The perfect Heavyweight to many. One of the greatest puncher the sport has ever seen. 6'2-6'3 with speed fast enough to land his target. He had maybe the most effective jabs that set up devastating knockout wins. He could throw a double then a hook. Joe also had the perfect balance. He always landed in such positions with the best possibility of hurting or keeping you off. He could also see when you are off balance and unable to defend properly and he would capitalize. He didn't have the footwork of Ali but he had everything in the book of boxing fundamentals to get exactly where he needed to. He had tricky feints that lured many to throw a punch and leave themselves open. His right was deceptive. It does appear not ready to defend but it was an active hand ready to parry jabs and hooks. Not to mention the right was always ready to end a fight.
Louis was also a terrific body puncher. Much like how Charley Burley would attack. Both men did not plan knocking their opponents via body shots. It let them have openings. It created worry in their opponents' head allowing both legends to mix up their punches up and down. Just like a swordsman, the right was to have a threat downwards and the left to have a threat upwards now that their foes are preoccupied with protecting the body.
Joe's combo and flurries are quite underrated too. His wasn't as flashy as Tyson or Ali but Joe threw with precision. Every punch had intentions. He also did not waste so much energy. While stalking excited us in anticipation of a combo or a great finish, to Louis this was a perfect opportunity to set up traps specially vs guys with great hand speed who moves a lot like Billy Conn. We can say that Conn got overconfident but Joe's traps is what truly finished him. Louis was simply a master of many things. He always welcomed men coming at him with deadly counters. No matter how fast you are both in hands and feet, you will always have to come in to his punching range. He was probably more dangerous when men were coming at him.
Blackburn Crouch was this legend's base from the influence of the great Jack Blackburn who himself was a master boxer. Blackburn in his days faced legends like Harry Greb, Sam Langford and Joe Gans to name some. Blackburn as a trainer had direct influence to the games of Sugar Ray Robinson and Jersey Joe Walcott. The success of these men speaks how great a trainer the man was. With the knowledge of this all time great plus Joe's natural gifts, he became up to this day the most skilled heavyweight. I personally feel Joe had the most accurate right hand. Robinson and Walcott adapted same principle. All held their right hands low but all stepped in with their weight after a jab.
For me he's the second greatest heavyweight of all time. Hell you can argue he was the best. Man had 52 KOs out of 66 wins. Only lost once in his prime to Schmeling but later avenged it via KO. 26 title defenses. A world record. 12 consecutive years as World Heavyweight Champion, another world record. He beat legends and Hall of Famers Max Schmelling via KO, Jack Sharkey via KO, Billy Conn via KO, Jersey Joe Walcott via decision in the first and KO in the rematch, Max Baer via KO, Jim Braddock via KO, John Henry Lewis via KO and Jimmy Bivins via decision. I have never seen a heavyweight knock out this many boxers with the greatness of who Joe put to the canvass. These are Hall of Famers he knocked out. All of them but Jimmy Bivins when Joe was already 37. So your thoughts about the man and who beats him? How does he do vs Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and all those greats?
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