- JOE LOUIS
Years active: 1934-42; 1944; 1946-51
Record: 66-3 (52 KOs)
Championship reign(s): 1937-49
Biggest victories: Primo Carnera, Max Baer, Jack Sharkey, Jim Braddock, Max Schmeling, Billy Conn (twice), Jersey Joe Walcott (twice)
Biggest losses: Schmeling, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano
Background: The Brown Bomber was the most-dominating heavyweight in history, as he reigned for an astonishing 12 years (including time away during World War II) and a record 25 successful defenses. How’d he do it? Quick hands, perhaps the most potent punch in history and a frightening killer instinct. Louis won the title by stopping Jim “Cinderella Man” Braddock in 1937 and then destroyed one challenger after another in what became known as “The Bum of the Month Club.” His biggest fight – arguably the most important ever – was against Germany’s Max Schmeling in 1938, during the rise of the Third Reich. Louis represented good, Schmeling evil. And good won. Louis’ stopped his one-time conqueror in the first round and won over millions of fans in the U.S. and beyond in the process. Louis “retired” in 1949 but came back the following year in a failed attempt to win back his championship. He retired for good when rising contender Rocky Marciano stopped the aging icon in 1951.