BoxRec

Why does this photo not get more mention?


I remember reading a biography of Joe Louis when I was in high school. In the book I saw a picture of FDR grabbing into Joe's bicep and saying "We need your muscles Joe"

This picture was taken just before his rematch with Max Schmeling.

So...here we have the most powerful and popular man on the planet, the president of the US just before WWII and currently pulling the country out of the great depression.

However, this president as we all know had suffered greatly from the effects of Polio and was wheelchair bound. However, never was a picture taken of him in the wheelchair.

So, the president was grabbing onto the arm of an African American man saying the country NEEDS him! This before the civil rights movement where many of the population would get arrested for simply eating with the opposite race, but here we have the president literally hanging on him.

The picture brought tears to my eyes years ago, but why is it not published as much anymore?

Actually, being a member of the media -I'm a news editor and on-air radio personality- I have a different point of view from terap.

Most media ignores things like that because (1) Most journalists are ignorant of history unless it's their own field of expertise. Most sportwriters -in the US- come out of college with a knowledge of football, basketball and baseball but little else. Their historical knowledge of people like Ali is based on the frame of reference of the Vietnam war, which made Ali transcend boxing as a historical figure. (2) Sports journalism has a level of imediacy -tomorrow's game, recent statistics- that creates an indifference for a past few remember. (3) In the rush hour world, a historical piece consists of cutting and pasting and recycling file stories, which repeat themselves without giving new perspectives.

That's why boxing historians and researchers are so important. Long live Harry Greb and Sam Langford and the ghosts of the past...

I ABSOLUTELY AGREE WITH YOU. THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING- THAT MOST SPORTSWRITERS ARE HISTORICALLY IGNORANT.

THAT'S WHY WE SHOULD CHERISH THOSE THAT DO WRITE HISTORICAL RESEARCH AND KNOW THEIR TOPIC.

IN MIAMI WE HAVE A BOXING WRITER THAT KNOWS THE GAME -SANTOS PEREZ- BUT I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT ANOTHER ONE. THIS GUY WAS DOING A RINGSIDE PIECE AND I WAS FEEDING HIM SOME DATA. I TELL HIM -THIS IS A GOOD MATCH BETWEEN WELTERWEIGHTS- AND HE STARES AND ASKS -WHAT'S A WELTERWEIGHT?

Side note to the Louis vs. IRS...

Is it true that a member of congress introduced a bill back in the 1960s that stated that because of all the money he donated to the army and navy relief fund LLouis was to be excused to pay any more taxes?

However, that bill was killed in committee.