cont.
The Fight of His Life is not a boxing book, although well-crafted portraits of John Roxborough and Julian Black (Louis’s co-managers) and Jack Blackburn (Louis’s trainer) add to its texture and substance. The book also makes the point that, “By the time Louis went in the army, he wasn’t the great Joe Louis as a fighter anymore. He’d fought too often in too short a time - ten times in fifteen months. He was largely used up.”
The only boxing-related point in the book that I’d quibble with is that the authors are kinder than the facts might warrant in recounting the charge that Sugar Ray Robinson went AWOL prior to his scheduled assignment to fight exhibitions in the European theater.
Louis and Robinson, as earlier noted, toured military bases in the United States, engaging in boxing exhibitions for soldiers who were about to be shipped overseas. Then they were sent to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn preparatory to continuing their tour to boost the morale of American troops abroad. Robinson indicated that he had no interest in leaving the United States. The penalty for desertion was explained to him. At that point, depending on one’s version of events, either Robinson went AWOL or suffered a medical crisis. Either way, on March 29, 1944, he disappeared.
Shortly after midnight on April 1, Robinson was “found” by a stranger on a street in Manhattan. He was taken to a hospital on Staten Island, where he told Army investigators that he had no memory of what had happened during the preceding three days but believed that he had tripped over a duffel bag in the barracks and fallen down a flight of stairs, banging his head and incurring a severe case of amnesia. The examining physicians found no credible evidence of brain trauma. On April 7, Robinson was detained by military police and held for court-martial. Then, for reasons that are unclear, on June 3, 1944 (three days before D-Day), he was discharged from the Army on “medical” grounds. Years later, Robinson asked noted sportswriter W. C. Heinz to ghostwrite his autobiography. Heinz declined because Robinson failed to explain his military history with what the writer thought was sufficient candor. The fact that Robinson never again suffered from “amnesia” and, in 201 professional fights, was never knocked unconscious casts further doubt on his conduct with regard to the Army.
The Fight of His Life also contains very good material on Louis’s relationship with Jackie Robinson. Before they met in the army, Robinson had been a spectacular four-sport athlete at UCLA. He could have played running back in the National Football League but for the NFL’s “whites only” policy.
In March 1942, Robinson was drafted, not by the NFL but by the Army. Roberts and Smith recount, “Robinson reported to Fort Riley with aspirations of becoming an officer. As an intelligent, college-educated soldier, he was certainly qualified for officer candidate school (OCS). When Jack applied, however, he was advised that Negroes were not permitted in OCS at Fort Riley. Listening to him complain about the army’s racist restrictions, Louis shared his outrage. ‘It’s bad enough to have a segregated Army,’ Joe thought. ‘At least some Blacks should be officers over their own people.’”
Later, Roberts and Smith write, “Robinson refused to move to the back of a camp bus at Camp Hood, Texas, when a white driver ordered him to the rear. Two days after his bus protest, on July 8, 1944, the War Department issued a formal directive prohibiting discrimination in military transportation regardless of local civilian custom. The War Department also banned racial discrimination in camp recreational facilities, theaters, and post exchanges, though many officers ignored the order.”
Meanwhile, Robinson’s protest led to his being court-martialed on charges of “insubordination, disturbing the peace, and refusing to obey the lawful orders of a superior officer.” He was found not guilty of the charges.
Louis’s profligate womanizing is honestly told in The Fight of His Life with a particularly interesting recounting of his relationship with singer-actress Lena Horne.
“Like Louis,” the authors write, “Lena Horne carried the hopes and dreams of Black America. She would have to navigate the color line and prove that she was ‘The One,’ the first crossover screen star who could appeal to white audiences without reminding them that she was too Black.”
Roberts and Smith also do a laudable job of debunking many of the myths that surround Louis.
For example, writing about a 1935 meeting at the White House between Louis and Franklin Roosevelt, they state, “The president was impressed with the strapping prizefighter. After asking Louis to flex his bicep so he could feel his muscle, Roosevelt said, ‘Joe, you certainly are a fine-looking young man.’”
“In the coming years,” Roberts and Smith recount, “that story was told and retold until it became a myth that Louis met Roosevelt in the Oval Office on the eve of his rematch against Max Schmeling. According to legend, FDR said in 1938, ‘Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany.’ [But] Roosevelt never uttered that line. [And] he would not have viewed the Nazis as a genuine enemy of the United States [in 1935].”
Many writers (this one included) have repeated that myth as fact. Thank you to Roberts and Smith for the correction.
I always learn something new when I read one of Randy Roberts’ books. That now extends to books written by Roberts and Smith. The Fight of His Life changes a narrative that has been largely accepted for decades. And it’s an important book because it tells hard truths about America’s racial legacy at a time when a concerted effort is being made to deny these truths.
The Fight of His Life is also a reminder of how remarkable Muhammad Ali’s refusal to accept induction into the United States Army during the height of the war in Vietnam was. Ali was criminally indicted for taking that stand. He was stripped of his championship and precluded from fighting for three-and-a-half years when he was at his physical peak.
Why did Ali take that stand?
In 1967, Muhammad answered that question with another question: “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs? If I thought going to war would bring freedom and equality to twenty-two million of my people, they wouldn’t have to draft me. I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up and following my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail. We’ve been in jail for four hundred years.”
Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book– The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing- is available at https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329/ref=sr_1_1?
In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
The Fight of His Life is not a boxing book, although well-crafted portraits of John Roxborough and Julian Black (Louis’s co-managers) and Jack Blackburn (Louis’s trainer) add to its texture and substance. The book also makes the point that, “By the time Louis went in the army, he wasn’t the great Joe Louis as a fighter anymore. He’d fought too often in too short a time - ten times in fifteen months. He was largely used up.”
The only boxing-related point in the book that I’d quibble with is that the authors are kinder than the facts might warrant in recounting the charge that Sugar Ray Robinson went AWOL prior to his scheduled assignment to fight exhibitions in the European theater.
Louis and Robinson, as earlier noted, toured military bases in the United States, engaging in boxing exhibitions for soldiers who were about to be shipped overseas. Then they were sent to Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn preparatory to continuing their tour to boost the morale of American troops abroad. Robinson indicated that he had no interest in leaving the United States. The penalty for desertion was explained to him. At that point, depending on one’s version of events, either Robinson went AWOL or suffered a medical crisis. Either way, on March 29, 1944, he disappeared.
Shortly after midnight on April 1, Robinson was “found” by a stranger on a street in Manhattan. He was taken to a hospital on Staten Island, where he told Army investigators that he had no memory of what had happened during the preceding three days but believed that he had tripped over a duffel bag in the barracks and fallen down a flight of stairs, banging his head and incurring a severe case of amnesia. The examining physicians found no credible evidence of brain trauma. On April 7, Robinson was detained by military police and held for court-martial. Then, for reasons that are unclear, on June 3, 1944 (three days before D-Day), he was discharged from the Army on “medical” grounds. Years later, Robinson asked noted sportswriter W. C. Heinz to ghostwrite his autobiography. Heinz declined because Robinson failed to explain his military history with what the writer thought was sufficient candor. The fact that Robinson never again suffered from “amnesia” and, in 201 professional fights, was never knocked unconscious casts further doubt on his conduct with regard to the Army.
The Fight of His Life also contains very good material on Louis’s relationship with Jackie Robinson. Before they met in the army, Robinson had been a spectacular four-sport athlete at UCLA. He could have played running back in the National Football League but for the NFL’s “whites only” policy.
In March 1942, Robinson was drafted, not by the NFL but by the Army. Roberts and Smith recount, “Robinson reported to Fort Riley with aspirations of becoming an officer. As an intelligent, college-educated soldier, he was certainly qualified for officer candidate school (OCS). When Jack applied, however, he was advised that Negroes were not permitted in OCS at Fort Riley. Listening to him complain about the army’s racist restrictions, Louis shared his outrage. ‘It’s bad enough to have a segregated Army,’ Joe thought. ‘At least some Blacks should be officers over their own people.’”
Later, Roberts and Smith write, “Robinson refused to move to the back of a camp bus at Camp Hood, Texas, when a white driver ordered him to the rear. Two days after his bus protest, on July 8, 1944, the War Department issued a formal directive prohibiting discrimination in military transportation regardless of local civilian custom. The War Department also banned racial discrimination in camp recreational facilities, theaters, and post exchanges, though many officers ignored the order.”
Meanwhile, Robinson’s protest led to his being court-martialed on charges of “insubordination, disturbing the peace, and refusing to obey the lawful orders of a superior officer.” He was found not guilty of the charges.
Louis’s profligate womanizing is honestly told in The Fight of His Life with a particularly interesting recounting of his relationship with singer-actress Lena Horne.
“Like Louis,” the authors write, “Lena Horne carried the hopes and dreams of Black America. She would have to navigate the color line and prove that she was ‘The One,’ the first crossover screen star who could appeal to white audiences without reminding them that she was too Black.”
Roberts and Smith also do a laudable job of debunking many of the myths that surround Louis.
For example, writing about a 1935 meeting at the White House between Louis and Franklin Roosevelt, they state, “The president was impressed with the strapping prizefighter. After asking Louis to flex his bicep so he could feel his muscle, Roosevelt said, ‘Joe, you certainly are a fine-looking young man.’”
“In the coming years,” Roberts and Smith recount, “that story was told and retold until it became a myth that Louis met Roosevelt in the Oval Office on the eve of his rematch against Max Schmeling. According to legend, FDR said in 1938, ‘Joe, we need muscles like yours to beat Germany.’ [But] Roosevelt never uttered that line. [And] he would not have viewed the Nazis as a genuine enemy of the United States [in 1935].”
Many writers (this one included) have repeated that myth as fact. Thank you to Roberts and Smith for the correction.
I always learn something new when I read one of Randy Roberts’ books. That now extends to books written by Roberts and Smith. The Fight of His Life changes a narrative that has been largely accepted for decades. And it’s an important book because it tells hard truths about America’s racial legacy at a time when a concerted effort is being made to deny these truths.
The Fight of His Life is also a reminder of how remarkable Muhammad Ali’s refusal to accept induction into the United States Army during the height of the war in Vietnam was. Ali was criminally indicted for taking that stand. He was stripped of his championship and precluded from fighting for three-and-a-half years when he was at his physical peak.
Why did Ali take that stand?
In 1967, Muhammad answered that question with another question: “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs? If I thought going to war would bring freedom and equality to twenty-two million of my people, they wouldn’t have to draft me. I’d join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up and following my beliefs. So I’ll go to jail. We’ve been in jail for four hundred years.”
Thomas Hauser's email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His most recent book– The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing- is available at https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329/ref=sr_1_1?
In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing's highest honor - induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
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