Joe Louis, the greatest of the heavyweights, dies – archive, 13 April 1981
13 April 2018 04:30
13 April 1981: The boxer astounded the sporting world with a record succession of defences of the world heavyweight title, 26 in all The greatest: Mohammed Ali and others have laid claim to this epithet, but in the opinion of many boxing historians, that title belongs to Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, who died of a heart attack yesterday at the age of 66 in Desert Springs Hospital, Las Vegas. Born Joseph Louis Barrow on May 13, 1914, in Lafayette, Alabama, he was raised in a Detroit ghetto and became a professional fighter in 1934. His career was spectacular from the start. He won his first 28 fights before being knocked out by the German Max Schmeling, a defeat which he later reversed with a one round thrashing. Related: The Brown Bomber is destroyed in his last ever fight Related: How to access past articles from the Guardian and Observer archive Continue readingread full article
