Joe Louis/Army exhibitions/U.K(1944)

[Brutu]

Is there a listing of when and where and with whom that Joe Louis boxed during his
Army exhibitions in England,Scotland and Ireland during 1944?

[delisa]

Here is best i have for 1944 exhibitions -- if you get better info please let me know sources at [email protected]

1944
Jan Bob Smith North Carolina Exh 3
Jan Bob Smith South Carolina Exh 3
Jan Bob Smith Camp Stewart,GA Exh 3
Feb George Nicholson Fort McCellan, AL Exh 3
Mar Bob Smith England Exh 3
Apr 11 Tommy Ireland London, Eng Exh 1
Apr 11 George Nicholson London, Eng Exh 2
Apr 19 George Nicholson “A Western town, Eng Exh
Apr 22 George Nicholson A Southwest Town , Eng Exh 2 -- Freddie Mills referee
May Elza Thompson Teddington, Eng Exh 3
May Elza Thompson London, Eng Exh
May Elza Thompson London, Eng Exh
May 25 Elza Thompson Reading, Eng Exh
Jun Bob Smith England Exh
Jun George Nicholson England Exh
Jun Leo Matriciani England Exh
Jul Bob Smith Mediterranean Area Exh.
Jul George Nicholson Mediterranean Area Exh.
Aug Jim Gordon Sardina,Italy Exh.2
Aug Sgt. Johnny Ebarb Bari, Italy Exh
[Sep] George Culbertson Naples, Italy Exh
Sep Van Parks Naples, Italy Exh 2
Sep Johnny Ralph Naples, Italy Exh 2
Sep Archie Smith Italy Exh 3
Sep Opponent Casablanca, NA Exh
Sep Opponent Oran, North Africa Exh
Sep Opponent Algiers Exh
Sep Opponent Ajeccio, Corsica Exh
Oct Louis L. Garica European Theatre Exh 2 Garcia?
3 Nov Johnny Denson Detroit, MI Exh KO 2
6 Nov Charley Crump Baltimore, MD Exh 3
9 Nov Dee Amos Hartford, CT Exh 3
13 Nov Jimmy Bell Uline Arena, Washington, DC Exh 3
14 Nov Johnny Davis Buffalo, NY KO 1(0:56)
(Title at risk as per NYS Commission Ruling; 6 oz gloves)
15 Nov Dee Amos Elizabeth, NJ Exh 3
17 Nov Dee Amos Camden, NJ Exh 3
24 Nov Dan Merritt Chicago, IL Exh 3

[delisa]

ps -- Med. Theater, "A Southwest Town" and european Theater are listed when reports were censored during WWII for security reasons as newspapers did not want to report troop movements.

[SteveO]

May 25 Elza Thompson Reading, Eng Exh

This contest against Elza 'Tommy' Thompson was held at the Elm Park Football Ground in Reading (my home town).

[Brutu]

According to his autobigraphy JOE LOUIS:MY LIFE(1978)
During 1942-1946,the 46 months he was in the Army,
Joe Louis traveled 70,000 miles and did 96 exhibitions in front of an audience of approx. 5 million servicemen.
About 30 of those exhibitions are listed in his ring record in that book,conspicusly missing are the exhibitions he did in England,Scotland,Ireland,Italy and"parts of Africa".
Along with George Nicholson and Sugar Ray Robinson,a SGT Jackie Wilson went with his tour to Europe .
Is that the same indivual who later became a Rock n Roll singer,who sang"Your love takes me higher"?
I had heard he was a boxer.

[Brutu]

According to newspaperarchive.com,the European tour was conducted by Capt. Fred Maly,the former sports editor of the San Antonio Texas Express.
Perhaps there still exists in Texas his records that he kept of the tour?
Joe Louis weighed 215 lbs during the exhibitions,
George Nicholson 230 lbs.
Apparently there had been some talk of Louis fighting Freddie Mills,
but after the tour Louis seem to dis Mills fighting abilities in the press,
"That Mills Aint Got Nothing",although apparently he later said he thought Mills was a real goodfighter later.

[Brutu]

Reportly they were also supposed to do exhibitions in India,Burma the Southwest Pacific and Australia.But apparently those never happened?
Obviously they didnt want to give a schedule of Joe Louis( scheduled stops(along with his boxing team)
other then usually they were held in isolated area's"Somewhere in England".
I just wonder if he gave a boxing exhibition at Molesworth Air Base in England,where the bombers took off and came back.
I went to the second grade there when my Dad was stationed in England in the late 1960's.
I was just a kid,It was tranquil and serene then,but I could almost feel the ghosts of World War II there.

[Brutu]

Sgt. Bob Smith
Cpl.Elza Thompson
Capt. Leo Matricianni(Air Force Titlist)
Johnny Ebarb(boxer-Air Corps Mess officer from Oakland Calif.)
George Culberson(puncher-from Brooklyn NY)
Louis" boxed 3 times a week,
and 3 to 4 skits a week"
Sgt Jackie Wilson was a welterweight.

[Brutu]

bump

[Caractacus]

This wasn't the thread I was talking about,but these exhibitions were not included in his listing of exhibitions in his 1978 book
for some reason. (neither were the ones he did with the Cole Bros. Circus in Canada from what I remember)

[dawudboxer]

According to his autobigraphy JOE LOUIS:MY LIFE(1978)
During 1942-1946,the 46 months he was in the Army,
Joe Louis traveled 70,000 miles and did 96 exhibitions in front of an audience of approx. 5 million servicemen.
About 30 of those exhibitions are listed in his ring record in that book,conspicusly missing are the exhibitions he did in England,Scotland,Ireland,Italy and"parts of Africa".
Along with George Nicholson and Sugar Ray Robinson,a SGT Jackie Wilson went with his tour to Europe .
Is that the same indivual who later became a Rock n Roll singer,who sang"Your love takes me higher"?
I had heard he was a boxer.

California Jackie Wilson, not the singer Jackie Wilson who had a most likely made up record in amateur boxing claiming to have won a golden gloves title that there is no record of. At least Gordy Berry had a legit pro career.

[dawudboxer]

This wasn't the thread I was talking about,but these exhibitions were not included in his listing of exhibitions in his 1978 book
for some reason. (neither were the ones he did with the Cole Bros. Circus in Canada from what I remember)

There are many not mentioned in that book. I have another book that mentions quite a few but the amount he actually fought was way more. I think Louis and Ali had the most exhibitions in history. Even more than the old time fighters like Bob Fitzsimmons and John L. Sullivan etc.

[nobleart1978]

These will be almost impossible to find. Louis himself would not have kept a record. If you are really determined to find the missing exhibitions your best bet is to go through the old newspapers. Even then, many will not be recorded. It is important to remember that Nat Fleischer got a lot of his info from secondary sources and simply included it in his record books and claimed the credit for it.