Joe Louis vs. John Henry Lewis
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Joe Louis 200 lbs beat John Henry Lewis 181 lbs by KO at 2:29 in round 1 of 15
- Date: 1939-01-25
- Location: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, USA
- Referee: Arthur Donovan
Notes
Timeline
- On August 11, Mike Jacobs reached an agreement with Louis to make four title defenses in 1939, and that he would take a rest for the rest of 1938.[1]
- On August 13, Randy Dixon wrote an opinion piece for The Pittsburgh Courier, in which he criticized the media for not giving Lewis the same attention and respect they gave to Louis and Henry Armstrong and suggested that Lewis would provide Louis with a bigger challenge than anybody else at the time.[2] The next day, columnist Harry Smith suggested his line of the four opponents Louis should face the following year, with Lewis being third in line after the winner of Tommy Farr-Gunnar Barlund and Max Baer.[3]
- On August 15, promoter Herman Taylor announced that Lewis would face ranked heavyweight contender Jimmy Adamick, a stablemate of Louis[4], on September 15.[5]
- On August 30, it was reported that Lewis was eyeing a showdown with Louis for the heavyweight crown.[6]
- On September 9, International News Service (INS) revealed that Jacobs was working on organizing a mini-tournament to determine a challenger for Louis in the upcoming year, and that Adamick would enter the tournament if he defeated Lewis and Roscoe Toles on September 30.[7]
- On September 15, Lewis defeated Adamick by majority decision.
- On September 18, the United Press received a tip that Lewis' manager Gus Greenlee and Mike Jacobs had come to an agreement.[8]
- On October 18, Louis' manager John Roxborough made an official offer of $10,000 to Lewis to fight another protege of his, Dave Clark.[9] It was later reported that Jacobs wanted Lewis to enter the mini-tournament to determine Louis' next challenger.[10]
- On October 21, 1938 Greenlee announced that Lewis' title defense against Al Gainer that night was going to be his last: "There's no real competition and so no real interest in the class... If he wins from Gainer, John will have six months before he will be required to defend his title again, but regardless of that he's making his last start as a light heavyweight."[11]
- Bout signed on November 3, 1938.[12]
Ranking Movements
- Lewis aimed to become a double champion as he was The Ring and National Boxing Association Light Heavyweight Champion going into the fight.
The Fight
- This was the second World Heavyweight Championship fight between two black boxers. The first was when Jack Johnson defended the title with a ten-round draw against Battling Jim Johnson on December 19, 1913, in Paris, France.
- Louis was an 8-1 betting favorite.
- A crowd of 17,350 produced a gross gate of $102,015.43.
- Louis received 40 percent of the gate, and Lewis got 17½ percent.
- Lewis was floored three times.
- This was Lewis' final fight and his only knockout loss.
- Joe and John Henry were good friends. Lewis was almost blind in one eye and his eyesight was deteriorating. Louis gave his friend the title fight so he could have one big payday before the eye problem forced him to retire.
External Links
- "Brown Bomber Blasts Challenger From Ring" The Reading Eagle, January 26, 1939
- Joe Louis: The Great Black Hope by Richard Bak, Da Capo Press, 1996
| Preceded by: Louis vs. Schmeling II |
NBA Heavyweight Title Fight # 18 |
Succeeded by: Louis vs. Roper |
| Preceded by: Louis vs. Schmeling II |
NYSAC Heavyweight Title Fight # 17 |
Succeeded by: Louis vs. Galento |