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    Broun's Page: Louis and Lewis

    By Heywood Broun

    The Nation
    February 6, 1937
    Vol. 144, No. 6, P. 156

  1. One of the products of the American genius for organization is the prize-fight game. Of course, industry would be a better word. Boxing flourishes in some other countries and we imported it from England, but no other nation has ever devised anything to match the ballyhoo which is put on here in preparation for an encounter. It seems to me that the newspapermen assigned to cover the sport are among the most talented of reporters. The average managing editor in handling his forces uses his brightest workers for baseball and for boxing. Floods and strikes are covered by the second stringers.

  2. Any ambitious youth on a newspaper welcomes the assignment to the sports department. His pay is likely to be higher, and he will have more space and a greater amount of freedom from interference. Occasionally there may be such a thing as paper policy in regard to some promoter or club owner, but there are fewer sacred cows on the diamond or in the ring than graze along the meadows of the world outside.

  3. The result is a somewhat lopsided sort of journalism. A year or so ago an instructor in a Middle Western college tested his class with, "Identify John L. Lewis, Joe Louis, and Sinclair Lewis." Somewhat unfortunately the Negro pronounces his name precisely as the labor leader does, and this was sufficient to cause a great deal of confusion among the students. At any rate, the net result was the discovery that only a small fraction of the class had ever heard of John L., while the recognition of Joe was practically 100 per cent.

  4. To be sure, the president of the United Mine Workers of America has made giant strides in the last few months. His name has been pretty constantly on the front page, and a good many editorial writers seem to be under the permanent instruction. "Begin each day with a denunciation of Mr. Lewis." Nevertheless, I rather suspect that Joe still leads in popular recognition. And that is a pity, because Lewis is actually a far more interesting figure than Louis. Indeed, John L. can even challenge comparison with his rival in the latter's own line of endeavor. The punch which felled Hutcheson was a more important blow than any ever delivered by the "Brown Bomber." I think that Mr. Sloan's best friends ought to warn him that when John L. knocks a man out he stays knocked out. Although more than a year has passed, Hutcheson still appears to be inarticulate and glassy-eyed.

  5. I seem to see preliminary symptoms that American journalism may be coming of age. I am thinking specifically of the interesting case of Paul Gallico. Mr. Gallico was the sports editor of the New York Daily News. He was particularly well known and widely quoted as an authority on prize fights. His post was just about top in his field. A survey revealed the fact that he was the most popular sports writer in New York City. He took a year's leave of absence to devote himself to magazine work, and when he returned everybody was surprised to hear that Gallico had asked to be taken off sports and put on general reporting. Thus while his old companions were down at Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, watching Joe Louis knock out stooges in training, Gallico was in Flint observing the far more interesting battle between John L. Lewis and Kid Sloan, the Harry Greb of fighting tactics in the industrial ring.

  6. It seems to me that Paul has chosen the better part, although I will admit that as yet the crowd at Dempsey's does not say as frequently as of old, "Did you read Gallico today?" That will come in time. We need to be educated. Indeed, we need to unlearn a great deal of persuasive writing which has been set before us every day for a number of years.

  7. One of the curious things about the trade of writing sports is that the practitioners sometimes succeed in fooling themselves. When Schmeling knocked out Joe Louis, he jarred the experts mightily. Almost without exception they had picked Joe to win. Indeed, he had been hailed by many as the super-fighter of all time. Since I was one of those who had joined in the chorus of acclaiming Joe Louis as the outstanding heavyweight of the age, I cannot afford to put on superior airs. My apology must contain the admission that I don't know very much about boxing and that I never did.

  8. To me at the moment Louis is more interesting as a social phenomenon than as a ring technician. In spite of his vast hitting power he is too mechanical in his methods. One feels the hand of his trainer, Blackburn, always upon his shoulder. Joe does what he is told. In person he seems to me to be shy but affable. Of course he had no great opportunities of education in his early life. What native shrewdness he possesses is still debatable. Generally he dodges questions such as those bearing on his attitude toward the Scottsboro case and other vital problems affecting the Negro. As a rule when a sports writer talks with Louis, he deals only in such stock questions as "How do you feel today, Joe?" "Who do you think will win the pennant in the American League?" Or "Have you seen any moving pictures lately?" You can't really figure out a man's I. Q. on any such meager test.

  9. But I do think it is unfortunate that many Negroes in America should have adopted Joe Louis as a hero and to some extent have overlooked the real leaders of the race. John L. Lewis through the organization of Negro workers in the mass-production industries has done more than Joe. Indeed, I ask leave to change my original estimate. I think that Lewis is the greatest heavyweight of our day.