The biggest Joe Louis fight that nobody talks about.

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by choklab, Jan 9, 2016.


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  1. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    Joe Louis vs Lou Nova.


    56,000 fans went to the polo grounds to watch this fight.. nobody talks about it!

    Less fans went to watch Billy Conn against Joe Louis.

    Aside from the Schmelling rematch it was the highest ever turn out for a Joe Louis title fight.

    This was a fight of some magnitude. The receipts for Louis v nova was $583,711 and represented Joe Lous's second largest purse as a champion before the war.

    Was it even filmed?
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    #1
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  2. Perry

    Perry Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    It was filmed but I have never seen it. Assume it's lost or in a private collection.
     
    Perry, Jan 9, 2016
    Perry, Jan 9, 2016
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  3. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    And it was filmed, wow!

    I wonder where it is?

    Seems weird that such a big fight became so "forgotten".

    Nova looked great beating max Baer who was still good enough to upset Pat Comsky.
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
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  4. Perry

    Perry Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    From what I read the fight was a stinker. Everyone expected a decent fight but Nova froze in fear and did little until he was koed.

    There are other bouts that were filmed but have never saw the light of day. Louis vs Burman was a real good fight. Also Louis bout with Lewis we only see snippets.
     
    Perry, Jan 9, 2016
    Perry, Jan 9, 2016
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  5. Dubblechin

    Dubblechin Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Yes, I mentioned Lou Nova in the Joe Louis thread I started (about who would've been champ if Louis hadn't been a boxer).

    Reading the newspaper accounts leading up to it, that was a huge bout. Sort of like Holmes-C00ney (in terms of people excited that the challenger had a great chance to win).

    Nova seemed like someone who definitely could've become the heavyweight champion. But it read like Louis beat him in a fairly convincing manner. And everyone who thought Nova would win kind of put their heads down and wanted to forget it.

    Nobody talked about it anymore. But, going in, it was a pretty big deal.
     
    Dubblechin, Jan 9, 2016
    Dubblechin, Jan 9, 2016
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  6. klompton2

    klompton2 Boxing Junkie banned Full Member

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    Louis-Nova was filmed but the film was bad so the decision was made to not release it commercially.

    Louis-Lewis was filmed but only ever shown as a newsreel because it was so short, that is the version that exists today.
     
    klompton2, Jan 9, 2016
    klompton2, Jan 9, 2016
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  7. Dubblechin

    Dubblechin Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    Regarding Louis-Nova, by bad do you mean the film was over-exposed or under-exposed? Faulty processing at the lab?

    If so, what a nightmare for the guy who screwed that up. He was probably glad the title didn't change hands.
     
    Dubblechin, Jan 9, 2016
    Dubblechin, Jan 9, 2016
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  8. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    Burman could fight! I thought he looked good against Tommy Farr.
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
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  9. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    This is exactly my thoughts. What a huge deal this fight must have been...until the result.

    I actually thought of C00ney as a comparison to Lou Nova because there are no other examples of another challenger good enough to generate that kind of fanfare who did not become champion. There's not that many that don't make it. I always think people forget that without a very good champion on the throne a fighter like C00ney would have won the title. Same with Nova ..but At least Holmes v C00ney went down as a memorable fight.

    The pity of the fight itself being such a damp squib is it plays down what a good fighter Joe Louis beat in Lou Nova.

    Wasn't Lou a world amateur champion as well?
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
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  10. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    I would still like us all to be able to decide for ourselves if it was a stinker or not. How bad could it be??

    I'm not sure I can trust the 1940s press with unflmed fights anymore. Listening to the radio broadcast on YouTube from Galento vs Nova (a huge outdoor fight) the newspaper verdict sounded like a total misrepresentation of what you could clearly hear was a non controversial, if hard fought, competitive war. Both guys interviewed too without any hint of outrage on either side.
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
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  11. Dubblechin

    Dubblechin Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    That's one of the things I think fans overlook about most champions.

    Most fans look at the rivalries or series of fights a champ may have. The controversial fights. Or who he beat to win the title and who beat him to take it.

    But we often overlook the top guys who a champion may have beaten in a pretty clear fashion who would've been champs themselves if they hadn't run into that guy.

    Nova. C00ney. Nino LaRocca (against Donald Curry). I remember Tony "the Tiger" Lopez's big challenge was supposed to come against Tyrone Jackson - who froze and got stopped and was totally ruined by the loss.

    Seems like the guys given the best chance to win going in against a champ - and then the champ beats them decisively - are often forgotten or ridiculed maybe because the fans don't want to be reminded that they had been so wrong.

    When maybe it was just because the champ was so good that night. Maybe those are the champs' best performances ... when they ruined a guy who would've been champ if they hadn't been there.
     
    Dubblechin, Jan 9, 2016
    Dubblechin, Jan 9, 2016
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  12. klompton2

    klompton2 Boxing Junkie banned Full Member

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    What you need to realize is that radio, and later television commentators did not to discuss fouls on air unless they were ruled on by the officials opting instead to stay neutral. Commentators now are much more sensationlist and partial so its no real surprise that the radio broadcast of Galento-Nova would sound more sterile than the after action reports.
     
    klompton2, Jan 9, 2016
    klompton2, Jan 9, 2016
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  13. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
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  14. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    Brilliant point!:good

    unbelievably the champ "being so good that night" tends to be overlooked if whom ever appears to be the sterner challengers wind up getting dismissed easier than expected.

    Bizarrely a mismatched challenge can be over rated. Take Ali's Cleveland Williams performance, he was favoured going in and Williams was still awful, yet somehow went down as a great example of how great Ali was with nothing coming back!

    This Lou Nova performance could be Louis's greatest fight.

    We will never know if Nova was Joe Louis' "Cleveland Williams night".
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
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  15. choklab

    choklab cocoon of horror Full Member

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    I understand this. But where was the crowds boos? The referee is called an excellent official over and over during the fight.

    Have you listened to this broadcast on YouTube?

    Somewhere an outrage has been created that was absent on the night. Maybe Nat Fleischer was bitter that he picked nova to win and Galento spoiled his prediction?
     
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    choklab, Jan 9, 2016
    #15
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