What I watched: The second boxing match between Joe Louis and Joe Walcott. The fight took place at 10 PM on June 24, 1948 was locally televised, probably on NBC-WNBT although I can’t find specific mention of the channel. An abbreviated newsreel of the bout can be found on YouTube. I also looked at what clips we have of notable televised sport from the first half of 1948.
What happened: When we last left Joe Louis, he had retained his heavyweight title against “Jersey” Joe Walcott in a fight that felt like anything but a victory. Walcott, who knocked down Louis twice, was widely perceived as the winner but lost a split decision. Louis and his promoters gave Walcott an immediate rematch. But since this is boxing, there were still a few hoops to jump through before the fight materialized. In addition to the usual haggling over the split of the purse and proceeds, Walcott had to agree that if he won he would not just give Louis a third fight but sign with Louis’s promoter Twentieth Century for three years. This gives you some idea of the monopolistic business model that dominated boxing in mid-century. As the fight was held outdoors in Yankee Stadium, it also had to be delayed a day due to rain. But they did finally make it into the same ring.
Despite Walcott’s advantage in the first bout, Louis was a five-to-one favourite with oddsmakers. The champion’s public hints that he would retire after the match did not appear to scare gamblers off. New York Times sportswriter Arthur Daley also picked Louis to win the rematch, writing that “If Jersey Joe, in the peak performance of his career, couldn’t stop a Louis in the absolute worst fight of his career, he can’t do it again”. While not the most technical analysis, Daley ultimately proved to be correct.
For the first ten rounds of the fight, however, it looked like Walcott might just replicate his previous success. In those rounds, Walcott outscored Louis on two of the three judges’ scorecards using a frustrating evasive style. Less charitable fans would describe Walcott as running away, and there were boos throughout the fight. “Jersey Joe” knocked Louis down in the third, but the champion wasn’t seriously hurt. And then, in the eleventh, it all changed. Louis landed one of his signature right hooks and Walcott went down and was unable to get back up.
What I thought: Boxing writers lambasted Louis’s performance and argued that the speed and reflexes that had made him such a dominant champion was lost for good. Louis was a WW2 hero, but he played the part of the villain in this narrative, a big name who had lost his athletic gifts but retained his title through the influence of his powerful manager and the other interests backing him. Both images of Louis had facts to support them, but the facts that supported the latter were threatening to come into view. The rematch was needed to restore Louis’s public image. Whether this decision was made out of a sense of fairness, a desire to regain face, a desire to make money off the controversy of the first fight, or a mixture of the three, only the dead know. What is certain is that Louis was a legitimate winner, even if he no longer seemed the unstoppable champion he had been in the late 1930s.
If the bulk of the fight was a reminder of all that Louis had lost to the ravages of age (despite being actually younger than Walcott), the finish was a reminder of the unstoppable Bronze Bomber of old. It’s a truism in combat sports that power is the last thing to go, and that can make old fighters still dangerous. Walcott discovered that you cannot fight a man for thirty rounds without getting hit hard once — and for a man like Louis, that one punch was all he needed.
The fight likely didn’t make for good television. Reporters described the first ten rounds as tedious, and it’s pretty telling that the newsreel linked above only included two of those. There is a natural tension about the possibility of seeing a sporting hero felled that can give even the dullest match excruciating tension, and this fight likely had that appeal. Of course, the half-million early adopters of television were probably just thrilled to see such a big fight without having to pay the ticket price.
It seemed to be a storybook ending for Louis, or at least for the disappointing postwar portion of his career. Like Gene Tunney and Jim Jeffries before him, he retired as undisputed heavyweight champion. The retirement announcement, if you can call it that, is included in the newsreel: in a postmatch interview, Louis says he will retire in the same tone of voice he would use to say he was going to his hotel room. Like all graceful and well-timed boxing retirements, it wouldn’t be permanent, but it seems remarkably humble compared to the extended retirement tours contemporary athletes drag us through. (I’m looking at you, Kobe.)
Walcott, on the other hand, was a newly-minted elite fighter despite his loss. With the heavyweight title vavcated, he would be given a third opportunity to claim the belt against Gus Lesnevitch in the fall and ultimately win it.
The year in televised sport, Part 1: Baseball remained king in America, although cameramen were still trying to figure out how to shoot it in a dynamic way. The behind-the-pitcher angle we’re accustomed to was still unfeasible, so cameras had to awkwardly capture the field from a distance. This newsreel coverage of the World Series (won by the Cleveland Indians for the first and last time ever) is a good idea of how baseball is shot in this era. Films like this would probably have been used during “spot news” segments for those who missed live coverage.
Across the pond, the BBC again broadcast the final of the FA Cup (available on YouTube in newsreel form), but showed what would become a characteristic conservatism as to showing more live matches. Manchester United (boo!) beat Stanley Matthews and the rest of Blackpool 4-2. The BBC also aired the Lord’s cricket test between England and Australia. This match, part of the ongoing “Ashes” rivalry that marked the beginning of England getting wrecked at sports it invented, is also notable for being the final test match of the legendary Don Bradman. True to tradition, Australia won handily. There’s a lot of footage in this newsreel, which is also a whimsical introduction to the sport. Of course, the biggest sporting event of the year would be the London Olympics, but we’re going to delve into that in a separate entry a few weeks down the line.
What else is on?: This fight took place at the middle of the Republican convention in Philadelphia, and WABD and WCBS both broadcast live convention coverage opposite the match. We’ll take a look at both party conventions in a few entries.
Coming up next: It’s Howdy Doody Time! *loads gun*
The Eternal Couch Potato 