What The HBO Joe Louis Documentary didn't tell you

The recent HBO documentary Joe Louis, "Anerican Hero Betrayed" was unlike the others we've seen on "The Brown Bomber." He was as great a man as he was a fighter. No way should a man like him have to endure the public humiliation he had too. I guess the Army had no clue how bad they messed up when they said to Muhammad Ali, "we'll afford you the same treatment we did Sgt. Joe Louis." I know Louis' life outside the ring is important, historically. However, the documentaries produced on Louis always leave out what made him perhaps the greatest heavyweight champion ever.

They always focus on his power, but omit that he was a great boxer. He was much more than Max Baer with two hands.

Joe Louis was the quintessential Boxer-Puncher. However, because he had dynamite in both hands and scored some picturesque knockouts, most categorize him as being a catch and kill puncher who always won because of his power. However, there's so much more to Joe Louis the fighter. Fundamentally, Louis was absolutely faultless. He carried his hands high with his elbows in and his chin down. He threw short and concise bombs, and never wasted a punch. He also put together five and six punch combinations with speed, power, and accuracy better than any other Heavyweight in history.

Louis was a stalker who pressured his opponents, but his pressure wasn't overwhelming. While stalking his foe he would inch closer and closer, but he did it in a way that would mislead his opponents into thinking it was safe for them to go on the offensive, just so they could move to one side or the other in order to get away. When his opponent went on the offensive, they played right into Louis' hands. Louis understood that he could tag his opponent harder and cleaner, IF the opponent was coming to him, even IF only briefly. One thing former heavyweight champion, George Foreman, said while providing color-commentary for HBO was, "never follow a puncher." Foreman never spoke truer words, and Louis lured and set his opponent up to follow him when they were getting ready to strike. Due to Louis setting the pace and dictating the ring geography, he maneuvered his opponent to be in range for his explosive combinations.

Most of the time when an opponent came to Louis, it was really a defensive move so they could get away as he stalked them. As his opponent came to him, and tried to lead, Louis would strike with short straight punches. Couple his explosive power with his great hand speed, especially in short burst, and you have one of the greatest offensive fighters the heavyweight division has ever seen.

Over the years it has often been said that Louis was vulnerable to quick footed fighters with lateral movement. Although there is some truth to this, it's not nearly to the degree in which it has been over-stated. This analogy is based mostly because of three fights during Louis' title tenure. His two fights with Jersey Joe Walcott and his first bout against Billy Conn. Walcott had good feet, and moved in and out and side to side doing what was termed the Walcott shuffle. However, his feet weren't what troubled Louis. It was more his head and shoulder feints along with his dips and twist that bothered him. Conn extended Louis to the 13th round. Conn was slightly ahead in the scoring on two cards and even on the other after 12 rounds. It was the lateral movement of Conn that befuddled Louis for a while. This was mainly because Louis wouldn't chase a runner or a mover. He would bide his time and draw them to him. Which is what happened to Conn. In the 13th round, Conn caught Louis and shook him with a beautiful combination as he was lunging in, this ultimately cost him the fight. When Conn saw Louis shook, he went in for the kill, only he was in range for Louis to put him away, and he did.

Throughout Heavyweight history, there may have been a few harder punchers and better boxers than Joe Louis, but he combined them better and more perfectly than any other heavyweight who has yet lived. He could adjust and adapt to any style he was confronted with. It was suicide to move towards him, and it was almost next to impossible to win rounds with steady movement trying to survive him. He was dangerous inside and outside, he could win by slugging and trading, and had the ring savvy to out think and Box his opponent. Joe Louis combined the art of punching and boxing as well as they've ever been combined. He was in fact one of the best boxers, and punchers in heavyweight history.