Boxing: Would Conn really have beaten Louis?

It remains, sixty years later, a heavyweight championship bout steeped in fistic lore.

It is a conversation piece for boxing historians, for spirited barroom debate and worthy subject matter for feature articles in The Ring Magazine.

At a time when America was on the precipice of war and Pearl Harbor was less than six months away, the first Joe Louis-Billy Conn title bout remains entrenched in the top five Heavyweight Title clashes of the 20th Century. The contest has become mythical, and the argument that Conn had Louis beaten and had merely to stick and move for nine minutes to secure the championship via a decisive-points win has been widely, yet not universally, accepted. It is not uncommon in the recital of historically significant bouts that some embellishment takes place.

The Jack Dempsey-George Carpentier bout was born of the romance of the unforgettable 20's. Dempsey, the bearded slacker who had yet to earn the enduring popularity and ultimate adoration he would enjoy in his older years. Carpentier, a World War I War hero in France and a stylish puncher, made a poignant contrast of the era.

From a fistic vantage point, the match was borderline ridiculous. Carpentier had no chance. Tex Rickard asked Dempsey to carry the Frenchman for a few rounds to give the million dollar crowd at Boyle's Thirty Acres their moneys worth.

Dempsey speared the challenger a few times in the opening heat and permitted Carpentier to take the offensive on occasion. Emboldened, Carpentier did catch the titleholder unawares with a stunning right hand lead early in round two, then followed up with a quick barrage that had Dempsey briefly covering up. The recital of the second round of the Dempsey-Carpentier bout had Dempsey badly staggered and on the brink of a knockdown and Carpentier on the brink of taking the championship back to France.

Of course, nothing was farther from the truth. Carpentier caught the champion flush and briefly stunned him. Dempsey took his challenger seriously enough in round three to pound his body for three solid minutes and drop him twice, the final time for the count at 1:19 of the fourth round.

The historical narrative of the first Conn-Louis encounter had Jack Blackburn telling Chappie that "You got to knock him out to win" after Conn had badly staggered Louis in the twelfth canto and gave him a thorough lacing to boot.

Prior to that Conn had edged out in front from the eight round on after absorbing a walloping during the early rounds and again during the sixth and part of the seventh.

Make no mistake, the Light Heavyweight Champion absorbed punishment from Louis. It was his compelling self confidence, hand speed and determination that kept him in the bout until he forced the tide to turn in his favor and moved into the final three rounds with the title within his grasp.

After twelve rounds Conn was ahead. He was winning the fight. Louis was baffled and confused, and beginning to take a beating.

There remains a minority of boxing historians who contend that, contrary to the accepted argument that Conn was nine minutes away from dethroning Louis, that Louis could have halted Conn any time he wanted to and was in no serious jeopardy of being unseated.

Louis was in jeopardy. He knew it and, most importantly, his sage trainer Jack "Chappie" Blackburn knew it. Louis' reign was about to enter its death rattle. Only Conn's insistence on trying to KO Louis instead of being satisfied with capturing the most prestigious championship in all of sports via the points route saved the Brown Bomber from the certain loss of his championship. It was the Light Heavyweight Titleholder's "Conn-fidence," combined with incredibly poor judgment, and a corner that did a less than satisfactory job of keeping their charge focused on the enormity of the task at hand, that snared defeat from the jaws of victory. Conn entered the ring as an 18 to 5 underdog and was widely expected to be blasted out of the big ballpark with more force than one of Joe DiMaggio's legendary Stadium clouts. Conn saw himself in the light of Max Schmeling during the latter phases of Schmeling's first KO triumph over Louis, in total control of the bout with a KO outcome in his favor inevitable.

However, Schmeling was a heavyweight, indeed a former titleholder, with a legitimate knockout punch in his right cross and the experience and durability to finish the job. Conn was safely embarked upon the only possible route to victory over Louis. Box and punch, stay away from Louis' heavy artillery and continue to dazzle the increasingly frustrated and plodding Louis. Even after Louis landed the brutal short right uppercut that snapped Conn's head back midway through the 13th round and started the Irishman toward his KO defeat at 2:58 of the round, Conn had an opportunity to recover. Had he not retaliated, had he instead went into retreat and cleared the cobwebs, he would have survived the round and been in a strong position to split the final two rounds and earn the championship.

It was foolish of Conn to believe he could have challenged Louis' jackhammer punches and stopped the great champion. He was going to win the heavyweight championship of the world. Louis knew it, Jack Blackburn knew it and the big crowd at Yankee Stadium knew it as well.

However, Loius could count on Conn to "Get Fresh" and permit his reach to exceed his grasp. Had Conn continued to fight the fight he did in rounds 10 through 12 there was little the titleholder could have done to avert the outcome. Louis' tried and true talent of cutting the ring in half and demolishing a challenger was not serving him well against Conn, and fatigue and frustration were destined to make Louis desperate as the bout moved into the 14th and 15th rounds.

No degree of revisionist thinking can alter the fact the Louis was going to be defeated that long ago night at Yankee Stadium. Conn cost himself the heavyweight championship in an act of carelessness and foolish pride on the greatest night he ever saw. He was en route to an 8-6-1, 8-6-1, 9-5-1 verdict had he kept his head stayed the course.

What path would history have taken had Conn defeated Louis? A certain return bout, probably within a year and a repeat of Louis-Schmeling II with a focused and finely honed Louis walking through Conn in three rounds.

The Brown Bomber's place as arguably the greatest heavyweight champion of all time -- 25 titles defenses and a dozen year reign atop the heavyweight division is beyond debate. The outcome of Louis-Conn I is not! Conn had Louis beaten and got careless.

Case closed!