Sports in the 1940s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports in the 1940s - Essay Example This paper discusses sports in the 1940s in regard to the life and career of one of the black athletes of that era, Joe Louis. In the 1940s, boxing was as big as other sporting activities like baseball. Due to the advancement of television technology, a huge number of fans were able to watch boxing/fights at their homes. Joe Louis was among the famous and boxing legends that started their boxing career during this decade. Just like the other players, boxing players were not over drafted including Jack, Louis, and Montgomery (Lindop & Goldstein, 2010). Louis held the boxing title since the year 1937 to 1949 before he was knocked by Robinson. Born in the year 1914 in Alabama, Joe Louis succeeded to become one of the heavyweight boxers in the world. Due to the poor financial status of his family, Joe Louis was less educated and involved himself with old jobs to help his parents and siblings. Afterwards, Louis gained interest towards cabinet making career. He temporarily attended Bronson Vocational School and during off-times, he could join violin lessons. Later on, a friend of Joe Louis suggested that he should try boxing. Joe Louis did not become an immediate success and he was defeated continuously in his first fights due to his lightweight (Freedman, 2013). In the year 1934, Louis won the national AAUL (Amateur Athletic Union light-heavyweight) title and terminated his amateur career astonishing fort three knockouts in fifty four matches. During his career, Louis defeated six subsequent or previous heavyweight champions: Max Baer, Primo Carnera, James J. Braddock, Jack Sharkey, Kersey Joe Walcott, and Max Schmeling. Louis who was nicknamed Brown Bomber achieved the world’s heavyweight champion by knocking down Braddock in the year 1937 and held this title until the year 1949. When the United States began its war with German in the year 1941,