I think Joe Louis largely used the footwork that was necessary at any particular time depending on the opponent that was in front of him. Here against the dangerous Max Baer which I always think was his best performance, his footwork is simply beautiful. At times he circles Baer at distance boxer style utilising the jab before moving in and unloading those devastating combinations, then he gets out. He obviously had the utmost respect for Baer's power. He's extremely light on his feet in this fight and his control of the distance is masterful. He's certainly no plodder. This content is protected
Calling Louis a plodder is utter nonsense. Joe could fight many styles in actuality. Against Baer and Galento a side stepping counterpuncher. Against Ramage a bobbing and weaving swarmer. Against Pastor a stalking counterpuncher constantly avoiding his opponents jab via neat parries. Louis was the most highly skilled hwt champion who ever lived...and it's not close.
If Joe had just been a mere plodder he certainly wouldn't have been in the record books for most heavy weight title defence s. He defended the belt 25 times. If he was so bad and a mere slow plodder he would have been lucky to hold the title a year.
If you had to cite Joe Louis biggest weakness, it would be his lack of movement or where he carried his right hand, but more movement. This is the EXACT reason people with movement gave him issues, well, because he wasn't the best mover. True or False?
The example you asked for are readily available on film. Look at schemling 1, Joe isn't using angles and movement to come forward, he's coming straight forward almost all the time. He's using barely any head movement when doing so besides the occasional leaning down and to the side. Your inability to see that he's not using angles when coming in or following is opponent should be readily apparent, but somehow you missed it. Look at his fights with Walcott, Conn, Godoy and Charles. Movement and angles bothered him and it showed. He didn't use angles coming in, he didn't use movement. He almost always came straight forward and stalked his foe. Nobody is saying he's the biggest and worst plodder of all time, or even the definition of a plodder. But what is without question is, he had aspects of plodding, and one of his biggest weakness was his lack of movement and adjusting to his foes movement. To say otherwise is completely hilarious. LOOK AT THE DAMN FIGHTS. He's not bouncing around coming in using angles and bobbing and weaving. He does nothing of the sort.
Right. Even some of his own team, such as the matchmaker at Madison Square Garden for Louis said he was slow footed. They didn't call him the shuffler without a reason. My take is Louis stands the test of time as an American Hero! His KO over Schmeling and giving up his career to join the army were special, as was his stance on social justice. And he has some great filmed knockouts. As a heavyweight champion, he reigned in a weak time and was often behind on scorecards vs the best boxers he faced, most of whom would be light heavyweights or cruiserweights today. He has flaws on defense in both his lower guard and stick your face forward type of stance. This combined with slower feet, a just above average type of chin, and smaller size ( by the standards of 2017 ) means he's hardly superman, but I would not say he's out of the money vs anyone.
I bet all of the boxers he destroyed with those fabulous combinations would have preferred that he was a plodder ! Just imagine what his number of title defenses would have amounted to, had WW 2 not interrupted his flow. Any offers of a probable total ?
He cleaned out two eras and was working on a third era when the wheels fell off. Heavyweight has always been a thin division, even in the vaunted 70's and 90's. He just happened to control it for a great portion of its existence.
He is small But his skill is timeless. He knocked out far bigger men before but generally speaking the bigger guy with the longer reach has the advantage. His skills would outweigh most of those advantages. But if he were to meet an equally skilled and athletically gifted big guy he's in for a rough night.
Problem is no one NO ONE comes close in terms of the skill Louis brought to the table. Just awesome timing, boxing ability, compact punching, pinpoint accuracy and one punch ko power.
If you can find the version of the Louis Baer fight that shows the fighters introductions old Joe Humphreys in his intro of Louis included the words...."although colored....". This prompted another younger announcer to make a brief statement afterwards in effect let the best man win regardless of race........or something that effect.