holmes_d_c

=Evaluation of Sources (250-400 words) Tips]=

Both fighters underwent very different preparation techniques for this fight. Joe Louis was criticised for his preparation after spending the majority of his training playing golf. Schmeling on the other hand spent his preparation studying Joe Louis’ fighting technique as a result found a weakness of Louis’ fighting technique. A political feel to this fight had occurred as Adolph Hitler had become chancellor of Germany 3 years prior to the fight and the Nazi’s were already known to be anti-Jewish. The first fight was held at the Yankees Stadium in New York with a full capacity crowd ready to watch a round scheduled for 15 rounds. In the early rounds Schmeling jabbed his way around whilst sneaking a right behind the jab. In the fourth round the crowd became shocked as Schmeling floored Louis with a right hook. As the fight progressed Louis sustained various cuts and bruising including one to the eye. In round twelve Schmeling landed a right to Louis’ body and then a right to Louis jaw, flooring and eventually knocking out the ‘Brown Bomber’. Men were reduced to tears and women with heads in the hands as all across America, people found out that their champion had lost by KO. In Germany however, the public were ecstatic! Hitler contacted Schmeling’s wife to congratulate her husband. Before the second fight there were increasing tensions between America and Germany as Germany had taken over Austria. Anti-German propaganda began to occur throughout America and German propaganda used the fight in order to remind the people of Germany of the Nazi’s extreme beliefs. Schmeling did not like the attention of him becoming a focus of propaganda. He was a proud German but not a Nazi. He told the American public “I am a fighter, not a politician. I am no superman in any way.” As a result of further German propaganda, Schmeling became increasingly unpopular with the American public. The second fight was once again fought at the Yankees stadium in front of a capacity crowd of 70,000. Schmeling knew he was in for a battering. Hitler and Nazi Germany braced themselves for another German victory; however Schmeling knew that Louis would have resurrected the problem and was looking for revenge against him. Schmeling came out of his corner trying the same technique which won him the first fight. Louis’ tactic was to end the fight as early as possible, and after landing a large number of body shots and hooks, Louis had knocked out Schmeling in just 2 minutes and 4 seconds. Louis had thrown 41 punches in which 31 landed. Schmeling only managed to throw 2 punches. After being admitted to Polyclinic Hospital for 10 days it had appeared that Louis had cracked several of Schmeling vertebrates in Schmeling’s back.
 * June 19th 1936 Louis Vs Schmeling first fight**
 * June 22nd 1938 Louis Vs Schmeling second fight**