Joe Louis vs. Abe Simon (2nd meeting)

From BoxRec
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Challenger rankings
Org. Pos. As of Published
1+ Mth. Old
NBA 6 03.01.1942 03.01.1942
Ring N/A N/A N/A
2+ Mth. Old
NBA 5 09.09.1941 09.09.1941
Ring N/A N/A N/A
3+ Mth. Old
NBA 5 09.09.1941 09.09.1941
Ring N/A N/A N/A
Joe Louis floors Abe Simon in round five.

Joe Louis 207 lbs beat Abe Simon 255 lbs by TKO at 0:16 in round 6 of 15

  • Date: 1942-03-27
  • Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
  • Referee: Eddie Joseph

Notes

Timeline

  • Since his first encounter with Louis, Simon went 2-1-1, 2 KOs. In his last fight, he was stopped in the fifth by Lem Franklin on October 20, 1941.
  • In an interview with NEA Service on December 31, 1941, Simon called Louis overrated and downplayed his punching power: "Louis caught me clean with a right in the third... It was one of his best shots but I was positively not hurt... On one knee, I couldn't help laughing up at Joe, and I thought to myself: 'So that's the best you've got'."[1]
  • On January 6, manager James J. Johnston named Bob Pastor and Simon, both managed by him[2], as most worthy challengers for Louis' title.[3][4]
  • On January 10 and again January 15, Associated Press reported that Louis had completed necessary arrangements to join the US Army on January 14, and would defend his title in March against either Simon, Bob Pastor, light heavyweight champion Gus Lesnevich or Melio Bettina for the Army Emergency Relief Fund.[5][6]
  • On January 14, Simon was matched with Harry Bobo for a 10-round bout at Madison Square Garden on February 2.[7]
  • On January 16, Mike Jacobs announced signing of Pastor to face Gus Lesnevich in a heavyweight bout on February 6 at Madison Square Garden, replacing Lou Nova.[8]
  • On January 24, Simon's fight with Bobo was moved to February 17 after Simon suffered a torn ligament.[9]
  • After Pastor defeated Lesnevich on January 30, International News Service wrote: "The James J. Johnston fistic family... today had established almost absolute priority rights on the next shot at Joe Louis' world's heavyweight title... Though no official announcement was made by promoter Mike Jacobs... Pastor's win sealed sealed a March 27th army relief Louis' title shot for his master, James J.'s, stable. Bob does not wish to fight indoors so the fight will go to Abe Simon, if huge Abraham is able to take care of Harry Bobo in Pittsburgh on February 14th."[10]
  • On February 10, Pastor signed to face Lem Franklin in Cleveland on February 24, with manager James J. Johnston being guaranteed $9,000 and 30% of the gate.[11]
  • On February 13, Simon withdrew from the Bobo fight, with official reason being that Simon wanted to go on a honeymoon.[12]
  • Associated Press reported that the fight's cancellation might result in Simon getting a shot at Louis in March: him and Melio Bettina were the front-runners for the Louis showdown, but Bettina was instead offered to fight Gus Lesnevich for the light heavyweight title; meanwhile, Bobo was considered a tough challenge and a loss would've pushed Simon out of the title contention.[13]
  • Sports Editor Harvey Boyle wrote on the cancellation: "In bluntly withdrawing from the signed agreement to meet Harry Bobo here, the outsized Abe Simon was simply following the Jacobs party line, for regardless of how various fighters and managers - in this case, James Johnston - about the fistic fuehrer in New York, they all follow his dictates when he coughs, or whatever else he does to indicate his desires... While, ostensibly, Simon's withdrawal here was to make him available for a second chance with Joe Louis, it is by no means settled that Simon will get such a chance, even as he ingratiates himself with the boxing fuehrer, for there is Bettina, too, on the list."[14]
  • On February 17, Associated Press reported that promoters from Cleveland had offered Louis $100,000 to fight the winner or Pastor-Franklin next. The relief fund would be guaranteed $50,000.[15]
  • On February 24, Pastor knocked out Lem Franklin in the eighth round
  • On February 25, promoter Mike Jacobs together with Major General Irving Philipson and Colonel Clay Suplee announced that Louis was going to defend his title against Simon on March 27 at Madison Square Garden. The announcement caught some observers by surprise, who expected Bob Pastor to get the title shot after beating Franklin. Both Pastor and Simon were managed by Jimmy J. Johnston.[16][17]

Ranking Movements

  • After their first fight, Ring Magazine promoted previously unranked Simon to seventh, while National Boxing Association (NBA) moved him from "honorable mentions" to "outsdanding boxers" in its Q2 rankings released June 27.
  • On June 9 and June 17 Simon scored two stoppage victories, though neither Pete Tamalonis (11-8-1, 4 KOs) nor James D. Turner (23-18-4, 14 KOs) were rated by the National Boxing Association or The Ring Magazine.
  • In its Q3 rankings published September 9, NBA dropped Simon to fifth, placing Lem Franklin ahead of him.
  • Simon drew with Turkey Thompson on October 6, 1941 and was stopped in the fifth by Lem Franklin 14 days later. As a result, he was further dropped to sixth in the Q4 rankings released January 3, 1942.
  • On April 15, NBA moved Simon back to fifth.

The Fight

  • Louis was a 15-1 betting favorite.
  • There was a crowd of 18,220.
  • The gross gate was $132,420, and the net was $114,705.
  • The fight raised $64,980.02 for the Army Emergency Relief Fund. Louis donated his entire purse of $36,146. Promoter Mike Jacobs and Madison Square Garden contributed $25,131.85, and Simon gave $3,012.17.
  • Simon was floored late in rounds two and five, and he was saved by the bell each time. Simon was dropped again early in the sixth round and counted out by referee Eddie Joseph. Simon protested the stoppage, insisting he was up at the count of nine.
  • This was Louis' first professional fight without trainer Jack Blackburn, who was hospitalized in Chicago. Blackburn would die the following month.

Aftermath

  • Due to his Army service during World War II, Louis wouldn't defend his title again for four years and three months.

External Links


Preceded by:
Louis vs. Baer II 		NBA Heavyweight Title Fight
# 34 		Succeeded by:
Louis vs. Conn II
Preceded by:
Louis vs. Baer II 		NYSAC Heavyweight Title Fight
# 32 		Succeeded by:
Louis vs. Davis


Retrieved from "https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php?title=Joe_Louis_vs._Abe_Simon_(2nd_meeting)&oldid=1158032"