Mike Jacobs Was Reluctant To Match Louis With Black Challengers

It also seems, from the ones where Louis was defending, the biggest draw of all, that wasn’t a rematch, is ….Lou Nova!

That Nova kid must have been big news back then.

 

I am having a bit of fun with this data right now.

With regard to the John Henry Lewis fight, Louis got a slightly bigger gate fighting Jack Roper, a couple of months later.

Yes both fights ended in the first round, but Lewis was a far more qualified challenger.

He was the reigning Light Heavyweight Champion, and a top ten heavyweight contender.

More would have been expected for taking on such a fighter.

A couple of months later they make nearly three times as much, by fighting Tony Galento, and then do the same again fighting Bob Pastor.

This would definitely have reinforced Louis's management in the belief that the top black contenders were a high risk low reward proposition.

I have already pointed out the that gate for the second Walcott fight was huge, but the gate for the first Walcott fight was also pretty solid.

 

Lewis was far more qualified…and it seems sad that he had no more of a following than Jack Roper.

seems that white guys seemed to create a more of a hometown regional following where as black fighters had to kind of go on the road.

They brought only a rating into the ring. Whereas a guy like Roper, who I think had a brother called Bob who was also a fighter, could actually bring people to fill seats.

I have long been interested in the kind of circuits that existed then. Guys that are not that well remembered were a big deal in their own hometowns. Charlie Retzlaff and Pat Comiskey come to mind.

just a different set up back then.

 

I see some parallels between Lou Nova and Gerry Cooney, though it is not a perfect comparison.

They were both white contenders, who emerged in the time of a dominant black champion, who simply looked like what most people think a heavyweight champion should look like.

There was initially a proposal that Nova and Conn should fight for the right to challenge Louis, but Louis's people effectively waved it, because they wanted to defend against both of them.

That was sound business sense in my opinion.

 

Jack Johnson did the same thing too didn't he? He wanted to be the ONLY black heavyweight champion though, so his motivation appears to be more egotistical than Joe's.

 

Maybe not even high risk, low reward. More likely it was as simple as just low reward.

 

In fairness to them, they were obviously gearing up to give Franklin a title shot.

I don't think they wanted anybody occupying the #1 spot for too long unanswered.

 

in all fairness, Max Baer and Max Schmeling were excellent fighters. And the pre war HW scene was more dynamic than the post war championship era.

On paper, both maxes, even in non title fights, as recent ex champions represented to Louis a fight that more decided the best heavyweight in the world than a match with the actual champion.

Braddock, as the Cinderella Man, was seen as a kind of cheese champion.

Baer still would have been regarded the most dangerous HW in the world. Louis, having demolished Carnera more emphatically than Baer had, represented a new threat. What a showdown Louis and Baer must have been!

Schmeling had been a popular champion himself and because of the “we wuz robbed” issue was still regarded as one of the best out there too. He’d beaten Micky Walker, and Hamas. The added connection with nazi germany brought an interesting value to the box office.

Walcott brought none of that appeal to the table. He was as old as Louis. He had not fought in the war. And Louis, in comparison to how he had been regarded in the much earlier era when he fought Baer and Schmeling, was no longer regarded a hot young thing. Instead, Louis, was now an established long serving champion who appeared to have run out of contenders.

Walcott was seen as little threat. So little a threat in fact that their bout was seriously considered to be set as an exhibition rather an actual title fight.

 

I think the American economy had more than doubled in that time frame and then you have inflation on top of that, so gates should, all else being equal, be much bigger post war than during the post depression.

 

I think Louis was seen as a more dominant champion by the end of the war. There was probably more demand to see zale vs Graziano than Louis vs Walcott. the threat of seeing a pre war champion lose his title after the war seemed entirely absent for ticket buying fans when it came to watching the HW champion.

 

Louis-Conn 2 made big money, though. Anyone know the purse/gate for Mauriello?

Edit: The gate for Mauriello was $335,063 according to Boxrec, more than for Louis-Walcott 2. That goes to show something of the comparative interest for white vs black challengers at the time.

Edit 2: Looked at the wrong Walcott fight. The rematch had a much higher gate.

 

Joe Louis gave Harry Wills an exhibition? I’ve never read this. Could you tell me more?

 

"more than for Louis-Walcott 2"

This is not true.

Louis-Maurliello $335,063 (attendance 38,494)

Louis-Walcott 2 $841,739 (attendance 42,739)

These two fights were at the same venue, Yankee Stadium.

Louis-Walcott 1 $216,497 (attendance 18,194)

This fight was in December at Madison Square Garden, a much smaller venue. It was also on free TV. TV's were just beginning to catch on, but many bars probably had them.