Why is Joe Louis Rated so Highly?

[LacedUp]

well if you just want to consider records, Vlad is real close.

Was Louis also knocked out 3 times by guys outside the top 10?

[soul_survivor]

People that saw both Ali and Louis fight, generally felt Louis was the greater heavyweight.

That says something.

It speaks volumes about the racism at the time, that most of these opinions came about in the 60s. By the times, it was well regarded by most boxing journalists that ALi was not only the greatest heavy ever but also one of the greatest fighters ever. Especially post Foreman.

On a list, I would rate Sam Langford higher than Joe Louis. Jack Johnson as well as Jack Dempsey avoided Langford.

That's going a bit far. We have little footage of Johnson and his record is thin, since he fought in exile for quite some time. Langford...again, little to go off of. Plus the size disadvantage would have been unbearable between Langford and Louis.

Vladimir Klitschko > Joe Louis

I don't agree with that BUT I see the logic. Wlad has a pretty weak resume, Louis, well parts of his title run anyway, was pretty damn weak, I hate to keep repeating this but it was known as the bum of the month club for a reason. But Louis has better fundamentals imo and his fights with Conn and Walcott surpass anything Wlad has done.

[Capaedia]

Vladimir Klitschko > Joe Louis

I'm not one to denigrate Wladimir's title reign, but Joe Louis' reign is the benchmark for all champions. Not just the heavyweights.

You can count the #1 contenders he didn't face on one hand, and the #2 contenders on the other. As I said above, he fought every heavyweight champion between Sharkey and Marciano (beating all of them except Charles and Marciano. These bouts were after his first retirement). How many fighters can you say did something similar?

This is a timeline from 1929 to 1952 as well, not just the years from Louis' title reign. He managed to do this alongside joining the army during WWII.

Wlad's longevity and title reign are impressive. But it doesn't compare. Very few do.

I don't agree with that BUT I see the logic. Wlad has a pretty weak resume, Louis, well parts of his title run anyway, was pretty damn weak, I hate to keep repeating this but it was known as the bum of the month club for a reason. But Louis has better fundamentals imo and his fights with Conn and Walcott surpass anything Wlad has done.

It was known as the bum of the month club because a know-nothing journalist referred to it as such once.

Most of those men were top 10 contenders. They weren't all time greats but they definitely weren't bums. They look worse in hindsight, however, Louis lined them up like bowling pins and knocked them down at a rate of ~five a year. What more could you want?

[boliodogs]

He holds the record for successful title defenses in a row. He was a hell of a puncher with power in both hands and perfect textbook form on all the punches. Everything he threw from jabs to hooks to uppercuts to straight rights was thrown with great speed and snap and his punches were explosive. He usually got the KO and he lost very few fights mostly in his old age and even in old age he only lost to Marciano and Charles. He was a good boxer as well as a great puncher with a very hard accurate left jab.

[boliodogs]

As for the bum of the month stuff good champions often make decent fighters look like bums. There was no fighter Louis avoided. If they deserved a shot at his title then they got a title fight.

[Larry the boss]

25 lineal title defenses

[Larry the boss]

Exactly. Hence the whole bum of the month club or whatever it was. Homestly, I think he gets overrated a lot of times.

I agree his resume is not that thick to be honest

[Larry the boss]

well if you just want to consider records, Vlad is real close.

Wlads resume is nowhere close to Louis's...Joes resume was far from great but Wlads is even further away

[billeau2]

Because of nostalgic fans.

There was a reason behind the name Shufflin' Joe, as he was tightly calculated in many senses. He hesitated for very long to truly risk his belt until the Walcott fights. He avoided many fighters (or rather, his promoters did).

His signature was of course his one punch KO power, but technically he actually had slow, mediocre footwork, especially considering his frame and weight. The Billy Conn fight was a good example, go back and find the tape.

Finally, Marciano knocked him the **** out of the ring.

Hey Elroy name some fighters he avoided.....Go head lets hear it....and while we are at it a few more of your ilk should kindly understand that Conn was a great fighter


A

[billeau2]

Against nobody, so what real value does it have.

Not like the Klits!!! Laplie, or whatever the UPS driver was...would have creamed Louis! because today's bums I mean todays great UPS drivers...I mean great UPS boxers oh you know what I am saying Elroy!