OrJoe simply young and inexperienced? Did Schmeling genuinely expose a weakness in Louis,or do people give the result to much tactical significance because of how dramatic the rematch was?
It's exaggerated. For example, people don't talk about Schmeling's ice cold temperament in that fight, they like the "Zee something" narrative. But it mattered. The day after we saw Hrgovic either by design or by fortune defeat a hyped puncher by keeping him close and making him work, it's another reminder that it matters, the strategy and the tactical execution of it. So Joe was young, but not that inexperienced and he just got badly found out by a thinking, cool, technically proficient fighter. All aspects of it matter and if you pick at it there's more to Max's strategy than waiting for him not to reposition his hand properly.
I do remember reading some place that Schmeling and his trainer (Bulow?),had studied Joe very carefully before the first The plan was to Louis to lead and counter him with the right. Schmeling definitely didn't simply stand there trading ,he was looking for a particular moment.
It was Max Machow that supposedly studied the film and revealed the weakness to Max - that's the bones of the story. But I tell you, it's like so many other stories, the "I zee something but i won't tell quote", you can see Max saying this on film, but you can't see him saying after that fight saying "he didn't properly return his jabbing hand to the defensive posture" or something like that. Looking for detail gets interesting fast.
In my opinion, when Max said he saw something he did, and it wasn't that Louis dropped his jab after throwing it. What Louis was willing to do, and what max made him do over and over again, was to jab down at the target. In every 'how to' boxing manual ever written it says- or it should- that the jab should have an upwards- even if even only slightly- trajectory. Jabbing down shortens your reach and leaves you vulnerable to a right hand over your jab. This is why Schmeling fought like he did; his lead foot close to the lead foot of Louis, weight leaning to his right and back over his right leg. On top of that Max fought a very disciplined fight; he made it a tactical battle between his right hand and the jab of Louis. He smothered and clinched to avoid exchanges where Louis could cut his hands loose. See, if a guy is looking to throw a right hand over your jab, the jab traveling upwards makes that harder because it gets your shoulder in the way, even if you drop the hand as it comes back. But, if you jab down, your chin is above your shoulder. And reaching with the jab- as one will when the opponent is dipping to his right with his weight back- compounds that mistake.