Mann hailed from nearby New Haven, and his partisans packed the Garden for the fight on February 23. They cheered him so loudly that Balogh could scarcely complete his introduction, and they booed Louis heartily. "It won't be long tonight," Roxborough told Blackburn. "Joe doesn't like that." Blackburn, in fact, hoped to catch an early train to Chicago, and asked Louis to work fast. Louis knocked Mann out in three rounds-the first time he jabbed Mann in the nose, Donovan, who sensed that Louis was more fired up, as well as more skilled, than he'd previously seen him, heard it crack-and Blackburn made his train. Much would one day be said about how the white press regularly, and degradingly, likened Louis to an animal. But the black weeklies did, too; one described Louis that night as "a snarling, fighting man of the jungle." Bob Considine wrote something in the same vein. Some day, he prophesied, fans would consider the late Joe Louis's victory over one Nathan Mann in February 1938 only a minor event. They would not realize that on that historic night Louis finally let himself be himself. "Sitting there on his dinky little stool ... his kinky head dropped half-way to his knees, puzzled and hurt by wintry boos that greeted the announcement of his name, the long dormant tiger in Joseph Louis twitched and awakened," he wrote. "The citizens who booed him before the fight the other night will boo him no more," he predicted. "And when Time, which lends glamour to an athlete, goes to work on Louis, our sons will call him 'the greatest fighter who ever lived.'"

Louis had one more chance to sharpen up, against Harry Thomas in Chicago on April 1. The fight was an opportunity for head-to-head comparisons; Schmeling had dispatched the same man in eight rounds only four months earlier. Wary of a Levinsky-like rout, only 10,468 people attended; the meager turnout probably killed any chances Chicago ever had to stage the Louis-Schmeling rematch. One of those watching was Joe Jacobs. Convinced that Mike Jacobs was still looking for a way out of a second fight, he wanted to be there should Louis come up with any funny stuff-like a claim that he'd fractured his hand. By the middle of the third round, Thomas was so dazed that even before the bell sounded he walked to his corner and sat down, while his manager vaulted into the ring. That, Louis's seconds argued, should have ended the fight then and there. But Thomas stood up and the referee let the fight go on; the fans, he believed, were entitled to a knockout. Louis quickly obliged, in the fifth round. He was asked later what took him so long. "I guess it was too cold," he replied. "Wasn't there a hockey game in the building last night?" Thomas said afterward that Louis hit harder and from more angles than Schmeling; he'd bet his purse that Louis would knock Schmeling out.

Like Foord, Steve Dudas was a setup for Schmeling. "Although it takes long residence in a city to be accepted as one of its own, Steve Dudas, less than a month in Hamburg, will be a Hamburger tonight- when Max Schmeling is done with him," Parker wrote. He fell in six rounds; the only mark on Schmeling's face was one he'd given himself shaving. Schmeling had fulfilled his mission: another poor showing, Hellmis explained, would have given American boxing officials an excuse to put him off yet again. (Of course, in the Nazis' paranoid worldview, Schmeling couldn't be too scary, either-that might give Louis second thoughts.) Schmeling's performance pleased Goebbels. "He really is a brave lad," he wrote after listening to the fight. The next day, Schmeling met Hitler yet again. The film of the fight was soon showing in 160 theaters around the Reich, including sixty in Berlin, but at his forty-ninth birthday party on April 20, Hitler got a personalized screening, with Schmeling narrating. That film was dwarfed, of course, by the premiere of Riefenstahl's film on the Berlin Olympics, which Schmeling and Ondra-along with Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Ribbentrop, and Streicher-also attended. A Berlin newspaper now advertised a travel package to the Louis fight (it went for 990 marks, about the price of one of the new Volkswagens soon to roll off the assembly line near Hannover). So did the Reichssportblatt. Reichssportblatt. "Schmeling is expecting you!" it declared. If the fight weren't enough, the tour included stops in Atlantic City and Niagara Falls. "Schmeling is expecting you!" it declared. If the fight weren't enough, the tour included stops in Atlantic City and Niagara Falls.

The more political conditions deteriorated in Europe, the more fragile the second Louis-Schmeling fight became. Mike Jacobs wanted Schmeling to set sail early, so that he'd be safely ensconced in New York should war break out. One German reporter heard the two Jacobses talking on a transatlantic call, with Mike urging Joe that when he left Germany he should bring Schmeling with him. All the talk of war was "crazy," insisted Yussel; Berlin was more peaceful and quiet than New York. Mike decreed that if Schmeling couldn't come over, Baer would fight Louis in his place. Mike also made inspection tours of Detroit and Chicago; Philadelphia, too, had bid for the fight. The two biggest sports events of 1938-the Louis-Schmeling fight and the race between Seabis-cuit and War Admiral-were "as homeless as Orphan Annie," Considine wrote. But on April 26 Jacobs announced that the fight was staying put: he said he felt an obligation to the city of New York. "His main and valid 'obligations' are his convictions that the fight will draw 80,000 people and more than $1,000,000 when held in the Yankee Stadium," one magazine commented. Here, after all, was a fight that needed no ballyhoo; the front pages offered enough. "Boxing's oldest gate gag is trotting out a 'man you love to hate,'" one reporter wrote. "In Schmeling the promoter has one such ready made." "For every customer who stays away to keep from enriching Schmeling there'll be ten who will go to see his block knocked off," Braddock said. Harlem fans were pleased to have the fight in New York, but not in Yankee Stadium. Simply being back in the place, they feared, would traumatize Louis.

Once Jacobs opted for New York, the Anti-Nazi League announced another boycott, though this time with a caveat: it would be dropped if Schmeling agreed to turn over his purse to a fund for refugees from Nazi Germany. The group gave him until May 2 to decide; after that, the picketing would start. But even boycott stalwarts now seemed halfhearted, almost apologetic. A tidal wave of interest, much of it among people who felt about the Nazis just as they did, threatened to sink the movement. Reporters canvassed the garment district and Jacobs Beach to gauge the boycott's prospects. A furrier called Schmeling "a Nazi tool" and said he might have to miss his first title fight in twenty years, but another man said he wanted to see Louis knock Schmeling out. The Brooklyn Eagle Brooklyn Eagle found a bare majority favoring the boycott. The found a bare majority favoring the boycott. The World-Telegram World-Telegram surveyed around the Hippodrome. Boycotting Schmeling was unfair, the consensus ran, and besides, the fight was too good to miss. "Unless Schmeling shows himself an active Nazi propagandist I will patronize him, just as I would a German actor or actress with real talent," one man said. surveyed around the Hippodrome. Boycotting Schmeling was unfair, the consensus ran, and besides, the fight was too good to miss. "Unless Schmeling shows himself an active Nazi propagandist I will patronize him, just as I would a German actor or actress with real talent," one man said.*

In late April, Joe Jacobs returned from Germany. Reports that all German Jews would soon be forced to liquidate their property had thrown them into another panic, but Jacobs presented his usual benign view of things. "Most of the trouble with the Jews over there is caused by the Jews in this country," he declared. The synagogues were still open, he noted; he'd been to one three times in a single day. Box-Sport, Box-Sport, which rarely acknowledged Jacobs, now made an exception, noting his positive impressions of Germany. But among some American Jews, Jacobs was denounced as never before. "Jacobs said he did not see any concentration camps, but admitted he did not look for them," I. Q. Gross wrote in which rarely acknowledged Jacobs, now made an exception, noting his positive impressions of Germany. But among some American Jews, Jacobs was denounced as never before. "Jacobs said he did not see any concentration camps, but admitted he did not look for them," I. Q. Gross wrote in The Nation. The Nation. "He did not see non-Aryan business men being stripped of all their earning power or Jewish professional men forced to wash the streets on their hands and knees. He wasn't looking for that type of Nazi entertainment. The ears of Yussel, the son of an orthodox Jew, were deaf to any mention of the hundreds of his co-religionists who had committed suicide in the new Great Germany or been reported dead from unknown causes." The Jewish War Veterans were more pointed. "It is unfortunate that such as he must be classed as a Jew," its magazine stated. "Every race has a minority of black sheep, so let's just ignore him." "He did not see non-Aryan business men being stripped of all their earning power or Jewish professional men forced to wash the streets on their hands and knees. He wasn't looking for that type of Nazi entertainment. The ears of Yussel, the son of an orthodox Jew, were deaf to any mention of the hundreds of his co-religionists who had committed suicide in the new Great Germany or been reported dead from unknown causes." The Jewish War Veterans were more pointed. "It is unfortunate that such as he must be classed as a Jew," its magazine stated. "Every race has a minority of black sheep, so let's just ignore him."

Mike Jacobs had ordered Schmeling to be in New York by May 12, and Schmeling arranged to arrive several days before that. On May 2, tanned, healthy, and in good spirits, he met with the press in Berlin. Hellmis, the Angriff Angriff announced, would accompany him to the United States; this time, it seemed, he wouldn't be paying his own way. German newspapers offered free trips to New York to the winners of fight-related contests. The Anti-Nazi League introduced a set of brochures designed to help people "Out-Talk the Nazi Spellbinders." "Weaken Hitler by Boycotting the Louis-Schmeling Fight!" stated the flyers, which claimed that a "cheering squad" of a thousand storm troopers would attend the fight, threatening to make it "the largest Nazi ego-builder of 1938." "No ticket sale, no fight. No fight, no 'Nazi Supremacy' ballyhoo," they stated. Inside were photographs of Schmeling, along with his wife and his mother, smiling with Hitler. "'I never went in for politics'-Max Schmeling," read the caption. announced, would accompany him to the United States; this time, it seemed, he wouldn't be paying his own way. German newspapers offered free trips to New York to the winners of fight-related contests. The Anti-Nazi League introduced a set of brochures designed to help people "Out-Talk the Nazi Spellbinders." "Weaken Hitler by Boycotting the Louis-Schmeling Fight!" stated the flyers, which claimed that a "cheering squad" of a thousand storm troopers would attend the fight, threatening to make it "the largest Nazi ego-builder of 1938." "No ticket sale, no fight. No fight, no 'Nazi Supremacy' ballyhoo," they stated. Inside were photographs of Schmeling, along with his wife and his mother, smiling with Hitler. "'I never went in for politics'-Max Schmeling," read the caption.

League officials devised tactics to advance the cause, like having "six attractive women" leafleting in front of Madison Square Garden, the Century Club, and the New York Athletic Club. By May 6, ten women were in front of the Hippodrome and Mike Jacobs's ticket offices on West Forty-ninth Street. One of Jacobs's minions watched the picketers from a window upstairs. "Those folks are crazy," he said. "Joe Louis will knock Schmeling as flat as a German pancake, and what will Herr Hitler do then, poor thing? His shining knight in Nazi armor chopped into mincemeat by a Negro! That's something these anti-Nazis are overlooking." To Mike Jacobs, too, such campaigns made no sense, given how they only inflamed Nazi anti-Semitism. "Every time these boycotts get under way over here those guys over there take it out on the Jews, who can't protect themselves at any time," he said.

The protest generated little sympathy in the New York newspapers. Once again, the Herald Tribune Herald Tribune called it "silly." "Herr Schmeling may be a Nazi. He probably is," wrote John Kieran in the called it "silly." "Herr Schmeling may be a Nazi. He probably is," wrote John Kieran in the Times. Times. "But over here Schmeling is just a prizefighter when in the ring and a quiet, inoffensive foreigner outside the ropes." Reader reaction to that piece was strong enough, however, for Kieran to hand over his space one day to a Jewish dissenter, who argued that Americans should not patronize a representative of a repressive regime whose earnings subsidized the whips used to humiliate Jews. Kieran stuck to his guns. "A representative of a government?" he wrote. "Come, come, good people! If Shufflin' Joe Louis fought in London, would he be a representative of the government of the United States? To link a prizefighter with a political program, or to view a prizefighter as the official standard-bearer of a race, a creed or a nation still seems to this observer to verge on the fantastic." "But over here Schmeling is just a prizefighter when in the ring and a quiet, inoffensive foreigner outside the ropes." Reader reaction to that piece was strong enough, however, for Kieran to hand over his space one day to a Jewish dissenter, who argued that Americans should not patronize a representative of a repressive regime whose earnings subsidized the whips used to humiliate Jews. Kieran stuck to his guns. "A representative of a government?" he wrote. "Come, come, good people! If Shufflin' Joe Louis fought in London, would he be a representative of the government of the United States? To link a prizefighter with a political program, or to view a prizefighter as the official standard-bearer of a race, a creed or a nation still seems to this observer to verge on the fantastic." Times Times readers backed Kieran with gusto. Maybe, one wrote, the Yankees should sell Joe DiMag-gio to protest Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, or boycott Lou Gehrig because his forbears were German. readers backed Kieran with gusto. Maybe, one wrote, the Yankees should sell Joe DiMag-gio to protest Italy's invasion of Ethiopia, or boycott Lou Gehrig because his forbears were German.

On May 9, Schmeling's ship steamed into New York Harbor. Near the Statue of Liberty it took on the usual boatful of writers and photographers. The newsreel men set up on the main deck. Schmeling first closeted himself with the Jacobses; then, over the traditional German beer and sandwiches, he took questions in his suite. Immaculate in a single-breasted worsted suit, with only a few stray gray hairs on the back of his head, he told the reporters he felt good; he'd now fought three times in the last six months. Asked whether he'd knock out Louis again, Schmeling replied, "I didn't make this trip for fun." "How is it already, the gate?" he asked at one point, before adding that the money didn't really matter. Joe Jacobs- hovering around Schmeling "like a blue mountain in a Maxfield Parrish painting," as Parker put it-then swung into action, seeking to tamp down any notion that Schmeling was in line for some top Nazi post overseeing German youth were he to win. "This is-how you say?-'noose' to me," Schmeling said. The press conference over, the entourage headed up to the sun deck so that the cameras could capture what Hellmis called the "most photographed head in the world of sports."*

At customs, Schmeling faced the usual interrogation, half official, half playful. As Hellmis heard it, an official joked that it was forbidden to punch any honorable citizens of the United States, but concluded, "Here's your stamp, my good young man. Go now and knock that nigger out, good and clean, understood?" An American reporter, by contrast, heard the official ask Schmeling why he needed a visa for three months, since the fight was barely a month away. "You won't need six weeks to recuperate," the official said, before giving Schmeling two months instead. As several hundred admirers awaited him, Schmeling walked down the gangplank and hopped into a cab. A photographer from one of the black papers ran breathlessly alongside the car, begging for a picture, and Schmeling ordered the driver to stop. "You see, he's a Negro," he explained. The press then followed Schmeling to the Essex House, where he again held court. "Louis may not even know it himself, but he'll always be afraid of me, down deep inside," he said. Louis had now had two years to ponder the last fight, Schmeling explained, and they had taken their toll. "That is the psychological after-math," he said. "This is especially so in a man of Joe's race."

Many years later, Schmeling wrote that as the ship pulled into New York that day, people screamed abuse and carried signs calling him "an Aryan Show Horse" and representative of the "master race"; the police, he recalled, had been forced to escort him through an angry mob and take him via the backstreets to his hotel, where more picketers awaited him. On Broadway or Fifth Avenue, he went on, people taunted him with upraised arms, and he received "thousands" of hate letters. "In small groups I would try to explain-to no avail-that I would hardly have Joe Jacobs as my manager if I were a Nazi," he was to write. But writing at the time, Box-Sport Box-Sport described a very different reception, one that was "completely heartfelt and friendly." "The general public opinion is for Schmeling," it wrote. That wasn't true either, of course. At the same time, none of the Americans following Schmeling that day reported anything approaching the hostility he later described. But there were picketers outside Schmeling's hotel, and though Hellmis insisted that they didn't rattle Schmeling, they left Hellmis himself indignant. "The contents of the flyers are too stupid to describe in detail," he wrote. described a very different reception, one that was "completely heartfelt and friendly." "The general public opinion is for Schmeling," it wrote. That wasn't true either, of course. At the same time, none of the Americans following Schmeling that day reported anything approaching the hostility he later described. But there were picketers outside Schmeling's hotel, and though Hellmis insisted that they didn't rattle Schmeling, they left Hellmis himself indignant. "The contents of the flyers are too stupid to describe in detail," he wrote.

Three days after Schmeling's arrival, at eight in the morning, a thousand people greeted Louis when the Commodore Vanderbilt pulled in to Grand Central. He sported a wisp of a starter mustache, a green sports coat, a green sweater, and fawn-colored pants. He seemed poised and nonchalant, a far cry from the shy young man who had stepped off the train in the same spot only three years earlier. At 209 pounds, he was 9 pounds above his optimal weight. "All I have to do will be to cut down on my ice cream," he said. This time, he'd left his golf clubs at home. Someone mentioned Schmeling's claim that Louis couldn't shake off his fear of him. "When I get in the ring with S'mellin' I'll shake it off onto him," he replied. Louis would not pick a round, but insisted the fight would end fast. "You can bet all de money you got the fight ain'ta gonna last as long as the other," he said. "Either me or him will drop early. They ain't gonna be no decision. All the judges can stay home that night."

Later that day, Louis and Schmeling made their way downtown for a "signing ceremony" at the boxing commission. Shortly after Schmeling entered Louis walked over to him. "Hah'ya, Max," he said. Schmeling seemed taken aback, but quickly recovered. "How are you, Joe?" he replied. "You look goot! How you feel, goot?" Louis took a step back, and lowered his eyes. "Fine. I feel fine. You look good, too." The two then sat down to sign something. "Joe, we want two words from you," one of the cameramen asked. "Hel-lo," Louis replied. Then the two men shook hands, exchanged platitudes, and shook hands again. "Louis handed him what must have felt like a large damp herring which Max seized, squeezed, and shook it hard enough to set up a movement in Joe's chubby cheeks," wrote Considine. Louis just gazed at the door, his expression unchanging. Once the cameras stopped rolling, the two fighters separated, in such a way, Considine wrote, "as you would if a friendly-looking fellow came up, began shaking your hand and said 'I'm Joe Doakes-the leper.'"

Hellmis saw it as a pleasant affair, in which Schmeling was greeted with loud cheers. He continued to insist that Schmeling was more popular than ever in the United States, received warmly wherever he went. (The only discordant note came when the boxing commission, citing the latest of Joe Jacobs's infractions-apparently letting another of his fighters, "Two Ton" Tony Galento, be photographed with a beer mug in one hand and a cigar in the other-said it would not renew his licenses as a manager or second. This meant that, once again, he would not be in Schmeling's corner the night of the fight. If this had happened in Germany, Jacobs shrieked, people would have cried anti-Semitism!) For Hellmis, these were busy days indeed: he was now writing simultaneously for the Angriff, the Angriff, the the Volkischer Beobachter, Volkischer Beobachter, the the Reichssportblatt, Reichssportblatt, the the 8 Uhr-Blatt, Box-Sport, 8 Uhr-Blatt, Box-Sport, and other publications, typing frantically in order to get his dispatches to the and other publications, typing frantically in order to get his dispatches to the Bremen Bremen before it set sail. At first blush, his role as a one-man cheering squad reflected how amateurish, at least at this stage, the publicity machine of mighty Nazi Germany could be; alternatively, it illustrated how little attention the German press generally gave to sports. All this writing required Hellmis to recycle some information, like the fact that Schmeling carried that autographed picture of Hitler wherever he went. This trip, it turned out, was no exception. "His eyes shine in proud delight when he has a chance to show it to a friend," Hellmis wrote. before it set sail. At first blush, his role as a one-man cheering squad reflected how amateurish, at least at this stage, the publicity machine of mighty Nazi Germany could be; alternatively, it illustrated how little attention the German press generally gave to sports. All this writing required Hellmis to recycle some information, like the fact that Schmeling carried that autographed picture of Hitler wherever he went. This trip, it turned out, was no exception. "His eyes shine in proud delight when he has a chance to show it to a friend," Hellmis wrote.

After the "signing," the fighters went their separate ways. Louis headed north to Lafayetteville, the village he'd gone to before the first Schmeling fight, to work out and split logs until his friend Henry Armstrong, training to fight Barney Ross for the welterweight title (one of three that Armstrong, the second most famous black fighter of his day, once held simultaneously) on May 31, cleared out of Pompton Lakes. Schmeling hopped aboard the Upstate Special, the train bound north for Speculator. When he stepped off in Amsterdam, an old factory town an hour southwest of his training camp, five thousand people awaited him.

The political pressure finally got to Mike Jacobs, who announced via a letter to President Roosevelt that he would donate 10 percent of his net profits from the fight to European refugees. Apart from the antilynching button he had once bought at a Louis camp, people were hard pressed to cite any previous philanthropy from him. The actual donation would be small change, probably around $7,500, but to the boycotters it was a blow, promising to deprive them of whatever breeze remained in their sails. "A master stroke of diplomatic strategy," the World-Telegram World-Telegram called Jacobs's maneuver. The German press was ordered to ignore the gesture, which Goebbels assailed in his diary. "Jews are once again trying to sabotage the Schmeling fight by giving the surplus ... to German emigrants," he wrote on May 18. "They want to prevent him from fighting at all. But the Fuhrer determines that Schmeling is to fight." called Jacobs's maneuver. The German press was ordered to ignore the gesture, which Goebbels assailed in his diary. "Jews are once again trying to sabotage the Schmeling fight by giving the surplus ... to German emigrants," he wrote on May 18. "They want to prevent him from fighting at all. But the Fuhrer determines that Schmeling is to fight."

* In Nuremberg, Julius Streicher took the picketing more seriously: to retaliate, he declared a boycott of local Jewish shops. In Nuremberg, Julius Streicher took the picketing more seriously: to retaliate, he declared a boycott of local Jewish shops.* For all those who thought Schmeling was in Hitler's pocket, there were others convinced that if he lost to Louis he faced disgrace or even the hoosegow. After all, one German athlete who'd spoken out against Hitler, the tennis star Baron Gottfried von Cramm, had already been arrested, his homosexuality providing the Nazis with a convenient pretext. Some American athletes, like Don Budge and Joe DiMaggio, criticized the arrest of Cramm, runner-up at Wimbledon in 1935,1936, and 1937, but Schmeling defended it. "It's too bad, but there was nothing else for the police to do," he said. For all those who thought Schmeling was in Hitler's pocket, there were others convinced that if he lost to Louis he faced disgrace or even the hoosegow. After all, one German athlete who'd spoken out against Hitler, the tennis star Baron Gottfried von Cramm, had already been arrested, his homosexuality providing the Nazis with a convenient pretext. Some American athletes, like Don Budge and Joe DiMaggio, criticized the arrest of Cramm, runner-up at Wimbledon in 1935,1936, and 1937, but Schmeling defended it. "It's too bad, but there was nothing else for the police to do," he said.* A "Tijuana Bible"-one of the small, pornographic booklets popular during the era-offered a more fanciful view of Schmeling's trip to New York, and his arrival there. It depicted some rich hussy seducing "Max Smellin" aboard the A "Tijuana Bible"-one of the small, pornographic booklets popular during the era-offered a more fanciful view of Schmeling's trip to New York, and his arrival there. It depicted some rich hussy seducing "Max Smellin" aboard the Bremen; Bremen; during passionate- and very graphic-lovemaking, "Smellin" throws out his back, and by the time he lands in the United States, he is hobbling around on crutches. "Maxie vot der hell iss. ... ?" a flabbergasted friend exclaims upon seeing the incapacitated German. "Ach!" "Smellin" replies. "I tell you I vass fowled by a sea gull!" during passionate- and very graphic-lovemaking, "Smellin" throws out his back, and by the time he lands in the United States, he is hobbling around on crutches. "Maxie vot der hell iss. ... ?" a flabbergasted friend exclaims upon seeing the incapacitated German. "Ach!" "Smellin" replies. "I tell you I vass fowled by a sea gull!"

Pompton Lakes and Speculator

JOE L LOUIS WAS AT THE G GARDEN B BOWL in Long Island City on May 31, three weeks short of his date with Schmeling, when Henry Armstrong fought Barney Ross for the welterweight crown. Twenty-six thousand people showed up, a disappointing crowd, but the explanation was simple: even a fight pitting the dazzlingly fast Armstrong against the Jewish Ross in New York was overshadowed by Louis and Schmeling. "The world heavyweight championship is making all other events kaputt," Hellmis wrote. in Long Island City on May 31, three weeks short of his date with Schmeling, when Henry Armstrong fought Barney Ross for the welterweight crown. Twenty-six thousand people showed up, a disappointing crowd, but the explanation was simple: even a fight pitting the dazzlingly fast Armstrong against the Jewish Ross in New York was overshadowed by Louis and Schmeling. "The world heavyweight championship is making all other events kaputt," Hellmis wrote.

Louis was not just a spectator that night, but a student. Armstrong's trainer, Eddie Mead, told Roxborough, Black, and Blackburn that it was silly to have Louis box-that is, rely on tactics and finesse-when he was the greatest puncher in the game, and fighting an old man to boot. They should let him go out and slug away from the opening bell, just as Armstrong, a master of perpetual motion, always did. So this is what Louis was studying, just as he had at Armstrong's training camp. One reporter speculated that Louis's brain trust was contemplating how such a "tornadic" start would affect the cool, calculating German.

"Last time Chappie fot jus' the' way Schmelin' wanted him to," Blackburn said after Armstrong won. "This time, it'll be different. Chappie's going to learn from Armstrong. He's going to set a fast pace right from the start, work inside Schmelin's defense and batter away at his body. Schmelin' ain't goin' to stan' up long under that pace and that poundin'. He'll start cavin' in after three or fo' roun's, then Chappie'll git down to real business and finish him." Not everyone was so sure. Fans debated whether Louis needed to change his style to beat Schmeling, whether he had the intelligence to understand what that change should be, and, even if he did, whether he remained too haunted by the last fight to pull it off.

Once again word went out, largely through the black press, that the routine in Pompton Lakes was all business. Louis studied hard, seldom left camp, played no golf, went to bed early. Marva kept a safe distance, as she had all year; the Afro-American Afro-American calculated that out of 173 elapsed days in 1938, the Louises had been together "only about sixty-six" of them. One reporter saw flashy white women turned away from the camp; Louis, someone said, was harder to get to than the president of the United States. No one was taking any chances on anything. Amid fears that he would injure a finger, Louis was even forbidden to catch a baseball. calculated that out of 173 elapsed days in 1938, the Louises had been together "only about sixty-six" of them. One reporter saw flashy white women turned away from the camp; Louis, someone said, was harder to get to than the president of the United States. No one was taking any chances on anything. Amid fears that he would injure a finger, Louis was even forbidden to catch a baseball.

There were huge crowds at Pompton Lakes-including, one day, a staggering nine thousand people, probably the biggest gathering ever to see any boxer work out anywhere. People gazed upon Louis from trees, fences, roofs, and cars. Many wore their fanciest duds: "men in sports clothes, linen suits and flannel trousers along with women wearing the latest styles in shoes, dresses and hats of every imaginable description," the Richmond Afro-American Planet Richmond Afro-American Planet related. A Chicago reporter saw "jeweled octoroons from the Cotton Club on Broadway, sport-togged, white-spectacled young blades from Harlem, conservative mulatto businessmen, all rolling up in sedans or touring cars-and one group of laughing showgirls in a taxicab that had brought them the forty miles from 42nd Street and Broadway." For black America, it was not just a fashion show but a reunion, featuring frequent encounters with old friends. Even when Louis had the day off, people came by just to stare at him. The mob included lots of children. "There's wire netting round the four sides of the ring," one British reporter wrote, "and behind this scores of kink-haired negro boys flatten their pancake noses like monkeys behind bars at the Zoo." related. A Chicago reporter saw "jeweled octoroons from the Cotton Club on Broadway, sport-togged, white-spectacled young blades from Harlem, conservative mulatto businessmen, all rolling up in sedans or touring cars-and one group of laughing showgirls in a taxicab that had brought them the forty miles from 42nd Street and Broadway." For black America, it was not just a fashion show but a reunion, featuring frequent encounters with old friends. Even when Louis had the day off, people came by just to stare at him. The mob included lots of children. "There's wire netting round the four sides of the ring," one British reporter wrote, "and behind this scores of kink-haired negro boys flatten their pancake noses like monkeys behind bars at the Zoo."

There were distinguished visitors, including Braddock, whose jaw still ached from the Louis fight, as well as Dempsey, Tunney, and Richard Wright. Again, reports about Louis's form and attitude were mixed. His sparring mates said they pitied anyone who had to fight him for real. His defense was said to have improved, even though his staffers made a point not to talk about Schmeling and what had happened the last time. The object, according to Louis's new deputy trainer, a white man named Manny Seamon, was to treat this like any other fight, and Schmeling like "just another fighter he was going to stop when he got around to it."

But there were plenty of skeptics. To one, Louis was training "with all the savage vigor of a great-grandmother knitting woolen wristlets." To another, he was getting hit by punches "that started in Albany." To a third, sparring partners who couldn't "hit hard enough to dent a cake frosting" were hitting Louis hard enough to bend him over. BROWN BOMBER LOOKS LIKE TAN TARGET BROWN BOMBER LOOKS LIKE TAN TARGET, the New York Post New York Post claimed. After one such pummeling, fans were so derisive that the ring announcer asked them to keep their thoughts to themselves. If there were the usual conflicting reports about Louis, there were also conflicting reports about the conflicting reports. Louis was trying to bamboozle Schmeling, or Schmeling was trying to fool Louis, or Mike Jacobs was trying to fool everyone. The evaluations often fell, like so many things, along racial lines. White reporters described how ineffectual or lethargic Louis looked; black reporters said he simply no longer saw a need to dazzle. claimed. After one such pummeling, fans were so derisive that the ring announcer asked them to keep their thoughts to themselves. If there were the usual conflicting reports about Louis, there were also conflicting reports about the conflicting reports. Louis was trying to bamboozle Schmeling, or Schmeling was trying to fool Louis, or Mike Jacobs was trying to fool everyone. The evaluations often fell, like so many things, along racial lines. White reporters described how ineffectual or lethargic Louis looked; black reporters said he simply no longer saw a need to dazzle.

Louis was a good-natured fellow, and it was hard to find too many Americans who didn't like him, or didn't want him to win. But the issue of his intelligence still cropped up often, especially when facing someone as shrewd and scientific as Schmeling. And on that score, the press continued to be unkind. Many thought Louis incurably stupid, and felt no inhibitions saying so in various ways: "Louis has never been accused of being erudite" (the Herald Tribune). Herald Tribune). "Schmeling will make no mistake in strategy. Louis doesn't know what the word means" (the "Schmeling will make no mistake in strategy. Louis doesn't know what the word means" (the World-Telegram). World-Telegram). "They tried Shufflin' Joe at class work out here and gave it up as a failure" (the "They tried Shufflin' Joe at class work out here and gave it up as a failure" (the Times). Times). "Experimentation to him is just a word, and a powerful long one" (the "Experimentation to him is just a word, and a powerful long one" (the Mirror). Mirror). "There can be no question regarding Schmeling's mental advantage. Joe is not very bright" (the "There can be no question regarding Schmeling's mental advantage. Joe is not very bright" (the Los Angeles Times). Los Angeles Times). Bill Corum asked Louis about the psychology of the fight, and claimed to have gotten this answer: "I don't know that Cy what-you-calls-him, so why should I be worrying 'bout him?" "They are saying Joe Louis had begun to think, now," James Dawson Bill Corum asked Louis about the psychology of the fight, and claimed to have gotten this answer: "I don't know that Cy what-you-calls-him, so why should I be worrying 'bout him?" "They are saying Joe Louis had begun to think, now," James Dawson of The New York Times of The New York Times told O. B. Keeler of the told O. B. Keeler of the Atlanta Journal. Atlanta Journal. "That is the worst thing Joe Louis could begin to do." Keeler concurred. "Joe Louis is not constructed for thinking," he wrote. "He is designed for action unhampered by any mental process that does not spring from the instantaneous reaction of the motor centers of the animal mind." Louis was clearly in better shape physically than he was for the last fight, Grantland Rice observed, but "I don't think he has changed a lick on the other side-call it mental or psychological or whatever," he wrote. "On this side, I don't think Louis could ever change-not in a thousand years. He just doesn't work that way." To Rice, the title of Hemingway's latest novel, "That is the worst thing Joe Louis could begin to do." Keeler concurred. "Joe Louis is not constructed for thinking," he wrote. "He is designed for action unhampered by any mental process that does not spring from the instantaneous reaction of the motor centers of the animal mind." Louis was clearly in better shape physically than he was for the last fight, Grantland Rice observed, but "I don't think he has changed a lick on the other side-call it mental or psychological or whatever," he wrote. "On this side, I don't think Louis could ever change-not in a thousand years. He just doesn't work that way." To Rice, the title of Hemingway's latest novel, To Have and Have Not, To Have and Have Not, summed up Louis to a T: he had everything on the physical side, and had not on the mental. summed up Louis to a T: he had everything on the physical side, and had not on the mental.

There were more animal comparisons. Give Schmeling six pounds of peanuts, someone wrote, and he would spend hours coaxing a chipmunk to eat them out of his hand; give them to Louis, and he would eat them himself, then take a nap. The most egregious of these came from Austen Lake of the Boston Sunday Advertiser, Boston Sunday Advertiser, who compared dinner at Pompton Lakes to "feeding time at the zoo." "Joe's ears waggled while he chewed," he wrote. "His lips made moist, smacking noises and his eyes, as impersonal as twin cough drops, roved the company with the chill and scrutiny of a house cat." While Blackburn, "the simian-faced Negro with a knife scar along one cheek," offered fight talk, Louis "made guttural grunts which filtered through his food in thick blurbs, and focused the full beam of his attention to chewing." who compared dinner at Pompton Lakes to "feeding time at the zoo." "Joe's ears waggled while he chewed," he wrote. "His lips made moist, smacking noises and his eyes, as impersonal as twin cough drops, roved the company with the chill and scrutiny of a house cat." While Blackburn, "the simian-faced Negro with a knife scar along one cheek," offered fight talk, Louis "made guttural grunts which filtered through his food in thick blurbs, and focused the full beam of his attention to chewing."

Occasionally there'd be a backhanded compliment. Hugh Bradley of the Post Post said Louis had "vastly improved mentally." Parker insisted that his mental deficiencies were irrelevant. "In Joe's trade a well-delivered clout on the chin makes up for quite a few points in the Intelligence Quotient Department," he wrote. Almost everyone agreed that if he tried outsmarting Schmeling, he'd lose; his best strategy lay in reverting to his former primitive self. The plan at Pompton Lakes, Considine wrote, could be reduced to four words: "Keep Joe from thinking." This inability to work out a plan and stick to it was something all blacks shared, Bill Corum stated. But like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Bill Robinson, and Ethel Waters, Corum continued, Louis had "that remarkable sense of rhythm, timing, instinctive pace," and in the ring, that made him formidable indeed. Of course, there were others who argued that Louis wasn't an animal at all but a marionette whom Blackburn controlled, or a robot, more machine than human. said Louis had "vastly improved mentally." Parker insisted that his mental deficiencies were irrelevant. "In Joe's trade a well-delivered clout on the chin makes up for quite a few points in the Intelligence Quotient Department," he wrote. Almost everyone agreed that if he tried outsmarting Schmeling, he'd lose; his best strategy lay in reverting to his former primitive self. The plan at Pompton Lakes, Considine wrote, could be reduced to four words: "Keep Joe from thinking." This inability to work out a plan and stick to it was something all blacks shared, Bill Corum stated. But like Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Bill Robinson, and Ethel Waters, Corum continued, Louis had "that remarkable sense of rhythm, timing, instinctive pace," and in the ring, that made him formidable indeed. Of course, there were others who argued that Louis wasn't an animal at all but a marionette whom Blackburn controlled, or a robot, more machine than human.

There were exceptions. Richard Wright said after talking to Louis that while he was uneducated, he was an amazing guy with a full sense of what he represented to other blacks. Another defender was the writer Maxwell Bodenheim, who complained in the Daily Worker Daily Worker about the "chauvinism and backwardness" of the mainstream sports press. "A prize-fighter is not supposed to be an intellectual giant and Louis possesses an average amount of intelligence and is a man who has fought his way through poverty, discrimination and the lack of education inflicted upon him by our economic system," Bodenheim wrote. While sportswriters threw "verbal bouquets" at "the Nazi challenger," he charged, they went "miles out of their way to heave rotten fruit at the Negro heavyweight champion, a clean, normal, honest lad." about the "chauvinism and backwardness" of the mainstream sports press. "A prize-fighter is not supposed to be an intellectual giant and Louis possesses an average amount of intelligence and is a man who has fought his way through poverty, discrimination and the lack of education inflicted upon him by our economic system," Bodenheim wrote. While sportswriters threw "verbal bouquets" at "the Nazi challenger," he charged, they went "miles out of their way to heave rotten fruit at the Negro heavyweight champion, a clean, normal, honest lad."

Many assumed Schmeling still had the "Indian sign" on Louis. Even Louis's sympathetic biographer conceded the possibility: Freud would ask whether Schmeling had "inflicted an inferiority complex" on the Bomber, he wrote. There was, of course, a racial tinge to all of this: no one ever asked Schmeling whether Hamas had the "Indian sign" on him before Schmeling crushed him in their rematch. As for Louis, he brushed it all aside. How, he quite sensibly asked, could he never forget something he couldn't even remember?

Some southern writers thought Louis could not escape his blackness. "Joe Louis never will admit it, but when he gets into the ring and looks down at the German's right fist, he's going to be a scared nigger," one columnist wrote. A student sportswriter at the University of Texas pondered what a local black man had told him: that a nigger was a fighting fool until you knocked him down, and after that he was worthless. "The psychology is true ... for the Southern Negro who is used to being downtrodden, but it is not true of the Northern Negro," he observed. So, where would one situate a black man born in Alabama but raised in Detroit? Even for many southerners, though, national, regional, and personal loyalties mattered more than race. "Joe Louis is as much an American as the whitest American who ever lived," a columnist in Richmond wrote. "For the first time in the history of the old South a colored boy has become the fair-haired child of the masses," observed a reporter for the Daily News. Daily News. A few Georgians remembered Joe Jacobs from his run-in with the Ku Klux Klan, and resented Schmeling's treatment of him. Schmeling had been "immensely popular" in the "corn pone area" after his 1936 win, the A few Georgians remembered Joe Jacobs from his run-in with the Ku Klux Klan, and resented Schmeling's treatment of him. Schmeling had been "immensely popular" in the "corn pone area" after his 1936 win, the News News man observed, but clearly that was no longer true, undoubtedly because of his ties to the Nazis. Walter White again wrote to Lowell Thomas, editor of the magazine that had said Louis should never be champion, this time to remind him how wrong it had been. "The public, even in the deep South, has accepted Joe Louis as champion and not only without bitterness but with tremendous enthusiasm," wrote White, who said he'd polled newspapermen on the topic throughout a recent southern swing. "I probably sound like a professional Pollyanna but I do believe that at least in the field of prizefighting we have inched forward a bit." man observed, but clearly that was no longer true, undoubtedly because of his ties to the Nazis. Walter White again wrote to Lowell Thomas, editor of the magazine that had said Louis should never be champion, this time to remind him how wrong it had been. "The public, even in the deep South, has accepted Joe Louis as champion and not only without bitterness but with tremendous enthusiasm," wrote White, who said he'd polled newspapermen on the topic throughout a recent southern swing. "I probably sound like a professional Pollyanna but I do believe that at least in the field of prizefighting we have inched forward a bit."

Preparing Louis for Schmeling became a joint effort. Noting that Louis didn't retain things very long, Armstrong gave him a refresher course on rushing in and swinging. Even Dempsey, who'd liked Schmeling and written off Louis (and all black boxers) after the 1936 fight, pitched in, almost as if it were his patriotic duty. He paid a clandestine visit to Pompton Lakes, telling Louis how to roll away from punches more easily. He then left the camp, only to order his driver back. "You fight him the way you did the last time and the way you boxed today and you got to get licked again!" he scolded Louis after rejoining him. He then removed his coat. "Move into me!" he'd scolded. "Come on! Move! Bend! Get your tail down! Don't wait! Start punching!" Louis must have thought he was nuts, Dempsey said, but he didn't give a damn; he was just trying to help him. And maybe he had.

Gene Tunney also hovered around the camps, but his role was more ambiguous. As the Mirror Mirror reported breathlessly, Tunney had visited Louis in Lafayetteville, also unsolicited and in great secrecy. Together, they watched films of the Schmeling fight, with Tunney pointing out Louis's mistakes and Schmeling's flaws. Then he, too, rolled up his sleeves and talked technique, all to help keep the heavyweight crown in the United States. Black newspapers were floored by this revelation, given Tunney's past hostility to black fighters; only a few months earlier, Tunney had praised Schmeling for "the greatest right hand I ever saw," and predicted he could "whip Louis tomorrow." "One of the most liberal and genuine American gestures in the history of boxing," the reported breathlessly, Tunney had visited Louis in Lafayetteville, also unsolicited and in great secrecy. Together, they watched films of the Schmeling fight, with Tunney pointing out Louis's mistakes and Schmeling's flaws. Then he, too, rolled up his sleeves and talked technique, all to help keep the heavyweight crown in the United States. Black newspapers were floored by this revelation, given Tunney's past hostility to black fighters; only a few months earlier, Tunney had praised Schmeling for "the greatest right hand I ever saw," and predicted he could "whip Louis tomorrow." "One of the most liberal and genuine American gestures in the history of boxing," the Courier Courier called his tutorial. Tunney promptly wired Schmeling, calling the story "ridiculous" and insisting on his neutrality. Schmeling, for one, believed him. "Gene, he not only never fought a Negro fighter, he never had one for a sparring partner," he explained. called his tutorial. Tunney promptly wired Schmeling, calling the story "ridiculous" and insisting on his neutrality. Schmeling, for one, believed him. "Gene, he not only never fought a Negro fighter, he never had one for a sparring partner," he explained.

Tunney, boxing's house intellectual ever since he had once been caught reading Shakespeare, analyzed the matchup in Connecticut Nutmeg, Connecticut Nutmeg, the weekly magazine he had just launched with Heywood Broun and others. To him, the fight pitted Louis's natural gifts against Schmeling's experience and "spiritual fortification." Like Gallico and some British writers, Tunney appeared to get a kind of thrill from the new German ardor. "To Schmeling this is not merely another fight for which he will be well paid," he wrote. "It is a sacred cause and he feels he is the standard bearer of 65 million Germans, a nation of determined people who have inaugurated a new worldwide racial movement. He is their hero, their Hermes who will herald to the world the Nazi supremacy." Louis was superior mechanically, Tunney conceded, but Schmeling, well, he had something greater: a quasi-religious spark. Hellmis endorsed Tunney's sentiments enthusiastically; because of its independence, he said, Tunney's publication "did not have to dance to the tune of Jewish big interests." Up in Speculator, Schmeling's handlers professed to be pleased by all the advice Louis was getting; it was certain to confuse him as much as Schmeling's right had done. Machon asked one reporter to do him a favor: when he reached Pompton Lakes, please encourage Louis to come rushing in like Henry Armstrong; "he would be awkward as a school girl on her first pair of ice skates," he said. the weekly magazine he had just launched with Heywood Broun and others. To him, the fight pitted Louis's natural gifts against Schmeling's experience and "spiritual fortification." Like Gallico and some British writers, Tunney appeared to get a kind of thrill from the new German ardor. "To Schmeling this is not merely another fight for which he will be well paid," he wrote. "It is a sacred cause and he feels he is the standard bearer of 65 million Germans, a nation of determined people who have inaugurated a new worldwide racial movement. He is their hero, their Hermes who will herald to the world the Nazi supremacy." Louis was superior mechanically, Tunney conceded, but Schmeling, well, he had something greater: a quasi-religious spark. Hellmis endorsed Tunney's sentiments enthusiastically; because of its independence, he said, Tunney's publication "did not have to dance to the tune of Jewish big interests." Up in Speculator, Schmeling's handlers professed to be pleased by all the advice Louis was getting; it was certain to confuse him as much as Schmeling's right had done. Machon asked one reporter to do him a favor: when he reached Pompton Lakes, please encourage Louis to come rushing in like Henry Armstrong; "he would be awkward as a school girl on her first pair of ice skates," he said.

A joyous crowd welcomes Schmeling at Berlin's Tempelhof Airport, June 26, 1936.

Hitler's personal photographer, Heinrich Hoffmann, caught Schmeling and his awestruck claque en route to Berlin, June 26, 1936. Schmeling's wife, Anny Ondra, is at left.

Hitler meets with Schmeling's mother (at left), Ondra, and Schmeling at the Reich's chancellory, June 27, 1936.

Left: The documentary Goebbels ordered up of the first Louis-Schmeling fight, The documentary Goebbels ordered up of the first Louis-Schmeling fight, Schmeling's Victory: A German Victory, Schmeling's Victory: A German Victory, gave millions of Germans another chance to celebrate. gave millions of Germans another chance to celebrate.

Right: Champion of Youth, February 1937. As his relations with the Nazi regime deepened and he seemed increasingly likely to regain the heavyweight crown, Schmeling became ever more demonized, particularly in the radical press. February 1937. As his relations with the Nazi regime deepened and he seemed increasingly likely to regain the heavyweight crown, Schmeling became ever more demonized, particularly in the radical press.

Athletes greet Schmeling at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. "In rank and importance he did not seem to be much below Hitler and Goring," a British journalist wrote.

The anti-Nazi boycott in January 1937 created a great opportunity for Jim Braddock's manager, Joe Gould, to extricate his fighter from the contract to fight Schmeling and take on a far more lucrative fight with Louis, as Willard Mullin of the New York World-Telegram New York World-Telegram suggested. suggested.

With comic dutifulness, Schmeling trained for a fight that would clearly never happen.

Louis and his entourage-including Blackburn (to Louis's right) and Louis's co-managers, Julian Black, (to his left), and John Roxborough (behind Blackburn)-celebrate after Louis knocked out Braddock, June 22, 1937.

The Baltimore Afro-American Baltimore Afro-American announces the news. announces the news.

Jimmy Braddock, eleven stitches in his lips and eye, files out after losing the title.

Above: Shortly after Louis won the crown, his father, Monroe Barrow, surfaced. Long thought dead, he was a patient at the Searcy State Hospital for the Negro Insane in Alabama. Shortly after Louis won the crown, his father, Monroe Barrow, surfaced. Long thought dead, he was a patient at the Searcy State Hospital for the Negro Insane in Alabama.

Ring recognized what Louis repeatedly said: he wouldn't really be champion until he'd beaten Schmeling. recognized what Louis repeatedly said: he wouldn't really be champion until he'd beaten Schmeling.

Forty thousand readers tackled the all-important question the Chicago Defender Chicago Defender posed in early 1937. posed in early 1937.

Protestors outside the Hippodrome urge fans to boycott Schmeling's fight against Harry Thomas, December 1937.

The yellow star makes an early appearance: Schmeling reaches over Harry Thomas, whom he has just knocked out, to punch Samuel Untermyer of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League on his outsized Jewish nose after the League's boycott of the fight sputtered. 8 Uhr-Blatt 8 Uhr-Blatt (Nuremberg), December 31, 1937 (Nuremberg), December 31, 1937 Though he always insisted he was a sportsman rather than a politician, Schmeling loaned his name and image to pet Nazi causes. Here, along with 48,799,268 other Germans, he votes to ratify the annexation of Austria, April 1938.

Schmeling and Joe Jacobs arrive at Newark Airport from Speculator, New York, site of his training camp for the second Louis fight, June 21, 1938. To Schmeling, flying was not only faster; it was an act of insubordination, a declaration of independence.

The world watches as the rematch looms: Burris Jenkins, New York Journal-American, New York Journal-American, June June 22, 22, 1938. 1938.

The Communists leafleted outside Yankee Stadium, but they were too keen on watching Louis smash Schmeling to support a boycott.

The program for the second Louis-Schmeling fight.

Walking to the weigh-in for the rematch, Madison Square Garden, June 22, 1938 J. Edgar Hoover and Walter Winchell, fight night, at Yankee Stadium.

Louis pummels Schmeling along the ropes. A cry-"half human, half animal"-filled the night air.

Schmeling goes down for the first time.

As the cornermen mobilized and Louis-his night's work done 124 seconds after it had begun-begins to walk off, Donovan cradles the vanquished Schmeling.

In Harlem, residents gathered once more around the radio. Silence reigned.

A Harlem street scene after the second fight. "Take a dozen Harlem Christmases, a score of New Year's Eves, a bushel of July 4ths and maybe- yes, maybe-you get a faint glimpse of the idea."

Schmeling quickly retracted any claim that Louis had beaten him unfairly and later blamed others for raising it. But one newspaper recorded the truth for posterity.

Louis reads all about his victory.

Schmeling, flanked by Joe Jacobs and Max Machon, at the Polyclinic Hospital following the second fight. Louis never came by.

"It's over." 8 Uhr-Blatt 8 Uhr-Blatt (Nuremberg), June 23, 1938 (Nuremberg), June 23, 1938 New Masses, July 5, 1938 July 5, 1938 Louis celebrates his victory over Schmeling with two more of his victims, Jimmy Braddock (left) and Tommy Farr, at Braddock's bar near Madison Square Garden, June 23, 1938.

"The Nazi fistic hero Max Schmeling is returning to Germany with such a pathetic face." Drawing by William Gropper in Freiheit, Freiheit, June 23, 1938. June 23, 1938.

The reunions of the two old antagonists were well documented. Here, they bond over some of Schmeling's Coca-Cola.

White commentators suggested Louis was too simpleminded to bring any passions of his own to the fight. But black writers knew better. They knew Louis hated Schmeling, less for his politics than for accusing Louis of fouling him intentionally, and for that late hit after the fifth round. He'd also learned that that punch had been cut from the German fight film, and that Hellmis had roused German audiences against him. "His burning desire for revenge is so deeply imbued within his heart that I believe it will overshadow any other emotion that Joe might have," Chester Washington wrote. As if that were not enough, Blackburn went to work on Louis. Hating an adversary was good strategy, he knew, but with the sweet-natured Louis, this was not easy. So he outdid himself by heaping scorn on the Nazis and telling Louis what Hitler thought of blacks. "I don't like Schmeling because his people don't like my people," Louis told one writer. "The old drowsiness is gone and in its place has come an alert anger," Jimmy Cannon reported.

Louis watched films of his first fight with Schmeling again and again. And he astonished everyone with a prediction: two rounds. "I know how to fight Max, now," he explained. "I won't waste any time going to work. Of course, if he dogs it a while, it will take me at least four or five rounds. If he fights, it won't go three." To Cannon, he cut it down to one. The predictions astonished fight writers. "Sheer youthful exuberance and should be disregarded," the World-Telegram World-Telegram counseled. Blacks, too, squirmed at such hubris. One called Louis "a fit subject for the psychiatric ward, releasing smart talk like that in the face of so grave a crisis." But Louis had told Blackburn the same thing. "My rheumatics will give me the miseries, climbin' up that mountain every round," Blackburn had complained before the fight. "Don't you worry about that mountain climbing," Louis replied. "You'll only have to climb it twice." Louis's fervor impressed the bookies, who lengthened the odds favoring him from eight to five to better than two to one. "They've finally got that boy mad," one handicapper observed. "That's the one thing he needed." counseled. Blacks, too, squirmed at such hubris. One called Louis "a fit subject for the psychiatric ward, releasing smart talk like that in the face of so grave a crisis." But Louis had told Blackburn the same thing. "My rheumatics will give me the miseries, climbin' up that mountain every round," Blackburn had complained before the fight. "Don't you worry about that mountain climbing," Louis replied. "You'll only have to climb it twice." Louis's fervor impressed the bookies, who lengthened the odds favoring him from eight to five to better than two to one. "They've finally got that boy mad," one handicapper observed. "That's the one thing he needed."

Hellmis stopped by Pompton Lakes, and his impressions of Louis remained the same: light, elegant, incredibly powerful, quite sympathetic, honest, sincere, compliant, dumb. "All of his work leaves the impression of a nature boy who doesn't quite understand why he should do [this or] that, but who has learned from past experience that he will receive many lovely dollars for doing so," he wrote. Since everyone associated the heavyweight championship with a good mind, Hellmis felt Louis was most unworthy of the crown. While his "racial brothers" (Rassengenossen) (Rassengenossen) still idolized him, Louis's drawing power was nil, Hellmis told Germany; the enormous interest in the fight stemmed from Schmeling. Even in tranquil times, Hellmis would have been delusional, but in fact, tensions were growing: at a birthday rally for Hitler in Yorkville on April 20, uniformed American Nazis beat back Jewish War Veterans with blackjacks, belts, and chairs. A few weeks later, two thousand people in Yorkville heard the German consul praise Hitler, then watched Leni Riefenstahl's still idolized him, Louis's drawing power was nil, Hellmis told Germany; the enormous interest in the fight stemmed from Schmeling. Even in tranquil times, Hellmis would have been delusional, but in fact, tensions were growing: at a birthday rally for Hitler in Yorkville on April 20, uniformed American Nazis beat back Jewish War Veterans with blackjacks, belts, and chairs. A few weeks later, two thousand people in Yorkville heard the German consul praise Hitler, then watched Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. Triumph of the Will. Shortly thereafter, six leaders of the German-American Bund on Long Island were arrested for spying. Shortly thereafter, six leaders of the German-American Bund on Long Island were arrested for spying.

Perhaps because of the tempests around him, Schmeling came to appreciate Speculator all the more. He liked its coolness and low humidity, along with its tranquillity and remoteness: 250 miles from New York, 60 miles from the closest train station. The view from his cottage, of the mountains looming beyond a crystalline alpine lake, reminded him of his estate in Pomerania. Only Mike Jacobs was unhappy with the arrangement: it was too far from New York and from the New York reporters who would publicize the fight. To Hellmis, training in such a spot was more important to Schmeling "than the dollar assets of Herr Mike Jacobs, who obviously showed little concern last year for Maxie's dollar worries as he booted him out of the world championship."

Schmeling quickly fell into his usual routine. First came a few days of running and walking. Then came the sparring matches, in an outdoor ring, with Joe Jacobs introducing the various opponents. They were generally inferior to Louis's sparring partners, but the thrifty Schmeling wasn't paying them as much; Max had nothing to learn from them anyway, Hellmis maintained. Between rounds Schmeling posed for the cameras. Afterward, he punched the bag, shadowboxed, skipped rope, and performed tricks; one sure crowd-pleaser was a precision punch that knocked the ash off the cigar in Jacobs's mouth. One Sunday, five thousand people showed up. On another occasion, the mayors of Syracuse, Utica, Albany, and Rochester came by. Mike Jacobs was there to announce that the two men would fight yet again if the forthcoming bout went the distance.

The overarching question at Speculator was whether Schmeling had slipped in the last two years, and if so, by how much. Rice thought Schmeling was "as close to perfection as imperfect humanity can hope to reach"; he could be whipped, he wrote, but only by someone far better than Louis had been two years earlier. Braddock thought Schmeling had indeed faded, and would never be able to move against a younger fighter like Louis in the way he needed to. To Hellmis, of course, Schmeling was mounting the latest in a series of apexes.

Surely the most conspicuous-and courageous-visitors in Schmeling's camp were the representatives of the black weeklies. Al Monroe of the Defender Defender spent five days there, tripling as a reporter, spy, and cheerleader for Louis. Schmeling was in fine shape, he wrote, but Louis should not fall for fish stories that he had suddenly sprouted some new punches. "He is planning to right-cross you out of the title, Joe," Monroe advised. "Go out there and knock his block off, Joe, and the fight is yours. That is your only chance." St. Clair Bourne of the spent five days there, tripling as a reporter, spy, and cheerleader for Louis. Schmeling was in fine shape, he wrote, but Louis should not fall for fish stories that he had suddenly sprouted some new punches. "He is planning to right-cross you out of the title, Joe," Monroe advised. "Go out there and knock his block off, Joe, and the fight is yours. That is your only chance." St. Clair Bourne of the Amsterdam News Amsterdam News saw some slight sagging in Schmeling's face and "the merest shadow of embonpoint"-that is, fat-around his waist. One of Bourne's colleagues, Bill Chase, spotted varicose veins. "We were the center of attraction at this Nazi-sympathetic community," observed Chase, who'd already covered the Berlin Olympics. "Of course, at this stage of the game, we're all pretty used to people of the opposite race staring at us when we get out of the bounds of Harlem, so that didn't bother us in the least." But all was amicable as they posed for pictures with Schmeling. "It was too bad that such a personable and swell guy as this had to be a Nazi," Chase wrote. saw some slight sagging in Schmeling's face and "the merest shadow of embonpoint"-that is, fat-around his waist. One of Bourne's colleagues, Bill Chase, spotted varicose veins. "We were the center of attraction at this Nazi-sympathetic community," observed Chase, who'd already covered the Berlin Olympics. "Of course, at this stage of the game, we're all pretty used to people of the opposite race staring at us when we get out of the bounds of Harlem, so that didn't bother us in the least." But all was amicable as they posed for pictures with Schmeling. "It was too bad that such a personable and swell guy as this had to be a Nazi," Chase wrote.

Schmeling rarely confronted racial issues head-on, and when he did, he was usually conciliatory. But in early June he spoke with unusual bluntness to one reporter. "The black dynasty of pugilism must come to an end," he told the Chicago American. Chicago American. He was doing his part in the heavyweight division, he said; whites in other divisions should follow suit. No one in the mainstream press picked up on Schmeling's comments; the white papers hid Schmeling's racism, one irate black columnist wrote, because its racial ideas and Hitler's were the same. (He urged that Schmeling be deported.) Schmeling's politics also came up during the visit with the He was doing his part in the heavyweight division, he said; whites in other divisions should follow suit. No one in the mainstream press picked up on Schmeling's comments; the white papers hid Schmeling's racism, one irate black columnist wrote, because its racial ideas and Hitler's were the same. (He urged that Schmeling be deported.) Schmeling's politics also came up during the visit with the Chicago Times. Chicago Times. "Make no mistake, Max Schmeling is Fuehrer Hitler's greatest booster," the reporter later wrote. "Ve haff no strikes in Germany," Schmeling told him. "Most everybody has job. Times are goot. Ve have only one union. Ve haff only one party. Everybody agreeable. Everybody happy." "Both he and Machon sincerely believe Hitler is Germany's man of destiny," the reporter noted. (In a bit of revisionism, Schmeling told the same reporter that Anny Ondra had listened to the first Louis fight in Detroit rather than at Goebbels's side.) "Make no mistake, Max Schmeling is Fuehrer Hitler's greatest booster," the reporter later wrote. "Ve haff no strikes in Germany," Schmeling told him. "Most everybody has job. Times are goot. Ve have only one union. Ve haff only one party. Everybody agreeable. Everybody happy." "Both he and Machon sincerely believe Hitler is Germany's man of destiny," the reporter noted. (In a bit of revisionism, Schmeling told the same reporter that Anny Ondra had listened to the first Louis fight in Detroit rather than at Goebbels's side.) When the Hamburg Hamburg left Cuxhaven for New York in early June, it was crowded with Schmeling fans, a "floating sports hotel." But officially, the Nazis were hedging their bets. "Only the sporting side of the contest is to be taken into account," the propaganda ministry instructed the press on June 10. "The odds can be noted, but not in the headlines." In other words, with Louis the favorite, the symbolic importance of the fight should not be stressed. In a front-page editorial, the left Cuxhaven for New York in early June, it was crowded with Schmeling fans, a "floating sports hotel." But officially, the Nazis were hedging their bets. "Only the sporting side of the contest is to be taken into account," the propaganda ministry instructed the press on June 10. "The odds can be noted, but not in the headlines." In other words, with Louis the favorite, the symbolic importance of the fight should not be stressed. In a front-page editorial, the Frankfurter Volksblatt Frankfurter Volksblatt ridiculed the tendency to view sporting events as "preludes and omens" for political struggles, claiming that only New York Jews and "Haarlem Negroes" went for such balderdash. But it was a little late to back off Schmeling. Craving athletic glory, international respect, and validation of its culture of merciless machismo, Nazi Germany had fallen in love with Max, and that love had blinded it to the vagaries of the ring. ridiculed the tendency to view sporting events as "preludes and omens" for political struggles, claiming that only New York Jews and "Haarlem Negroes" went for such balderdash. But it was a little late to back off Schmeling. Craving athletic glory, international respect, and validation of its culture of merciless machismo, Nazi Germany had fallen in love with Max, and that love had blinded it to the vagaries of the ring.

Schmeling and Machon insisted that anti-Nazi feeling in the United States had abated and that they felt completely at home there. But reporters found Speculator far more regimented, paranoid, and Nazified than Schmeling's camp at Napanoch had been. Going there from free and easy Pompton Lakes, Parker wrote, was "like stepping from this enlightened republic into one of the totalitarian states." "The flavor of Nazi Germany permeates Schmeling's camp," Parker continued. "One expects to see brown shirted soldiers popping out from behind every telegraph pole with a 'Heil Hitler!' challenge." Schmeling's house, he went on, was an island of Nazi Germany, encircled by barbed wire and state troopers. And Schmeling himself was encircled by Germans: Machon, Hellmis, and other reporters, friends like Heinz Ditgens, owner of the Roxy-Bar in Berlin, and Willi Lehmann, a Berlin restaurateur who was always quick to stress that he-unlike his namesake the governor of New York-wasn't Jewish. The topics, too, were German; one visitor recalled Schmeling and his guests spending an hour poring over photographs of Hitler's glorious new autobahn. Hellmis in particular discomfited some American reporters, who quickly concluded that he wasn't reporting only to his editors. "Nasty Adolph's oaf-ficial observer," one called him. Not only New York journalists attuned to Jewish sensibilities picked up something chilling in the air. One southern reporter talked of "the spirit of Horst Wessel in trunks and boxing gloves" permeating the place. "The diabolically patient manner of preparing for this fight makes strong men shudder," he wrote. "No wonder the Germans came back after the World War and built a new nation out of the debris."

As one Hungarian paper, Est, Est, noted, everyone in Schmeling's circle around Speculator met the requirements of the Nuremberg Laws except one. That one, of course, was Joe Jacobs, and he was an outcast. "Little wonder," Parker wrote, "that he dashes back to kosher New York at every opportunity." Jacobs was not allowed to stay in the large house with Schmeling, Machon, and his German cronies, and he cut a pathetic figure around the camp, reduced to asking reporters what Schmeling was telling them. His suspension made him even more expendable, especially since it appeared Schmeling hadn't strained himself to get him reinstated. "He made Max what he is today and is treated like a necessary pariah by the ingrate," wrote a noted, everyone in Schmeling's circle around Speculator met the requirements of the Nuremberg Laws except one. That one, of course, was Joe Jacobs, and he was an outcast. "Little wonder," Parker wrote, "that he dashes back to kosher New York at every opportunity." Jacobs was not allowed to stay in the large house with Schmeling, Machon, and his German cronies, and he cut a pathetic figure around the camp, reduced to asking reporters what Schmeling was telling them. His suspension made him even more expendable, especially since it appeared Schmeling hadn't strained himself to get him reinstated. "He made Max what he is today and is treated like a necessary pariah by the ingrate," wrote a Times Times reader. reader.

Jacobs still insisted, though, that Schmeling treated him right. Depriving Schmeling of his wise counsel, he said, was part of a plot to deny Schmeling a fair shot at the title. Once again, Jacobs found little sympathy in his own community. The Forverts Forverts acknowledged Schmeling's ingratitude, comparing Jacobs to the hapless stepfather who'd paid for his stepson's wedding, only to learn that more important relatives would walk the boy to the chuppah acknowledged Schmeling's ingratitude, comparing Jacobs to the hapless stepfather who'd paid for his stepson's wedding, only to learn that more important relatives would walk the boy to the chuppah. But it wasted no pity on him. "Jews will not forget that he did business with one of Hitler's favorites during a time when not a day goes by without articles in the newspapers that tell about the suffering, about the terrible troubles and insults that Jews are going through in Hitler's Germany," it declared. Nor, to the But it wasted no pity on him. "Jews will not forget that he did business with one of Hitler's favorites during a time when not a day goes by without articles in the newspapers that tell about the suffering, about the terrible troubles and insults that Jews are going through in Hitler's Germany," it declared. Nor, to the Forverts, Forverts, was Mike Jacobs much better, whatever he had pledged to the refugees; both were worms that could not be washed clean. Undeterred, Joe Jacobs touted Schmeling with his usual indefatigability. After ostentatiously making sure that no one else was listening, he offered an Atlanta columnist "the absolute low-down" on the fight; it was, he said, the least he could do after those good Georgians had rescued him from the Klan. "Max will knock Joe out in the ninth round, positively, and you can take that from me absolutely guaranteed," he whispered. "I say the ninth round. Why? Because I like to give myself a chance for a slight mistake. I think it might come sooner, but you know Max. He never rushes things. You can quote me further as saying that Max will knock him out with a left hook. Yes, sir, a left hook." was Mike Jacobs much better, whatever he had pledged to the refugees; both were worms that could not be washed clean. Undeterred, Joe Jacobs touted Schmeling with his usual indefatigability. After ostentatiously making sure that no one else was listening, he offered an Atlanta columnist "the absolute low-down" on the fight; it was, he said, the least he could do after those good Georgians had rescued him from the Klan. "Max will knock Joe out in the ninth round, positively, and you can take that from me absolutely guaranteed," he whispered. "I say the ninth round. Why? Because I like to give myself a chance for a slight mistake. I think it might come sooner, but you know Max. He never rushes things. You can quote me further as saying that Max will knock him out with a left hook. Yes, sir, a left hook."

The state trooper guarding Schmeling's house had more trouble with drunken American reporters than with anti-Nazi saboteurs. But Hell-mis was vigilant nonetheless. Schmeling had blamed the heat for his loss to Max Baer five years earlier. But Hellmis had other notions, and, apparently, duties. "In Germany, we still believe there were other reasons why Max Baer whipped Schmeling than the punches he received in the ring," he told one reporter, suggesting that someone had tampered with Schmeling's food. "There will be no chances for anything to happen this time." No one-not even Machon-would be allowed in Schmeling's kitchen; the trusted chef from Germany bought and prepared all the fare.

The old debate over Schmeling's character raged anew. On one side were those who considered him dignified and decent, courageous and gentlemanly, while others demonized him as Hitler's pet. "This fellow isn't a sportsman," wrote Lester Rodney of the Daily Worker, Daily Worker, which was, predictably, harder on Schmeling than was any other paper. "He is an outspoken representative of the perverted, bestial nationalism and race hatred fanned by the oppressors of the real German people to hide their bloody war against all progressive humanity." The American Communist press speculated that if Schmeling lost, perhaps some sexual crime of his would be discovered, as had happened to von Cramm, or that Hitler would decide that excessive exposure to weak democracies had sapped him of his Teutonic strength. Either way, a concentration camp was the best he could expect. which was, predictably, harder on Schmeling than was any other paper. "He is an outspoken representative of the perverted, bestial nationalism and race hatred fanned by the oppressors of the real German people to hide their bloody war against all progressive humanity." The American Communist press speculated that if Schmeling lost, perhaps some sexual crime of his would be discovered, as had happened to von Cramm, or that Hitler would decide that excessive exposure to weak democracies had sapped him of his Teutonic strength. Either way, a concentration camp was the best he could expect.*

As conditions for Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution worsened, some reporters grew impatient with Schmeling's gripes about past American mistreatment. "Look, Max, you're a nice guy and we all like you a lot and admire the way you keep in shape, etc., but let's not have any more of this complaining about how you're being jobbed," wrote a Boston columnist. "Because it could be a lot worse. You might have been born a Jew in Germany and then, no doubt, you'd have been glad to be one of us." In a letter sent to Speculator, a Brooklyn prosecutor asked Schmeling whether he supported the extermination of Jewish life in Germany. There was no way to keep politics out of the prefight publicity. "If this dirty nigger Joe Louis dares to beat our Max Schmeling, we'll kill him," some Bundists told the Amsterdam News. Amsterdam News. (The Bund denied the accusation, calling it "an old Jewish trick to put our organization on the spot.") Two days before the fight, a federal grand jury in New York indicted eighteen Germans on espionage charges. (The Bund denied the accusation, calling it "an old Jewish trick to put our organization on the spot.") Two days before the fight, a federal grand jury in New York indicted eighteen Germans on espionage charges.

Some thought Schmeling seemed more burdened than before. The last time he fought Louis, expectations were low and he had nothing to lose, while now he was the uncrowned champion and a national idol. Others found him more cocksure than ever, "under orders to speak arrogantly and to carry on the tradition of his home government that victories can be won by sweeping assertions of determination and power," wrote Heywood Broun. Schmeling avoided discussing Louis. "He's willing to gab about food, wild life, ornithology, architecture, golf, sculpture, books, but mention of Louis or the fight is pretty much taboo," one reporter noted. Told of Louis's vow to win in two, Schmeling feigned indifference. "He made his prediction. Let him have his fun," he said. "It used to be that Louis's opponents did all the talking before a fight, and he just did like this," he continued, putting on a glum, pouting face. Nor was he concerned that everyone, the referee and promoter included, wanted him to lose. All he needed was his right hand, and no one could deprive him ofthat.

By Saturday, June 18, the rematch was only five days away. Detroiters held a going-away party for Dorothy Darby, a black aviatrix-perhaps the only black woman in the world with a pilot's license-bound for Pompton Lakes. Her cargo included a petition of support for Louis with 100,000 signatures attached, along with letters from the governor of Michigan, the mayor of Detroit, and Louis's mother. "May the best man win, for you are the best," she'd written. Louis reportedly tucked it into his shirt pocket and read it again and again. That same Saturday, four thousand fans crammed into Pompton Lakes. Many got in for nothing, after ripping their suits on the barbed-wire fence installed after freeloaders stormed the place the week before. On Sunday, hundreds had to be chased off the roof of the indoor gymnasium for fear it would collapse. The spectacle, with celebrity guests and smaller fry from Lenox Avenue tenements "attired in regalia that made Hollywood look positively dowdy and the clubhouse lawn at Santa Anita seem drab and colorless... could happen nowhere else in America and might not happen again," one southern reporter wrote. His afternoon's labors done, Louis, along with his bodyguard and Blackburn, left the camp for a while, hoping the crowd would disperse. But when they returned a few hours later, a thousand people still awaited him.

While he proved a bigger draw than ever, Louis's boxing was still confounding. On Saturday, he was completely unimpressive. After counting half a dozen clean shots to Louis's jaw, Bill Cunningham of the Boston Post Boston Post called him "as wide open as Boston Common." But on Sunday, Louis dazzled everyone. This time, his people promised, there would be no pussyfooting around for the newsreels. "You can bet all the marijuana in Harlem he won't be klieg-conscious," the called him "as wide open as Boston Common." But on Sunday, Louis dazzled everyone. This time, his people promised, there would be no pussyfooting around for the newsreels. "You can bet all the marijuana in Harlem he won't be klieg-conscious," the Brooklyn Eagle Brooklyn Eagle wrote. "His title is on the line. And it's worth more than movie money." Louis was adamant that the referee not stop the fight; he'd shown he could take a licking, and he wanted to see if Schmeling could, too. Louis was so sharp on Sunday that Blackburn gave him Monday off. That morning, while three hundred laborers began assembling the ring and placing thousands of seats on the Yankee Stadium infield, Louis did only a bit of roadwork. In Speculator, enormous crowds watched Schmeling wrap things up. In wrote. "His title is on the line. And it's worth more than movie money." Louis was adamant that the referee not stop the fight; he'd shown he could take a licking, and he wanted to see if Schmeling could, too. Louis was so sharp on Sunday that Blackburn gave him Monday off. That morning, while three hundred laborers began assembling the ring and placing thousands of seats on the Yankee Stadium infield, Louis did only a bit of roadwork. In Speculator, enormous crowds watched Schmeling wrap things up. In Liberty Liberty magazine, Schmeling now predicted another deliberate, methodical fight. "I think in our first round we will feel each other out," he wrote. After that, nothing much would happen right away; he would just wait for Louis to make his usual mistakes, then shoot over a right hand and beat him. magazine, Schmeling now predicted another deliberate, methodical fight. "I think in our first round we will feel each other out," he wrote. After that, nothing much would happen right away; he would just wait for Louis to make his usual mistakes, then shoot over a right hand and beat him.

Betting was sporadic, and a bit hesitant. "Harlemites who daily risk 600 to 1 odds on the numbers were skeptical about supporting Louis at 9 to 5," wrote Ted Poston in the Post. Post.

An astrologer noted that Schmeling had beaten Louis the last time just as Pluto was setting, and Pluto was now due to set again between 9:24 and 9:32 p.m. Eastern time. Jack ("Wrong Again") Tulloch of the Alexandria (Virginia) Gazette, Alexandria (Virginia) Gazette, who always picked losers, opted for Louis, leading Lem Houston of the who always picked losers, opted for Louis, leading Lem Houston of the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star to go with Schmeling. "Everything I could beg, borrow, and beg again has been bet on the Brown Bomber," a Harlemite named John McClain told the to go with Schmeling. "Everything I could beg, borrow, and beg again has been bet on the Brown Bomber," a Harlemite named John McClain told the Amsterdam News. Amsterdam News. "I'm therefore picking round one for the end of Herr Moxie." But a Harlem social worker named Guildford Crawford reluctantly disagreed. "I think Schmeling is going to win," he said. "You can't beat the Germans. They win in everything." A couple on West 111th Street argued passionately about the outcome; she heaved a glass pitcher at him, then a pot of boiling water, and was held on $500 bond. At Small's Paradise, 138 people participated in an "Honest Opinion Poll" tacked on the wall. Twelve of them picked Schmeling, but their bravery had its limits: they referred to themselves as, among other things, "Uncle Don," "Dimples," "Popeye," and "Shirley Temple." In Birmingham, Alabama, Mr. O. Kay-listed as "Kay, O.," picked Schmeling. A Kansas City police captain who'd guessed every heavyweight winner since 1892 went for Schmeling. So, too, on a radio station in Memphis, did a Welch's Grape Juice executive. "I think he will whip the nigger again," he said. Blacks whose churches used the drink during communion promptly announced they would boycott the company. "I'm therefore picking round one for the end of Herr Moxie." But a Harlem social worker named Guildford Crawford reluctantly disagreed. "I think Schmeling is going to win," he said. "You can't beat the Germans. They win in everything." A couple on West 111th Street argued passionately about the outcome; she heaved a glass pitcher at him, then a pot of boiling water, and was held on $500 bond. At Small's Paradise, 138 people participated in an "Honest Opinion Poll" tacked on the wall. Twelve of them picked Schmeling, but their bravery had its limits: they referred to themselves as, among other things, "Uncle Don," "Dimples," "Popeye," and "Shirley Temple." In Birmingham, Alabama, Mr. O. Kay-listed as "Kay, O.," picked Schmeling. A Kansas City police captain who'd guessed every heavyweight winner since 1892 went for Schmeling. So, too, on a radio station in Memphis, did a Welch's Grape Juice executive. "I think he will whip the nigger again," he said. Blacks whose churches used the drink during communion promptly announced they would boycott the company.

A numbers man from Detroit bet $25,000 that Louis would win before the eighth. Louis boosters in Harlem posted placards inviting Schmeling fans to make bets, or went to Yorkville to find them. (They might have found some action in Berlin, where the betting for Schmeling was two to one, and Louis money, understandably, was scarce.) Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr., had $20 riding on Schmeling. Doris Duke placed a very small part of her fortune on Louis. Toots Shor put $5,000 on him. One fight veteran insisted that politics, and sentiment, had warped the wagering: half the experts favored Schmeling, he said, but Jews had lengthened the odds by refusing to bet on him. In a pool at his local saloon, Joseph Mitchell of the World-Telegram World-Telegram bought three chances at fifty cents apiece; all turned out to be for Schmeling. But he refused to bet on him, and traded one of them, Schmeling in the eleventh round, for Louis in the first. Mike Gold of the bought three chances at fifty cents apiece; all turned out to be for Schmeling. But he refused to bet on him, and traded one of them, Schmeling in the eleventh round, for Louis in the first. Mike Gold of the Daily Worker Daily Worker had wanted to bet on Louis, but in his circle, no one would take Schmeling. So he bet a dollar that when Schmeling did lose, he would cry "Foul!" "A young Christian Science lady, who wants to hold beautiful thoughts about even the meanest of God's creatures, took the other side of the bet," he wrote. had wanted to bet on Louis, but in his circle, no one would take Schmeling. So he bet a dollar that when Schmeling did lose, he would cry "Foul!" "A young Christian Science lady, who wants to hold beautiful thoughts about even the meanest of God's creatures, took the other side of the bet," he wrote.

The last time they'd squared off, Louis in one round seemed like a good bet. "Come early and don't drop your program," one paper had advised in 1936. But despite Louis's grand pronouncements, bookmakers were betting ten to one against a first-round victory now. In an office pool in Charlotte, North Carolina, a man who drew Louis in the first tossed his ticket disgustedly on the floor. A Memphis man offered to bet his restaurant on Louis, against $3,500 for Schmeling. Marva put up $15, picking her husband in the fourth. In a daily feature called "Joe or Max? Max or Joe?" the World-Telegram World-Telegram asked celebrities for their picks. On the Yankees, Tommy Heinrich, Frank Crosetti, and Joe DiMaggio picked Louis, while Lou Gehrig and Red Rolfe chose Schmeling. George Halas of the Chicago Bears picked Louis, who, next to Bronco Nagurski, he said, "hits harder than any man alive." Dizzy Dean and Henny Youngman picked Louis. So did Edgar Bergen, but Charlie McCarthy picked Schmeling. Robert Taylor picked Schmeling, but Amos and Andy picked Louis. When Babe Ruth picked Schmeling, the odds against the German fell. That the Bambino was making his debut coaching first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers would normally have dominated the sports pages, but not now. "Now, let's see," wrote Lester Rodney of the asked celebrities for their picks. On the Yankees, Tommy Heinrich, Frank Crosetti, and Joe DiMaggio picked Louis, while Lou Gehrig and Red Rolfe chose Schmeling. George Halas of the Chicago Bears picked Louis, who, next to Bronco Nagurski, he said, "hits harder than any man alive." Dizzy Dean and Henny Youngman picked Louis. So did Edgar Bergen, but Charlie McCarthy picked Schmeling. Robert Taylor picked Schmeling, but Amos and Andy picked Louis. When Babe Ruth picked Schmeling, the odds against the German fell. That the Bambino was making his debut coaching first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers would normally have dominated the sports pages, but not now. "Now, let's see," wrote Lester Rodney of the Daily Worker Daily Worker the day before the fight. "Babe Ruth and - oh, hell, tomorrow's the night and that's all there is in sports until it's over." the day before the fight. "Babe Ruth and - oh, hell, tomorrow's the night and that's all there is in sports until it's over."

In a technological breakthrough, NBC tracked down eight former heavyweight champions and put them on the air simultaneously two nights before the fight. Jim Jeffries in Los Angeles, Jack Johnson in New York, Jess Willard in Lawrence, Kansas, and Jack Dempsey in Philadelphia all picked Schmeling (though at other times and to other reporters Dempsey either picked Louis or hinted at a draw); Tommy Burns in Seattle, Jack Sharkey in Boston, and Max Baer in New York picked Louis. In Stamford, Connecticut, Gene Tunney remained on the fence, though leaning slightly toward Louis. The two champions the network couldn't corral, Jimmy Braddock and Primo Carnera, each picked Louis in an early round.

Jimmy Powers of the Daily News Daily News pushed to have Joe Jacobs reinstated because, he wrote, Louis already enjoyed all of the advantages: a friendly referee (the man who'd officiated at most of Louis's fights in New York, Arthur Donovan, would likely work this one, too); friendly boxing commissioners; a promoter who had every reason to be friendly because he effectively owned him; and a friendly gallery. "Because there has been a revolting pandering to racial prejudice, poor Max has been blamed for all Hitler atrocities from Vienna to Cologne," Powers wrote. "The crowd definitely will be biased." pushed to have Joe Jacobs reinstated because, he wrote, Louis already enjoyed all of the advantages: a friendly referee (the man who'd officiated at most of Louis's fights in New York, Arthur Donovan, would likely work this one, too); friendly boxing commissioners; a promoter who had every reason to be friendly because he effectively owned him; and a friendly gallery. "Because there has been a revolting pandering to racial prejudice, poor Max has been blamed for all Hitler atrocities from Vienna to Cologne," Powers wrote. "The crowd definitely will be biased." (Collyer's Eye (Collyer's Eye took the conspiracy one step further. While Schmeling had spurned $50,000 to take a dive, it claimed, "it is understood the 'proper arrangements'" had been made for Louis to win. "The cards are stacked against Schmeling," it added two weeks later. "Jacobs and his Mob, who won't stop at anything to retain their hold on the heavyweight championship, can be expected to resort to various means in order to be assured that Schmeling will not be returned the winner. Jacobs again may beat Schmeling for the world's heavyweight championship.") Though Powers's colleagues were far more divided than they'd been the last time around, a majority of them still backed Louis. Two of Louis's greatest champions, Dan Parker and Lester Rodney of the took the conspiracy one step further. While Schmeling had spurned $50,000 to take a dive, it claimed, "it is understood the 'proper arrangements'" had been made for Louis to win. "The cards are stacked against Schmeling," it added two weeks later. "Jacobs and his Mob, who won't stop at anything to retain their hold on the heavyweight championship, can be expected to resort to various means in order to be assured that Schmeling will not be returned the winner. Jacobs again may beat Schmeling for the world's heavyweight championship.") Though Powers's colleagues were far more divided than they'd been the last time around, a majority of them still backed Louis. Two of Louis's greatest champions, Dan Parker and Lester Rodney of the Daily Worker, Daily Worker, foresaw the shortest fight: Louis in three. Others, convinced Louis had slipped, predicted he would eke out a decision. Some picking Schmeling did so with reservations; a single mistake, wrote one, and the German would be "as stiff and cold as a stalactite." Others, who thought the deck was stacked for Louis, thought Schmeling needed a knockout, and Bill Cunningham of the foresaw the shortest fight: Louis in three. Others, convinced Louis had slipped, predicted he would eke out a decision. Some picking Schmeling did so with reservations; a single mistake, wrote one, and the German would be "as stiff and cold as a stalactite." Others, who thought the deck was stacked for Louis, thought Schmeling needed a knockout, and Bill Cunningham of the Boston Post Boston Post thought that's what he'd get. "Herr Hitler has our title," he predicted glumly. thought that's what he'd get. "Herr Hitler has our title," he predicted glumly.

Al Monroe picked Louis in nine-or sooner, if he abandoned bobbing and weaving and reverted to "the Joe Louis of old." Walter White had Louis in seven. Louis would normally win in five, wrote Mabe Kountze in the Boston Chronicle, Boston Chronicle, but the fix against him was in; Schmeling would win, thereby setting the stage for another natural: Schmeling against Baer, German against (supposed) Jew, for the title. Only one reporter at the but the fix against him was in; Schmeling would win, thereby setting the stage for another natural: Schmeling against Baer, German against (supposed) Jew, for the title. Only one reporter at the Daily Worker Daily Worker picked Schmeling, and only because he felt that given what awaited any loser in Nazi Germany, he was essentially fighting for his life. "There are a few things of which we may be reasonably certain," wrote Wilbur Wood of the picked Schmeling, and only because he felt that given what awaited any loser in Nazi Germany, he was essentially fighting for his life. "There are a few things of which we may be reasonably certain," wrote Wilbur Wood of the Sun. Sun.

That Schmeling will be jabbed early and often; that Louis will be tagged at least once by Schmeling's right to the jaw; that Arthur Donovan will referee; that Louis will be the betting choice, probably at 11 to 5 ringside; that Announcer Harry Balogh will introduce the fighters with only a few million words; that Joe Jacobs will have the longest cigar in the Stadium; that photographers jumping up to take pictures will block others' views of the ring as soon as something happens that all wish to see; that Louis will not tear out of his corner swinging with both hands at the opening bell.

"The fight may not go more than six," wrote Jack Troy of the Atlanta Constitution. Atlanta Constitution. "But I think you could safely bet your shirt that it won't, as Louis says, end in one." "But I think you could safely bet your shirt that it won't, as Louis says, end in one."

Box-Sport polled seventeen German experts; all picked Schmeling (while acknowledging that because he was really taking on an entire country, he could never win on points, and would have to knock Louis out). The polled seventeen German experts; all picked Schmeling (while acknowledging that because he was really taking on an entire country, he could never win on points, and would have to knock Louis out). The Angriff Angriff offered 200 marks to the first person to pick the winner and the round. Four German correspondents in New York differed only on when Schmeling would win. A cartoon in the sports magazine offered 200 marks to the first person to pick the winner and the round. Four German correspondents in New York differed only on when Schmeling would win. A cartoon in the sports magazine Der Kicker Der Kicker showed a large-lipped Louis in bed, dreaming of victory. "Joe Louis has a big mouth once again ... which was stuffed by Maxen's iron fist before," it stated (using a variation of Schmeling's nickname), suggesting Louis faced a second helping of humiliation. A leading Roman newspaper forecast that Louis would keep his pledge to come out swinging. "On this point we can agree with the presumptuous Negro: that he will combat like a beast, with sheer, brute, savage force," showed a large-lipped Louis in bed, dreaming of victory. "Joe Louis has a big mouth once again ... which was stuffed by Maxen's iron fist before," it stated (using a variation of Schmeling's nickname), suggesting Louis faced a second helping of humiliation. A leading Roman newspaper forecast that Louis would keep his pledge to come out swinging. "On this point we can agree with the presumptuous Negro: that he will combat like a beast, with sheer, brute, savage force," Il Popolo d'Italia Il Popolo d'Italia declared. "And for this reason also we desire Max Schmeling's triumph, because boxing, a combat sport, must also represent the fusion of force with intelligence." But that was a hope, not a prediction. declared. "And for this reason also we desire Max Schmeling's triumph, because boxing, a combat sport, must also represent the fusion of force with intelligence." But that was a hope, not a prediction.

On the morning of June 22 in Germany, fight stories had to vie with reports of Goebbels's speech the previous day to 120,000 fanatical followers in Berlin's Olympic Stadium, in which he pledged to drive the Jews out of the capital. In many cities, Schmeling got higher billing, sometimes even crowding the propaganda minister off the front page. "150 Million Will Listen to the Schmeling-Louis Bout Tonight," the Berliner Zeitung am Mittag Berliner Zeitung am Mittag proclaimed. A photograph of a smiling Schmeling ran next to the newspaper's logo. "We'll keep our fingers crossed, Maxe!" ran the caption. If millions of hearts were beating for Maxe tonight, the proclaimed. A photograph of a smiling Schmeling ran next to the newspaper's logo. "We'll keep our fingers crossed, Maxe!" ran the caption. If millions of hearts were beating for Maxe tonight, the 8 Uhr-Abendblatt 8 Uhr-Abendblatt declared, it was out of gratitude for his service to the Fatherland. Schmeling was "full of confidence without bragging like the Negro," proclaimed the declared, it was out of gratitude for his service to the Fatherland. Schmeling was "full of confidence without bragging like the Negro," proclaimed the Frankische Tageszeitung Frankische Tageszeitung of Nuremberg, which boasted that already "America's boycott Jews" had been knocked out. of Nuremberg, which boasted that already "America's boycott Jews" had been knocked out.

Schmeling spoke periodically to Germany while training, either in print or on the air, promising not to disappoint the Heimat Heimat and thanking it for its loyalty. "To feel that the homeland is standing behind me will make me twice as strong," he said in one interview. "W.G."-probably the boxing promoter Walter Gratenau-shared with readers in Hamburg the telegram Schmeling had sent him. "Have correct fighting weight and feel like I'm in top shape STOP," it read. "Will box Louis as opportunities arise without fixed plan STOP Didn't notice anything of a Jewish boycott or hostile mood against mein America STOP Blacks and Jews are against me STOP All others have a fair attitude STOP No incidents in the training camp STOP American press by and large stayed neutral STOP Believe the referees will be correct STOP If the temperature tomorrow is like today I'll be fine STOP Don't think Joe Louis is stronger in this fight than in the last STOP." The and thanking it for its loyalty. "To feel that the homeland is standing behind me will make me twice as strong," he said in one interview. "W.G."-probably the boxing promoter Walter Gratenau-shared with readers in Hamburg the telegram Schmeling had sent him. "Have correct fighting weight and feel like I'm in top shape STOP," it read. "Will box Louis as opportunities arise without fixed plan STOP Didn't notice anything of a Jewish boycott or hostile mood against mein America STOP Blacks and Jews are against me STOP All others have a fair attitude STOP No incidents in the training camp STOP American press by and large stayed neutral STOP Believe the referees will be correct STOP If the temperature tomorrow is like today I'll be fine STOP Don't think Joe Louis is stronger in this fight than in the last STOP." The Berliner Volkszeitung Berliner Volkszeitung reminded readers to set their alarms; maybe, it said, everyone could go back to sleep after a few minutes. reminded readers to set their alarms; maybe, it said, everyone could go back to sleep after a few minutes.

As vital as boxing was in Nazi culture, as important as Schmeling had become to the German psyche, as much as Germany coveted the heavyweight crown, some activities couldn't cease; persecuting the Jews mattered even more. Even as the fight loomed, teams of Nazi marauders fanned out through Berlin, beating Jewish shop owners, smashing their windows, defacing storefronts. Every third store along the Kurfurstendamm had "Jude" "Jude" painted on it. Outside a jewelry store, a Western reporter heard the "screams of terror" of a Jewish man set upon by "one of the Jew-hating gangs." "The crowd closed in, and the screams were shortly changed to moans," he wrote. "In Jewish homes there is a fresh pang of anxiety whenever the bell rings, or there is a screeching of brakes outside the house and the sound of heavy footsteps." The reports found their way into New York's papers, intercepting readers en route to the sports pages. One reporter called Germany's Jews "a doomed people," and noted that a prominent Nazi had already called for their extermination. painted on it. Outside a jewelry store, a Western reporter heard the "screams of terror" of a Jewish man set upon by "one of the Jew-hating gangs." "The crowd closed in, and the screams were shortly changed to moans," he wrote. "In Jewish homes there is a fresh pang of anxiety whenever the bell rings, or there is a screeching of brakes outside the house and the sound of heavy footsteps." The reports found their way into New York's papers, intercepting readers en route to the sports pages. One reporter called Germany's Jews "a doomed people," and noted that a prominent Nazi had already called for their extermination.