Boxers were TERRIFIED of Joe Louis...!

I read that Max Baer was too scared to walk out against Louis and that his coach basically forced him out of the locker room. It was certainly one of the least cocky Baer performances.

Very underrated intimidator.

 

Hi buddy.
Asked by a reporter in his dressing room why he didn't get up from his knee, on the last knockdown, came this " people are gonna have to pay more than 50 dollars a seat to see Max Bear get killed " one of his few serious moments.
stay safe Melankomas, chat soon.

 

Curious reading if true. These men are extraordinarily well-paid, have a referee who provides some degree of protection, & rules are in place. I imagine many were experienced as adolescents in violent & potentially more dangerous street circumstances, where they were paid in nothing but reputation. Of course it’s not unreasonable to have been afraid of Joe Louis, but to openly act afraid I would find surprising bordering on humiliating.

Spinks showed us against Tyson it can & does happen though, even at the highest level.

 

One of his opponents defined fear as looking across the ring, seeing Joe and knowing he wanted to go home early.

 

I’m not sure where I read it and it may be BS, but one opponent supposedly told the referee, “Don’t let him hit me anymore.”

Louis messed people up, he didn’t just beat them. Baer’s face was discolored with bruises when he left the ring.

 

It’s a surprise for you that they almost knew they were guaranteed to have life altering damage for money and were visibly nervous? They were signing up to be knocked unconscious - Louis was a death sentence and everyone saw him as possibly the best that has ever been, they had no chance, he wasn’t sloppy or easy to evade like Foreman or Liston, He wasn’t someone you could shut down and tie up like Tyson… at every range he would hurt you badly, he had no cracks in the armour at his best for a long time. Have you ever been brutally knocked out before and felt the repercussions? I haven’t but maybe you could explain why it’s not that bad first hand, how money, refs and rules might explain why it’s so surprising?

 

I don’t blame them

 

Yes Joe Louis was pretty damn scary.

Liston's vibe was "I am a big scary black guy who is going to f**k you up", and Foreman's was the same.

Louis's vibe was "I am not angry with you, an I don't dislike you, but I am going to f**k you up because that is my job."

His stare had a psychopathic quality to it, that neither Liston, Foreman, nor Tyson could ever match.

 

Didn’t Levinsky freeze up in his corner against Louis too.

 

People go into more dangerous situations for a lot less…sometimes nothing. If I explained vividly how I arrived at the conclusion, it would look like internet bragging & BS, which is why I stayed away from that general street brawls & mayhem thread. The truth would just be laughed at as tough guy internet talk. I have all the sympathy in the world for them feeling scared. I have very little sympathy for a professional fighter at that level, who willingly signed for a fight in full knowledge of the opponent, acting scared. Those are two colossally different things.

 

Langford similarly worried people but had a quality of “it’s okay, you’ll go down and I’ll help you up when it’s over” to him.

 

But it did happen.

 

I’m not saying it didn’t, I said “if” just thinking aloud that Boxing is full of tall tales, not specifically discrediting this story.

 

Fair enough,but you did seem somewhat sceptical.