What would have happened to boxing without WWII?

Lets remove any idea from the onset that Schmelling was a Nazi, he was actually a rebel of the Nazi regime, protecting Jews and not supporting the regime

Louis himself likely doesn't get the same support from Americans. He was getting allot of racial abuse in the media prior to him being a spearhead of the whole WW2 against Schmelling (wrongly) fight. Then he became a symbol of America. Without that perhaps it becomes 'Our White boxer' against the 'Negro' type crowds you got with Jack Johnson.

I'm not sure how good the German amateurs were but as Schmelling had shown, the smart money was in emigrating to America.

 

Interesting to think about!

Had the war not happened, it's not any stretch to say you'd have had more European champions/contenders through the weight classes from the 40s on. I don't know of any German HWs other than Schmeling, but some would have arisen just in the effort to save face perhaps from the Louis KO1.

But... without WW2...

Some other huge military conflict would have definitely happened between the fascists, democracies and communists...

Maybe in the nuclear age? :0

 

The Jeffries-Johnson thread wouldn't have been hi-jacked for one thing!

 

Please Change the thread title to 'A Nazi Hitler Youth Boxing Programme instead of WW2'?

There a few problems with this, such as how focused the Nazi's would be on boxing and if they could get the trainers. You need to have boxed to teach boxing. Without the trainers your not going to excel.

Hoff wasn't that good and Runge looks good but very raw, carrying his chin too high.

 

A quick look at some facts. Here are the rated heavyweights from the Ring Magazine's yearly ratings for the 1930's

White Americans (34)--Jack Sharkey, Ernie Schaaf, King Levinsky, Mickey Walker, Tommy Loughran, Young Stribling, Stanley Poreda, Tuffy Griffith, Max Baer, Johnny Risko, Patsy Perroni, Charley Massara, Steve Hamas, Lee Ramage, Art Lasky, Natie Brown, Charley Retzlaff, Eddie Mader, Hank Hankinson, Ray Impellitierre, Al Ettore, Ford Smith, Jimmy Braddock, Maxie Rosenbloom, Sonny Walker, Nathan Mann, Tony Galento, Jimmy Adamick, Lou Nova, Bob Pastor, Red Burman, Gus Dorazio, Johnny Paycheck, Lee Savold

Black Americans (5)--Unknown Winston, Joe Louis, Leroy Haynes, Roscoe Toles, Jack Trammell

British and Empire (5)--Don McCorkindale, Larry Gains, Jack Peterson, Tommy Farr, Len Harvey

European (5)--Max Schmeling, Primo Carnera, Walter Neusel, Gunnar Barland, Andre Lenglet

Latin American (2)--Arturo Godoy, Alberto Lovell
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here are the totals from The Ring yearly ratings for the 1950's

White Americans (13)--Lee Savold, Joey Maxim, Rex Layne, Lee Oma, Rocky Marciano, Roland LaStarza, Joe Baksi, Dan Bucceroni, Charley Norkus, Willie Pastrano, Roy Harris, Pat McMurtry, Mike DeJohn

Black Americans (23)--Ezzard Charles, Joe Louis, Clarence Henry, Bob Baker, Jersey Joe Walcott, Bob Dunlap, Jimmy Bivins, Tommy Harrison, Bob Satterfield, Coley Wallace, Hurricane Jackson, Jimmy Slade, Archie Moore, John Holman, Johnny Summerlin, Young Jack Johnson, Harold Carter, Eddie Machen, Zora Folley, Wayne Bethea, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Billy Hunter

British & Empire (7)--Jack Gardner, Johnny Williams, Earl Walls, Don ****ell, Henry Cooper, Brian London, Joe Erskine

European (3)--Karol Sys, Heinz Neuhaus, Ingemar Johansson

Latin American (3)--Cesar Brion, Nino Valdes, Alex Miteff
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion--The biggest change in the heavyweight division between the thirties and the fifties was the fall of the color line in America. It was happening before WWII, but WWII accelerated the process, and also accelerated immigration from the rural South to the northern industrial cities. There were jobs to be had in the war industries.

The USA had 39 of the 51 rated heavyweights in the 1930's, and 36 of the 49 rated heavyweights in the 1950's. The British Empire and Europe produced 10 rated heavyweights between them in both the 1930's and the 1950's. Whether the war stopped something from happening which would otherwise have happened is open to speculation.

**My bottom line would be that while Joe Louis is the single best heavyweight in either decade, the fifties were overall stronger than the thirties due to the massive influx of Black American talent.

***So what does this mean directly to the question posed. I think if there had been no war, the migration of rural Southern blacks to the North would have been much slower, and military service plays a role here also. I think there would not have been as many top black heavyweights in the fifties.

 

Jimmy Bivins would've gotten that title shot, and given Joe Louis fits.

 

An interesting historic twist, would this of been the case or would Labour have won and pushed it through anyway? Ofcourse Britain would be much richer as a country too without WW2. Does independence for the colonies get postponed?

The US would still lead the way with boxing gym concentration and trainer quality. The big money commerce was in the US too, which is always the driver for boxing.

I'm not sure of poverty necessarily feeding boxing. There is plenty of poverty in Africa and India but few boxers are produced from those regions. There was more boxing participation after the great depression during the recovery.

 

"I'm not sure of poverty necessarily feeding boxing."

Too much poverty probably undercuts it. Big-time sports flourish in countries in which most have enough money to spend it on entertainment.

 

Before sports funding was cut it was producing quite a few but nothing like what it would if there was a big boxing scene there.