Max Schmeling

Max Schmeling was a German boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cultural events because of their national associations. Schmeling is the only boxer to win the world heavyweight championship on a foul. He started his professional career in 1924 and went to the United States in 1928, where he became a sensation after a ninth-round technical knockout of Johnny Risko. He became the first to win the heavyweight championship by disqualification in 1930, after opponent Jack Sharkey knocked him down with a low blow in the fourth round. Schmeling retained his crown successfully in 1931 by a technical knockout victory over Young Stribling. In 1933, he married Czech actress Anny Ondra, who remained his wife until her death in 1987. Schmeling lost his title in 1932 to Sharkey by a controversial split decision. In 1936, he knocked out Joe Louis in the 12th round of their first encounter at Yankee Stadium. The fight was seen as a symbolic clash between Nazi Germany and America, although Schmeling himself was not a Nazi and had a Jewish manager. In 1938, he faced Louis again in a rematch that was billed as the "Battle of the Century". Schmeling was knocked out in the first round, which effectively ended his career as a top-level heavyweight. During World War II, Schmeling served with the German Air Force as a paratrooper and was wounded in Crete. He also helped save two Jewish children from the Nazis by hiding them in his apartment. After the war, he became friends with Louis and helped him financially. He also became a successful businessman and a goodwill ambassador for Germany. He died in 2005 at the age of 99, after suffering from pneumonia. He was honored with a state funeral in Germany and praised as a sports legend and a gentleman.