(childhood)
Joe Louis Barrow, nicknamed the Brown Bomber was born on May 13, 1914. He was the son of Lillie and Munroe Barrow. At the age of two, his father was commited into a mental institution, resulting in Louis barely knowing his biological father. Louis spent most of his childhood growing up in Alabama. He had a speech impediment and didn't really start talking until the age of six. His father was later said to have died in the mental institution way before he had grown to know his son's fame. In 1926, his family was shaken up by a gang of white men in the KKK. They then moved to Detroit, Michigan where Joe started attending Bronson Vocationial School in order to learn cabinet making.
(amateur career)
The Depression hit his family hard. He got away from the stress by hitting up the Youth Recreational Center. This is where it all began. He kept his ambitions from his mother by carrying his boxing gloves in the violin case she gave him in hope of seeing him achieve in the music industry. At the age of 17, he began to fight with other opponents as a light- weight. Louis had very many wins and soon became the champion of the Youth Recreational Center tournament. This was the home of many Golden Glove fighters. He then traveled around to many states being involved in the "Golden Glove" tournaments. His total record was 50 wins, 4 losses, and 43 knockouts.
(professional career)
Louis's records began to impress professional promoters. Louis was than represented by a black man with the name of John Roxoborough. John than bumped Louis up to heavy-weight. The most famous fight of Joe Louis was the one against Schmeling. He wasn't supposed to be a threat to Louis considering his professional record was 27-0. With this thought, Louis didn't train for this fight; he spent most of his time golfing. Schmeling than defeated Louis. This then consisted of a rematch a few laters. Since the last fight Schmeling became a national hero in Germany for a victory over a African American. Louis trained hard for this fight and admitted, "I knew I had to get Schmeling good. I had my own personal reasons and the whole damned country was depending on me." On the way to the fight, Louis was accompanied by a Nazi publicist that there was no way Louis could beat Schmeling. The whole country watched/listened to this fight that lasted on two minutes and fourty three seconds. Louis had an amazing victory that the whole country was proud of!
Fun fact: Louis who was barely literate, wrote Joe Louis leaving no room for Barrow before one fight in his amateur career and was considered Joe Louis for the rest of his career.
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