Joe Louis's " Training and Conditioning Camps" (1935-1939)

[Caractacus]

Was reading a book about Joe Louis the other day, and it said when he started to become a contender for big fights,
prior to going to the Boxing training camps (such as Pompton Lakes New Jersey starting in 1935)
he would spent 2 weeks at a conditioning camp somewhere else were he would be "Roughing it"
and also do "serious woodchopping"
and roadwork and also get his sleep and eating patterns right
( like going to bed by 9 pm and getting up at 5:am then do about 5 miles of roadwork
then have breakfast and take a nap.
What are some of the known "Conditioning Camps" from the fist part of the twentieth Century (and earlier )
Do any of them stiill exist were you could run the same route as Joe Louis ran in the late 1930's
or are most or all know housing developements or malls ?

[Caractacus]

one I know of was near one of his managers homes located in Stevensville,Berrien County Michigan
( on Lake Michigan)
His co-manager Julian Black was a Chicago real estate man,but reportedly that was just a cover
for him being a "Big Numbers Man" as was Joe Louis's other manager John Roxborough who was also a Real estate and big numbers man in Detroit.

[Caractacus]

another Joe Louis conditioning camp were he would stay back then for couple weeks to chop wood and do roadwork and sleep and eat
and rough it up was at LaFayette, Onondaga County New York ( central New York state )
LaFayette is known for its Apple orchards

[APerno]

Dr. Joseph Bier's Health Farm in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey is now preserved as Joe Louis Memorial Park. So I think you can go and run there.

Here is an excerpt from the Park's web page:

In operation since 1923, Bier's Training Camp had been home to many of the sport's luminaries, including former champions Pancho VIlla, Benny Leonard, Harry Greb, Pete Latzo, Ace Hudkins, Tony Conzoneri, Jimmy McLarnin, Jackie "Kid" Berg, Lou Brouillard, and Primo Carnera. Louis however, would develop a strong bond with the area residents that none of the previous champions ever enjoyed.

http://www.pomptonlakesgov.com/230/Joe- ... orial-Park

[Caractacus]

have you ever visited Madam Bey's at Summit New Jersey ?
I'm not sure if Joe Louis ever trained there but a lot of his opponents did.

[Caractacus]

another Joe Louis " conditioning camp" was at Lake Kenosha Wisconsin.
Reortedly it was located behind the Simmon's Matress Factory there.
He chopped wood and ddi roadwork there too before his team headed out to Pompton Lakes for more serious training.
Louis also did some pre-training at a camp located at West Baden Indiana too.

[APerno]

have you ever visited Madam Bey's at Summit New Jersey ?
I'm not sure if Joe Louis ever trained there but a lot of his opponents did.

No, actually never even heard of the area; just mapped, it is directly west of Brooklyn. I was a north (north) Jersey boy, just south of the New York State border, close to Pompton Lakes; use to attend a summer day camp there when I was a kid, that's why I wanted to look it up when you mentioned it. North (north) Jersey is a well kept secret, much wide open land. If you got dropped into that area in the dark you would never guess you were New Jersey.

Another big training area close by was up in the Catskill Resorts (the Borscht Belt, or Jewish Alps). Ali, Patterson, and Holmes all trained there at one time or another. There was this famous hotel there called Grossinger's; Barney Ross (a Jewish hero) use to train and live there way back in the 1930s.

The entire area faded bad in the 1980s and is now pretty much abandoned; most of the hotels suffered 'Jewish lighting.'

[Caractacus]

Madame Bey's is near Chatham New Jersey.
It was a really famous Boxing training camp from 1917-1969.
(14 world champions had trained there)
as a matter of fact an entire book was recently published about it in 2016.
MADAME BEY'S BOXING TRAINING CAMP.

[Caractacus]

Joe Louis had also trained at Lakewood New Jersey ( for the first fight with Schmeling in 1936)
Lakewood had the Stanley Hotel and the Alpine Mansion and also a big golf course which Louis spent time on)
Joe Louis also trained at Greenwood Lake New York too ( for the fights with Red Burman,Buddy Baer Lou Nova
and the second fight with Billy Conn).
check out this interesting article about Rocky Marciano and the old Greenwood Lake training camp

https://www.oldtimestrongman.com/blog/2 ... wood-lake/

[Caractacus]

Here is some footage of Pompton Lakes New Jersey filmed in 1956.
I think the last time Joe Louis used it as a training camp was in 1951 when he was preparing to fight Rocky Marciano
and he hadn't been there in years (since 1946 for the second fight with Billy Conn)because I seem to remember reading that the camp felt like a "Ghost town" then
( he first trained at Pompton Lakes for the fight with Primo Carnera in 1935.
They converted an old Barn into a bar and Joe Louis slept in a small cottage there that reportedly Pres. George Washington once slept in)
(Joe Louis also trained at Pompton Lakes for the fights with Max Baer,Jack Sharkey and John Henry Louis)

[Caractacus]

here is a list of the fights that Joe Louis trained there for

1935-Primo Carnera
Max Baer
1936-Jack Sharkey
Jorge Brescia
1937-Tommy Farr
1939-John Henry Louis
Two Ton Tony Galento
1940-Arturo Godoy

1946- Billy Conn
Tami Mauriello

I think that last time that Joe Louis trained at Pompton Lakes was in 1951 for the fight with Rocky Marciano,
and he might not have been there since 1946.
They converted an old Barn into a bar there and Joe Louis slept in a small cottage there that reportedly Pres. George Washington once slept in)

[BitPlayer]

Tom Cribb went to Scotland to train for his rematch with Tom Molineaux in the early 1800's. I've heard that was the first training camp.

I've heard that his training is pretty well known. All I can remember of it is that it included a ton of long walks and hiking.

[Caractacus]

at the Greenwood Lake training camp,
Joe Louis prepared there to fight
1941- Red Burman
Billy Conn
Lou Nova
1942-Buddy Baer
1944-Billy Conn ( for just 2 weeks before the scheduled fight was called off by the War office).

[APerno]

at the Greenwood Lake training camp,
Joe Louis prepared there to fight
1941- Red Burman
Billy Conn
Lou Nova
1942-Buddy Baer
1944-Billy Conn ( for just 2 weeks before the scheduled fight was called off by the War office).

The Conn II fight was for October 1942, then it got called off; think how great that fight would have been in 1942 instead of 1946 but Uncle Mike and Johnnie Roxborough just couldn't stop themselves from trying to rob the till, Sec of War Stimson had no choice but to pull the plug; not to mention that Louis and Conn would both have been out of tax trouble what a shame.

[Caractacus]

anyone here visit any of the old training camps ?

[Caractacus]

Rocky Marciano used to do his roadwork at DW Field Park in Brocton MA (650 acres)
he used to run average 5 to 6 miles a day
9-10 when he was training for a fight
and 12 to 15 miles the week of the fight.
(Kevin Mc Bride ran the same route when he was training to fight Mike Tyson)

[Caractacus]