Joe Louis was the trailblazing boxer who had become the hero of black American communities across the U.S.A during the 1930s. Max Schmeling was the German heavyweight with ties to the very top of the Nazi Party. 

At first glance, their two-fight series can be seen as a clash between good and evil. It was the champion of liberty from the “shining city on the hill” against the brutal antagonist from the regime more synonymous with racism and intolerance than any other in history; a real-life manifestation of Captain America against the Red Skull. Yet the truth is much more complex, and significantly more interesting. 

Louis’ relationship with boxing fans and authorities within the U.S.A had created an identity far more complex than one underpinned by the two-dimensional patriotism espoused by Captain America, and Schmeling was far from an unstinting advocate for an evil ideology.

In this, the first episode of The Way We See Sport, The Way We See Life, the podcast which seeks to use sport as a window through which to investigate political, social and historical events, we explore the complicated relationship that each boxer had with their respective country. It is a tale of sporting rivalry, political betrayal, social tension and, ultimately, unexpected friendship. The narrative reveals a far more nuanced picture of the norms under which American society operated in the inter-war period, and serves as a reminder of the fact that “German” is not necessarily a synonym for “Nazi” when considering the Third Reich in the 1930s. 

Louis vs Schmeling is a sporting story that transcends the boxing ring, and exposes the flaws in any attempt to reduce a multi-layered sporting rivalry to a simplistic cartoon duel.