By John F. McKenna (McJack): If it was possible Schemeling, who was not a Nazi, was under even more pressure than Louis. The return fight finally took place on June 22, 1938. Adolph Hitler placed a call to “Herr Max” while he was in his dressing room. Louis was never more focused than he was that night. He had Max in trouble in the first few seconds of the fight. Louis pinned Schemeling to the ropes and started raining avalanches of punches on him from every angle.
Schemeling went down and courageously got up again only to be met by another barrage of punches. Max’s corner threw in the towel which was promptly thrown out of the ring by the referee. But the fight was soon stopped.
In Germany the broadcast went off the air when it became evident that Schemeling was headed for defeat. Years later Max would tell Louis’ son “No one could have defeated your father that night.”
Louis became a hero overnight in America as the result of his victory over Shcmeling. The irony is that “Bomber Joe” was a hero not only in black America, but in white America as well. Louis was the first African American to cross racial lines to become a national hero. It was a heady moment for America.
When the United States was bombed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 Louis wasted no time in joining the U.S. Army. When chided by reporters as to why he was so pro American in a country that was still very racist, Joe’s response was classic. He said:
“A lot of things wrong with America. Hitler ain’t going to fix them.”
In 1941 Louis defended his title seven times. Boxing writers began to call the frequency with which he defended his title “The Bum of the Month Club.” The reality was however that almost all of his title defenses were against top ranked contenders. One of the fighters Louis fought, Bill Conn, gave “Bomber Joe” a real scare by taking him into the 13th round. Conn blew his golden opportunity when he foolishly started to mix it up with Joe and was KO’d in the 13th round. Prior to the fight with Conn, reporters were teasing Louis about the “Pittsburg Kid’s” speed of hand and foot. Louis always quick with a comeback delivered another of his famous quotes. Speaking of Conn Louis said: