Description
Max Schmeling
Alias Black Uhlan of the Rhine
Record: 56-10-4
39 KOs 5 KOs
Division: heavy
Bouts: 70
Career: 1924-1948
Debut: 1924-08-02
Nationality: Germany
Residence: Brandenburg, Germany
Birth place: Klein Luckow, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Born: 1905-09-28
Died: 2005-02-02 (Age 99)
In America, he was routinely cast by promoters as the cold-hearted, villainous invader, a puppet of Hitler and a hater of Jews. In Germany, Nazi propagandists portrayed him as a heroic symbol of German destiny and Aryan supremacy. In no way was Schmeling any of these things. He was a quality prizefighter with respectable boxing technique, a solid right hand punch, and a keen intellect. The clash of politics, ideals, and countries that often symbolically accompanied his biggest fights only took place within the perceptions of the audience; they had nothing to do with what happened in the ring. Instead of being respected for his multiple accomplishments in the ring, he spent much of his life derided in America as a Nazi and dismissed in Germany as a disappointment. It was only in his later life that his status as a fighter, apart from his cultural symbolism, could be clearly analyzed.
Categories: World Heavyweight Champions | German World Champions |World War II Veterans |IBHOF Members |World Boxing Hall of Fame Members | Actors |The Ring Magazine Champions
