Max Schmeling is a German heavyweight boxer who managed to triumph over Joe Louis and a few years later lose his rematch. The fate of the boxer was everything: crazy fame and the title of the symbol of the nation, successful business, accusations of cooperation with the Nazis, helping Jewish friends during the war.
True Aryan: An Exemplary Biography
The full name of the famous boxer is Maximilian Adolf Otto Siegfried Schmeling. He was born in 1905 in one of the small German towns, brought up in the most ordinary family. From an early age he decided on a vocation - boxing became him. The young man had excellent data: an exact blow, a grip, the ability to quickly mobilize in the ring and take into account the enemy's weaknesses.
Speaking in heavyweight, Max quickly scored points. Fateful was his victory over American Jack Sharkey in 1930. The young boxer received the title of athlete of the year according to the magazine "Ring". Journalists, and after them the audience called Max "Siegfried" and "Black Lancer of the Rhine." The athlete was recognized as a model of a true Aryan, his image was actively used by Nazi propaganda. Bumblebee and his wife Annie were at seclusions and the highest ranks of the Reich, including the Fuhrer himself.
Particular importance was attached to the victory of 1936. In a duel with illustrious Joe Louis, Max won by knockout in the twelfth round. Direct broadcasting was intensely watched by the whole of Germany. The Nazis attached particular importance to this victory: the “model Aryan” defeated the star of American boxing, and besides black. Against the backdrop of the victorious offensives of fascist Germany, this was not just a sporting achievement, but a political act.
Tipping rematch
In 1938, a new match took place, in which Schmeling was knocked out at the very beginning. The result of the duel was again perceived as a political victory, but this time democracy managed to triumph over the fascist regime. Germany took the defeat of the “model Aryan” as the greatest humiliation. His name disappeared from the front pages of newspapers.
Schmeling himself took the result of the match philosophically. During his sports career, he spent 70 fights, 56 of them won, and 40 victories were won by knockout. Max later admitted that thanks to the victory of Louis, he did not manage to become a puppet in the hands of the regime and allow him to earn dividends on his behalf. The famous boxer held his last fight after the war ended, in 1948.
