What was Joe Louis known for?Joe Louis was an American boxer who was world heavyweight champion from 1937 until 1949, the longest reign in the history of any weight division. Louis successfully defended his title 25 times, more than any other champion in any division, scoring 21 knockouts. He was known as an extremely accurate and economical knockout puncher.When was Joe Louis’s first professional fight?Joe Louis’s first professional fight took place on July 4, 1934, and within 12 months, he had knocked out Primo Carnera, a former world heavyweight champion.Who did Joe Louis defeat to become the world heavyweight champion?Joe Louis became the world heavyweight champion on June 22, 1937, when he knocked out James J. Braddock in eight rounds in Chicago, Illinois.Is Joe Louis in the Boxing Hall of Fame?Joe Louis was inducted into the Ring Magazine Boxing Hall of Fame in 1954 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.Joe Louis (born May 13, 1914, Lafayette, , U.S.—died April 12, 1981, Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American who was world heavyweight champion from June 22, 1937, when he knocked out in eight rounds in , until March 1, 1949, when he briefly retired. During his reign, the longest in the history of any weight division, he successfully defended his title 25 times, more than any other champion in any division, scoring 21 knockouts (his service in the from 1942 to 1945 no doubt prevented him from defending his title many more times). He was known as an extremely accurate and economical knockout puncher.Joe Louis and Max SchmelingJoe Louis (left) and Max Schmeling at a photo session prior to their heavyweight world championship bout in 1938.(more)Louis’s father, a sharecropper, was committed to a state mental hospital when Louis was about two years old. After his mother remarried, the family, which included eight children, moved to , , where Louis took up amateur . He won the U.S. 175-pound championship in 1934 and also was a titleholder; of 54 amateur fights, Louis won 50 and lost 4. His first professional fight took place on July 4, 1934, and within 12 months he had knocked out , the first of six previous or subsequent heavyweight champions who would become his victims; the others were , , Braddock, the German champion , and . Louis sustained his first professional loss in 1936 at the hands of Schmeling. In 1938, after having beaten Braddock and taken the title, Louis met Schmeling in a rematch that the American media portrayed as a battle between Nazism and democracy (though Schmeling himself was not a Nazi). Louis’s dramatic knockout victory in the first round made him a national hero. He was perhaps the first to be widely admired by whites, a fact attributable not only to his extraordinary pugilistic skills but also to his sportsmanlike behaviour in the ring (he did not gloat over his white opponents), his perceived humility and soft-spoken demeanour, and his discretion in his private life., He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, during which he participated in 26 championship fights, defeated 21 fighters, [118] [119] made 25 defenses and was a world champion for 11 years and 10 months., Joe Louis (born May 13, 1914, Lafayette, Alabama, U.S.—died April 12, 1981, Las Vegas, Nevada) was an American boxer who was world heavyweight champion from June 22, 1937, when he knocked out James J. Braddock in eight rounds in Chicago, until March 1, 1949, when he briefly retired..