In the book, "Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling and a World on the Brink" it says that Max was scheduled to fly on the Hindenburg and arrive in the U.S. on May 6, 1937 to finish preparations for his previously scheduled June 3 fight with Jim Braddock, which most knew wouldn't take place (and didn't) because Braddock had signed to fight Joe Louis instead. But Joe Jacobs wanted Schmeling in the U.S. by May 4, to meet with the NY boxing commission in an effort to block the Braddock-Louis fight. So Schmeling sold his ticket on the Hindenburg and, instead, bought a ticket on a boat that was due to arrive in the U.S. on May 3. (And did.) According to the book, the person who purchased Schmeling's ticket on the Hindenburg was one of the people who died. What if Schmeling hadn't changed his plans and was on the Hindenburg when it crashed (and he perished)? What if Schmeling's final fight had been his KO of Joe Louis? Think his all-time standing would've been impacted one way or another if Max had never lost to Louis and died a hero to many on both sides of the Atlantic before WWII ever began? Think Joe Louis' standing all-time is impacted if he never avenged his loss to Schmeling (like he didn't with Charles and Marciano)? This content is protected
Certainly final impressions count big time. Schmelings career would thus end that he was a boxing sensation in the late 20's when he came to the US, won and defended the worlds hwt championship and was the or a leading contender for the better part of a decade ending with one of the more brilliant technical performances in boxing history in his win over Louis. Schmeling would be today considered an ATG. The question of what would have occurred in a rematch would be a dominant question on these boards quite certainly. Louis would still be considered top 4 all time with more question marks concerning how he would have done vs other great technical boxers/punchers such as Johnson and Dempsey.
Schmeling would be held in higher regard if only just a little and Joe Louis would be held in lower regard if only a little.
Ive got to say that without knowing the story behind this post I had to laugh at the title and it left me wondering: "What if Mike Tyson had died in the Challenger explosion?"
It would be similar if buster Douglas had been killed before his defence against Holy.Obviously Iam glad that didn't happen but the same what if questions would be asked.
A very interesting what if. I am sure there would be those who would argue that Schmeling would always have had Louis's number. Others would have pointed to the fact that Louis improved, and that he always did better in rematches. I don't think that anybody would have predicted a first round blowout. Many would assume that Braddock was going to honor his commitment to fight Schmeling, and that Schmeling was poised to be champion regardless of Louis.
Well, first of all, this shows us the role that chance and coincidence can impact longevity even if you have great genetics for longevity as Schmeling would have died at age 31 or 32 instead of age 99. I often wonder how long Rocky Marciano would have lived had he never perished in that plane crash. It's possible, but unlikely, that he could still be around today in 2017 at 94. But it could've raised Schmeling's ATG status if Louis still went on to do what he did. But it may have impacted Louis status in H2H fights as every time you mention Louis vs fighter X, someone would be obliged to bring up that Louis couldn't even beat Schmeling like gets done with Tyson/Douglas.
I often think that if Lewis never fought McCall and Rahman, we'd think he had an ATG chin and probably would be comparing his chin to Ali and Chuvalo. And anyone saying Rahman could 1 time Lewis would be treated as if they were on drugs. You're right about no one predicting a first round blowout. If we discussed a Tyson/Douglas rematch, any opinion saying Tyson would stop Douglas in 1 round would be considered far fetched. Some things we have to see to believe.
He was the favorite going into the fight. And even had someone argued Foreman would've beaten Fraizer, no one would reasonably have predicted it had been done in the manner it had been done in. As I said before, some things we can only believe by seeing.
