How good was Max Schmeling?

**Wild Blue Yonda** · 11-24-2010, 06:34 PM

There would be a respectable case for Schmeling making the top-15 all-time HW champions' list. Certainly, you could not have him far off that, if he didn't make your cut. Schmeling was indeed a fine fighter.

I would say his best attributes were his somewhat under-rated overhand right (the weapon of choice against a young Louis), a very straight jab, & his ring intelligence & ability to interpret opposition weaknesses. Biggest liabilities, in my view, were his somewhat low hands (unusual for a fighter as otherwise technical as Schmeling was, & got him caught against Baer), & a lack of overall speed --- reflexes, hands, feet.

I'd say he was a slightly better fighter than his career makes him appear (as is not uncommon through Boxing history), but he falls somewhere short of elite-echelon Heavyweight greatness. His loss to Louis in their rematch should count for nought against him, partly because he was in there with a peak version of quite arguably the greatest Heavyweight ever to draw breath, & partly because Schmeling himself was on the decline.

**Kid McCoy** · 11-24-2010, 06:52 PM

Pretty good. Not only the only man to dominate and KO a near-prime Joe Louis, but also had good wins over Young Stribling (only man to KO him in almost 300 fights), Mickey Walker, Paulino Uzcudun and most felt he was jobbed out of the Sharkey rematch. I love that short right of his. It took guts to stay within punching range of Louis like that and great skill to pull off his fight plan.

It's a shame politics denied him his deserved shot at Braddock, who I think he'd have beaten to become the first two-time champion. I'm not saying he was one of the all-time greats, but an intelligent, skilled fighter who had more to his career than just the Louis fights.

**StarshipTrooper** · 11-24-2010, 06:58 PM

I'd say he was a near-great, probably falling somewhere between 15 and 25 on an all-time Heavyweight list. Very good fighter who gets underrated these days.

Poet

**BKM-2010** · 11-25-2010, 04:22 PM

Good to see him getting some respect around here. He shouldn't be remembered as the guy who was stopped by Louis or won the title by DQ. Especially because he was such a good man as well.

**Scott9945** · 11-25-2010, 04:42 PM

Originally posted by boxkickboxmma

Good to see him getting some respect around here. He shouldn't be remembered as the guy who was stopped by Louis or won the title by DQ. Especially because he was such a good man as well.

Max is also always credited as the only man who beat Louis in his prime. His career will always be defined by the Louis fights, fair or not. Unlike most foreigners who succeed in the US, Schmelling had a relatively unimpressive record in Germany.

How good was Max Schmeling?