HBO Pays Tribute to Boxing Great Joe Louis
Joe Louis by Bettmann/Corbis/HBO
HBO pulls no punches with Saturday's documentary
Joe Louis: America's Hero... Betrayed (Feb. 23, 8 pm/ET). Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, insisted not only on the last word in the title, but on having the last word about boxing's legendary Brown Bomber.
Greenburg says he "just sat on the story" for years while others produced their own documentaries and films about Louis. "No one seemed to get it right," he says. "No one really dove any deeper and exposed the IRS and the American government and how they hounded him almost to the day he died."
Betrayed begins with the familiar tale of how Louis became a symbol of black pride. He was the first African-American athlete to be embraced by white America after defeating Nazi Germany's Max Schmeling in 1938 for the world heavweight title. After championing the rights of black soldiers in World War II, Louis fell behind on his taxes. The IRS refused to let up on him, putting him on the financial ropes. During his final years, Louis worked as a greeter for a Vegas casino. He died in 1981 at age 66.
Louis' son, Joe Louis Barrow Jr., admits the word "betrayed," is not one he would have chosen, but it does fit: "They treated him in a very demeaning way, but he still felt that this was the greatest country in the world."
Barrow says some viewers will be surprised to discover that Louis also fought to integrate professional golf. In 1952, he was one of the first African-Americans to compete in a PGA-sanctioned event. Now his son is executive director of
The First Tee, a junior golf program. Barrow said it's important that Louis be recognized as a pioneer in more than just boxing. "Many people criticized my father for not being more vocal in the civil rights movement," he says, "but I think that without question, he did what he thought he could do in the forums and the areas that he thought he could make the most contributions."
