Joe Louis (1914-1981) was born Joseph Louis Barrow in the Buckalew Mountain region of Alabama. He moved to Detroit as a small boy, and there at the age of 16 joined the boxing club and began training for amateur bouts. His first amateur bout was in the fall of 1932, and in the next two years he won 50 out of 59 bouts before turning professional in 1934. In his first professional fight, on July 4, 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, he knocked out Jack Kracken in the first round. In September, 1935, Louis restored boxing to its heyday of the million-dollar-gate and earned $240,000 in beating Max Bare. After defeating a number of other challengers, he knocked out Jim Braddock on June 22, 1937 to become the world heavyweight boxing champion. He held the championship for 12 years, longer than anyone else, and also defended it 25 times, more often than anyone else. He decided it was best to "fight clean and live clean" and helped make it easier for blacks to break into major league sports. Joe Louis retired from boxing in 1949 and passed away in 1981.
From the description of Joe Louis scrapbooks, 1938-1939. (Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System). WorldCat record id: 57545565
