Posted on 02/04/2005 7:34:20 AM PST by nuconvert
Boxing Legend Max Schmeling Dies at 99
Friday, February 04, 2005
FRANKFURT, Germany — German heavyweight boxer Max Schmeling (search), whose bouts against American Joe Louis (search) set off a propaganda war between the Nazi regime and the United States on the eve of World War II, has died at age 99.
The former world champion, one of Germany's biggest sports idols, died Wednesday at his home in Hollenstedt, according to his foundation in Hamburg. No cause of death was given.
Schmeling's extraordinary career will be remembered for his two fights with Louis, which produced a lasting bond between the two boxers despite the politically charged atmosphere surrounding the bouts.
Born Sept. 28, 1905, of humble origins in a small town in the state of Brandenburg, Schmeling first got interested in boxing after seeing a film about the sport.
He became the first German — and European — heavyweight world champion when he beat Jack Sharkey (search) in New York on June 12, 1930, after the American was disqualified for a fourth-round low blow.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
During the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Schmeling extracted a promise from Hitler that all U.S. athletes would be protected.
He hid two Jewish boys in his Berlin apartment during Kristallnacht (search) in 1938, when the Nazis burned books in a central square and rampaged through the city, setting synagogues on fire.
Reportedly, Schmeling also used his influence to save Jewish friends from concentration camps.
Farewell to a good German, he had great courage.
I talked to a German while in grad school who claimed to have been in the paratroopers with him. He claims that they needed an extra big parachute for his jumps, and that he had to leave the Ju52 sideways. Maybe he was joking, hm?
He was from another era. My dad was born in 1906.
This story confirms the fact that boxing kills!
Unbelievable! I thought he was as dead and gone as Joe Lewis. What a life: '36 Olympics to Fallschirmjager service in WWII. Even if he was a lightening rod for anti-Nazi sentiment here, the guy was quite outstanding in his time.
That's right! Young people should be warned that if they want to live 100 years they must never box.:)
I knew Max Schmeling as a boxing legend. I didn't know that about him. Truly a big man.
Red6
Apparently a man of great physical AND moral courage. May he rest in peace.
A good and noble man, caught up in circumstances beyond his control (i.e. Nazi Germany). Rest in peace Max.
Ditto...I thought he was long gone. I was unaware of the risks that he took outside the boxing ring. Rest in peace, Max.
RIP for a guy who had guts enough to stand up to Hitler.
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