Why did Louis get to fight Braddock for the title rather than Schmeling?

Hi Buddy.
Good question, I read an article years ago which stated that the Louis people struck a deal with Braddock's management that they would give Braddock 10% of all the defenses Joe would make over the years he kept the title, this may or may not be totally accurate, I am sure more learned and knowledgeable members like @mcvey or @janitor might be able to debunk or collaborate the above.
stay safe Devon, chat soon.

 

Politics.

Louis's backers offered Braddock a very lucrative deal.

It is often claimed, that if he lost, he got 10% of Louis for ten years.

That is not strictly true, he got 10% of one of Louis's managers, and the deal was later reneged on.

In any event Louis was the biggest draw in the sport, for all the reasons that Tyson was, and Braddock had been interested in fighting him even before he lost to Schmeling.

 

Because losing the most coveted item in sports to a German challenger, in 1936, would probably obliterate Braddock’s legacy and public image. He would just be remembered for losing to Schmeling before the outbreak of WW2 rather than for his accomplishments, so he chose the more socially acceptable beatdown instead.

 

Schmeling got the shaft because the powers in charge didn’t want a fighter from Germany at that time to have the title.

 

Deal aside at this point Schmeling hadn't fought since beating Louis while Louis had rattled off 7 wins. From a merit standpoint either one deserved it.

I don't think Schmeling not holding the lineal title effected Nazi propaganda. If anything Louis winning the belt bolstered Schmelings non lineal claim until Louis beat him. Hence why Louis fought him. The belt being standed in Europe during WW2 would have been a disaster that fundamentally changed the HW divisions history but in 1937 I don't think people were thinking that far ahead.

 

No J, he got 10% of Mike Jacobs earnings from heavyweight defences for 10 years.
Jacobs knew he need to have the heavyweight champion to
be inthe driving seat r e boxing Braddocks manager had him over a barrel.
Jacobs later refused to pay anymore ,and they settled out of court for a lump sum that I would need to look up .
Braddock's manager ,Joe Gould close friends with Owney Madden, knew Jim was through,so naturally he negotiated the best deal he could,for him and his charge,in effect Braddock's pension plan,though Jim did have one more fight a debateable win over Tommy Farr.
Had Braddock honoured the contract to defend against Schmeling ,I think Max would have become the first man to regain the heavyweight title.

 

I don't think America had any thoughts about getting involved in a European War at that time,in fact it was several years before they were forced into it with the bombing of Pearl Harbour.

 

The answer has already been stated - $ & politics. Schmeling being sidelined in favor of Louis is 1 of the most (in)famous screw-overs in boxing history. Even Louis himself would publicly admit (roughly quoted), "I'm not the champ until I beat Schmeling."

Nazi Germany was already a source of massive international controversy though. The political implications of a Jewish fighter facing a German already featured prominently in the backdrop of Baer's fight w/ Schmeling a few years earlier.

 

He may not have had concrete ideas of going to war at that point … I think he did in 1940-41 and technically Germany first declared war on the US … but Hitler was on FDR’s long-term radar, I think he knew the corporal would have to be dealt with at some point.

 

That is what I was clumsily trying to say.

 

Because of a guy named Adolf Hitler.

 

Massive International Controversy?
Yet we had all nations at the Berlin Olympics? And a very substantial support in some areas of the US for Germany from the likes of the American Bund?
ps Baer technically wasn't Jewish anyway.
Orthodox Jews take their ethnicity from their Mother,Baer's Father Jacob was Jewish ,but his Mother was not,neither was he circumcised.

 

FDR might have thought that at some point Germany would have to be dealt with,but the vast majority of Americans wanted no part of a European war until it was forced upon them, by Pearl Harbour.

 

Schmeling would not pay Braddock a percentage of his purse for years. Besides, Max shellacking Braddock would look bad in the political climate.