Boxing Guide: Every World Heavyweight Champion between 1885-2024

Max Schmeling, 1930-1932

Every Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Photo via YouTube

German boxer Max Schmeling held the heavyweight title between 1930-1932. Interestingly enough, he won the belt by disqualification after his opponent Jack Sharkey knocked him down with a low blow.

Schmeling’s two fights with American champion Joe Louis, in 1936 and 1938, were massive cultural events because of their national associations. In the 1938’s ”Battle of the Century” the Yankee Stadium crowd threw garbage at the German boxer.

”Looking back, I’m almost happy I lost that fight,” Schmeling said in 1975. ”Just imagine if I would have come back to Germany with a victory. I had nothing to do with the Nazis, but they would have given me a medal. After the war I might have been considered a war criminal.”