Editing Joe Louis (section)

====Louis vs. Schmeling II====
{{Main|Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling}}
The rematch between Louis and Schmeling would become one of the most famous boxing matches of all time and is remembered as one of the major sports events of the 20th century.<ref name=hbo/> Following his defeat of Louis in 1936, Schmeling had become a national hero in Germany. Schmeling's victory over an African American was touted by Nazi officials as proof of their doctrine of [[Aryan race|Aryan superiority]]. When the rematch was scheduled, Louis retreated to his boxing camp in New Jersey and trained incessantly for the fight. A few weeks before the bout, Louis visited the White House, where President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] told him, "Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany".<ref name="hbo">{{Cite web |last=Dettloff |first=William |title=The Louis-Schmeling Fights: Prelude to War |url=http://www.hbo.com/boxing/features/history/joe_louis.html |access-date=April 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529151439/http://www.hbo.com:80/boxing/features/history/joe_louis.html |archive-date=2009-05-29|url-status=dead}}</ref> Louis later admitted: "I knew I had to get Schmeling good. I had my own personal reasons and the whole damned country was depending on me".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Book Review: ''Beyond Glory'' by David Margolick |url=http://www.fsmitha.com/review/lewis.htm |access-date=January 14, 2015}}</ref>

When Schmeling arrived in [[New York City]] in June 1938 for the rematch, he was accompanied by a Nazi party publicist who issued statements that a black man could not defeat Schmeling and that when Schmeling won, his prize money would be used to build tanks in Germany. Schmeling's hotel was picketed by anti-Nazi protesters in the days before the fight.<ref name=hbo/>

On the night of June 22, 1938, Louis and Schmeling met for the second time in the boxing ring. The fight was held in Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 70,043. It was broadcast by radio to millions of listeners throughout the world (including 58% of radio-equipped U.S. households<ref name="sports_and_radio_2003_comm_research_trends">Beck, Daniel and Louis Bosshart ([[University of Fribourg]], [[Freiburg, Switzerland]]): [http://cscc.scu.edu/trends/v22/v22_4.pdf "Sports and Media,"]- chapter 4. "Sports and Radio," in ''Communication Research Trends'' Vol.22 (2003) No.4, {{ISSN|0144-4646}}, retrieved November 22, 2020</ref>), with radio announcers reporting on the fight in English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Before the bout, Schmeling weighed in at 193&nbsp;pounds; Louis weighed in at 198¾&nbsp;pounds.<ref name=hbo/>

The fight lasted two minutes and four seconds.<ref name=ring/> Louis battered Schmeling with a series of swift attacks, forcing him against the ropes and giving him a paralyzing body blow (Schmeling afterward claimed it was an illegal kidney punch). Schmeling was knocked down three times and only managed to throw two punches in the entire bout. On the third knockdown, Schmeling's trainer threw in the towel and referee Arthur Donovan stopped the fight.<ref name=hbo/>

Well-established as one of the most significant boxing matches in history,
<ref name="a_look_back_2020_06_22_usatoday_com">Rosenthal, Michael: [https://boxingjunkie.usatoday.com/gallery/photos-a-look-back-at-the-historic-joe-louis-max-schmeling-rematch "Photos: A look back at the historic Joe Louis-Max Schmeling rematch,"] June 22, 2020 "Boxing Junkie," ''[[USA Today]]'' retrieved November 22, 2020:  (''"The second fight between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling arguably was the most important in boxing history".'')</ref><ref name="foreman_ranks_2020_02_15_boxing_scene">[[George Foreman|Foreman, George]], quoted: [https://www.boxingscene.com/foreman-ranks-wilder-fury-top-three-rematches-all-time--146773 "Foreman Ranks Wilder-Fury in Top Three Rematches of All Time,"] February 15, 2020, ''Boxing Scene,'' retrieved November 22, 2020:  "'There were three important rematches in boxing history,' Foreman told ''BoxingScene'' ... of the heavyweight division. 'The most important was Max Schmeling and Joe Louis when the whole world was watching. That was the most important rematch of all time.'"</ref><ref name="the_greatest_fight_2005_oup_com">Erenberg, Lewis A.: ''The greatest fight of our generation: Louis vs. Schmeling,'' 2005–2008, as summarized at [[Oxford University Press]] [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-greatest-fight-of-our-generation-9780195319996?cc=us&lang=en&#], with  [https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195177749.001.0001/acprof-9780195177749 online copy] (subscription required): "... the second Louis-Schmeling fight sparked excitement around the globe. For all its length–the fight lasted but two minutes–it remains one of the most memorable events in boxing history and, indeed, one of the most significant sporting events ever".</ref> the fight has been widely regarded as among the most important or historic sports events of all time.<ref name="powerful_moments_in_sports">Gitlin, Martin: ''Powerful Moments in Sports: The Most Significant Events in American History.'' Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017</ref><ref name="review_powerful_moments_2019_08_10_ussporthistory_com">Iber, Jorge: [https://ussporthistory.com/2019/08/10/review-of-powerful-moments-in-sports/ "Review of ''Powerful Moments in Sports'',"] August 10, 2019, ''Sport in American History,'' retrieved November 22, 2020</ref><ref name="ten_most_important_2015_09_04_politicususa_com">Tack, Travis, [https://sports.politicususa.com/2015/09/04/10-most-important-moments-in-sports-history.html "10 Most Important Moments in Sports History,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210923150234/https://sports.politicususa.com/2015/09/04/10-most-important-moments-in-sports-history.html |date=September 23, 2021 }} ''"#1 – Joe Louis versus Max Schmeling"''; September 4, 2015, ''[[Politicus]] Sports,'' retrieved November 22, 2020</ref><ref name="the_greatest_fight_2005_oup_com" /><ref name="top_10_boxers_2020_05_16_el_paso_times">Aguilar, Matthew: [https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/2020/05/16/top-10-heavyweight-boxers-all-time-picked-matthew-aguilar/5204432002/ "Matthew Aguilar: One guy's top 10 heavyweights of all time,"], May 16, 2020, ''[[El Paso Times]],'' retrieved November 22, 2020</ref> It was the first time that many white Americans openly cheered for a black man against a white opponent.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hauser |first1=Thomas |title=The Brown Bomber is destroyed in his last ever fight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/jan/07/boxing.features1 |access-date=5 June 2021 |work=The Observer |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited |date=2007-01-07 |language=en}}</ref>