The Clash of Nations: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, on History

Today, boxing has two competing heavy weight champions, holding various different belts, but a lot of sports fans couldn’t name either of them. In contrast, in the 1930s, nobody followed basketball or soccer, but everyone knew who was heavy weight champ. Consequently, it meant something whether that pugilist paragon was American or German. The so-called “Rumble in the Jungle” was certainly a huge media event in 1974, but the Louis-Schmeling rematch was truly the fight of the century, which boxing historians and (Louis) Barrow family members remember and explain throughout The Clash of Nations: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, directed by Nikki Spetseris, which premieres this Friday on History Channel.

Even adjusted for inflation, professional athletes never scored million-dollar contracts in the 1930s. However, a son of share-cropping former slaves like Joe Louis Barrow quickly discovered he could make good money in the ring once his family moved north. It was not easy for black fighter to move up the rankings during the post-Jack Johnson era, but not impossible. Indeed, Louis quickly became a leading contender.

Fittingly, Spetseris and company devote a good deal of time to the fight that cemented Louis’s reputation and offered a preview of the Louis-Schmeling match-ups. The American fighter faced Primo Carnera, who served as Mussolini’s proxy champion in much the same way Schmeling would (perhaps somewhat reluctantly) for Hitler. Black Americans already identified with Louis, but they also resented Italian military adventurism in Ethiopia, during the months leading up to the full-scale invasion. Consequently, the Louis-Carnera fight aroused great passions.

Likewise, non-religious Jewish champion Max Baer made no secret of what he thought of National Socialist Germany during his victory over Schmeling—another historically significant bu largely forgotten bout also covered during the History program. On the other hand, Louis’s first fight against Schmeling is well-documented, because it did not go as he hoped, but it set-up a rematch of Rocky IV dimensions.

Every boxing fan agrees Louis deserved better. After representing the free world in the ring against Schmeling and serving in uniform during WWII, he was hounded into bankruptcy by the shameful IRS. (If ever there was an agency to abolish, that would be it.) As you would expect, Spetseris and company duly decry Southern segregation, which was initially facilitated by Woodrow Wilson—perhaps one reason why Louis often supported Republicans—a fact Clash of Nations ignores.

Regardless, the History doc offers a very personal look at Louis and his legacy, through extensive commentary from his son and granddaughter. His son, John Louis Barrow Jr. even displays some of the shockingly racist press clippings (including some from major New York papers) the family has preserved.

To its credit, Clash of Nations puts the Louis-Schmeling fights in an illuminating wider context, including Baer and Carnera. There is a lot of irony in this story, particularly a certain New York governor visiting one of Schmeling’s early training camps for a photo op—before he was elected to the White House. Indeed, those kind of details are what really make the documentary worth viewing. Recommended for its perspective on the man and his sport, The Clash of Nations: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling airs Friday (6/19) on History Channel.