the war.

 

I had to correct my post. He became a Coca Cola distributor. He also personally hid two Jews from the NAZIS. I wonder if at some level he was glad he lost because he involuntarily represented a malignant movement he wanted no part of.

 

Well for starters, Schmeling would be the first two-time heavyweight champion in history. His overall legacy and rating would be considerably higher, and Joe's would certainly be much lower. Though he was past his best by the time of the 2nd Louis fight (aged 32) and thus would be more vulnerable, due to the outbreak of WW2 its very likely Schmeling would either hold the title until the end of the war, or would be stripped of it due to the war (I honestly don't know what would happen here). If Schmeling does reign through the war, he will be nearing forty and possibly inactive and ends up soundly beaten by a younger stronger fighter, perhaps Jersey Joe. How he would rate all time would depend on his reign.

 

This might have affected modern history a tad since everyone had their eyes glued to this fight. If Schmeling won it would have boosted the confidence of German soldiers and validated Hitler's narrative. It could have easily weekend the morale of Americans who viewed Joe as a sort of Captain America figure. Imagine watching a superhero movie but the good guy loses and the credits just roll as if nothing wrong happened.

As for Schmeling, his legacy would go up for defying the odds winning the title again at 32 against a new and improved Louis showing his old win wasn't a fluke. The first 2x champion who goes 2-0 against a guy like Louis has an argument for being fringe top 11-15 of all time depending on how the rest of his career plays out. He'd be competing with guys like Walcott, Norton, Bowe, Vitali etc in terms of overall rating.

 

In his autobiography, Max states that after losing the rematch to Joe Louis, Hitler and company had no use for Schmeling. Max goes on to state that in Germany, professional athletes were exempt from military service, owing to the brevity of their time as an active athlete and how any length of military service would cut into this already short time. When WW2 broke out, Schmeling found himself in active service. He was in the paratroopers and was wounded in the battle of Crete. It's a wonder he survived the war.

In another instance in his autobiography, Schmeling tells of receiving a letter to the effect that he could no longer have a Jewish manager. He ignored the letter until he received another. Determined to keep Joe Jacobs as his manager, he appealed his case directly in person to Hitler himself! Hitler basically gave him the cold shoulder after Max made his case, instead turning the meeting into a time of frivolous prattle with Schmeling's actress wife. Max states that it probably was a dangerous thing for him to do in defying Hitler's decree to him in person, but he did it anyway. Now that took some real BALLS! Again, it's a wonder he survived the Third Reich!

 

Good for Schmeling. Disaster for boxing

 

Well Joe wouldnt be held in the same esteem he is thats for sure. Schmeling would be the first two time champ. Otherwise I dont think it would have mattered too much.

 

Germany wins the 2nd world war