Top 10 heavies: Social impact

so just because it might be possible to perceive louis as an 'uncle tom'(which is what you're insinuating) black people didnt by and large take pride in his accomplishments and his breaking of the color barrier?

you're a strange one hendo.

 

For the Youth of America, it was by far Jack Demspey.

 

That's not what I'm implying. Louis was a soldier that took orders.

Johnson felt that he should have equal rights and acted as if racism didn't exist. He lived his life as if he was a white man in the sense that nobody was telling him what he could and couldn't do.

I do think that he tended to engrage whites due to his actions, but it was also during a time where whites were trying to infringe racial superiority on blacks.

I think that he put these notions to rest and in a sense had the entire black America on his back, and if he didn't have the courage and intellect to force his way to champion, who knows how long these notions would have existed.

I think in part, Louis had to act completely opposite to Johnson because whites were still upset.

 

Ed "Too Tall" Jones: established that pro football players need to stay away from the boxing ring.

(I'm talking to you, Mark Gastineau)

 

Depends what you are looking at. Dempsey and Johnson had tremendous impact on the US but outside of that? Louis had an impact all over the world, Ali too. Hell, even Schmeling had more impact outside of the US than those two. Just something to think about.

Another thing is, what do you mean by social impact? Can you compare what Louis did to what Dempsey did? Or Tyson? Dempsey and Tyson made the sport more popular. Louis became a huge symbol and gave hope, not only to blacks in the US, but to people all over the world to stand up against oppressing regimes. Hard to compare.

IMO the clear cut number one is Louis. He had world wide impact and what he did did really change something. After that it get´s tough though.

 

I think Jack Johnson disagrees.

 

there are no shortage of skirt chasing boxers

 

Would you have been differtent? I know, I wouldn´t have been.

 

i wasn't and i was only a lowly amateur.if i was a champ or contender, then would iiiii:hey:hey

 

:good

 

the press at the time would have had you believe joe louis was a clean living monk-type of man.now we know he was the same as robinson, greb, baer etc etc.

 

Hell, yeah, but it was better for him to keep it under wraps. And for the press too, they needed a hero and Louis was the only one around fitting that description. Everybody profited from it.

 

you're right he did fit the bill.they all wanted him to be different from jack johnson

 

Aye, Johnson really made it hard for his fellow blacks to become champ.

 

he did it his own way ok.he must have been a hard man mentally as well as physically