Joe louis

If you’re missing the excitement of the Olympic Games, no need to worry—there’s an exhibition currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum that celebrates...

Joseph Louis Barrow (1914- 1981) burst onto the professional boxing scene in 1934 with more style and skill than the boxing world had ever seen. Known to many as the Brown Bomber, Louis emerged victorious from his first 27 fights, all but four of which he won in knockouts. In the early days of his career, he destroyed such great heavyweight fighters as Stanley Poreda, Natie Brown, and Rosco Toles. It was here that Louis delivered to the entire world a premonition of the reign of domination…

Portrait of Heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, September 8, 1946. The boxer had just been wounded during a match, which didn't keep him from beating Tami Mariello.

Muhammad Ali playing around with Joe Louis, Jimmy Ellis in the background.

Joe Louis