Thread: Joe Louis broke Max Schmeling's back on a foul?

Here is what I think. In the early moments of the first round in the famous rematch of Louis vs Schmeling, Joe hit Max in the back and fractured 2 vertebrae in his back.
This essentially paralyzed Max. He couldn't lift his arms without extraordinary pain and effort. He was defenseless. And Joe iced him. Schmeling was in the hospital for 2 months to recovery from the spine injury.

The thing is...you have to work to find this information out. Why? Check it out. I am not making this up. Louis broke his back with a punch. No foul was called. Not much in the way of media comment. So what do YOU think?

Chazky

Well whilst it is true that Louis did throw a foul blow, it was due to Schmeling turning his side to a Louis hook. Schmeling had been hurt prior to the noited punch and it did not matter in that fight, he was going down in the first regardless.

He turned? Nice try. You can spin any way you want. Fact is the punch hit Schmeling in the spine. It broke. Schmeling was hospitalized for two weeks after the fight. The turn is a theory that's been around for some time but there has no visual evidence to support it.

It wasn't a foul. At that time in the sport kidney punches, for example, were still legal.

I'm not sure why you think this information is a mystery though. It has been known and widely disseminatd in interviews, books etc. since the time of the fight. The most widely read magazine in the US at the time, Life Magazine, did a photo expose and discussion on this very issue right after the fight. The punch that broke Max's back has long been believed to be the source of Schmeling's scream.

Max Schmeling's did turn his back and Joe kept on punching as the ref had not stopped it. Did not realise that it caused that much damage. Then again I would have hated to be facing Joe then who was out for revenge and in the peak of conditions. A bit like facing Roy Jones after his disqualification against Montell Griffin. No one was going to deny them a victory.