Читать книгу Jacobs Beach. The Mob, the Garden and the Golden Age of Boxing онлайн

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Later that year, Joe joined up. He was spared the chore of killing or dying for democracy, though, and sold war bonds for his country instead, rousing the troops in his stumbling, inarticulate, but sincere way. For the duration, he had one allegedly serious contest, against a guy called Johnny Davis in Buffalo over four rounds. Davis, knocked cold after just fifty-three seconds, could nonetheless tell his grandchildren he once fought Joe Louis for the world heavyweight title because, according to the rules of the New York State Athletic Commission, the champ's title was on the line every time he stepped into a ring. How Davis, who was knocked out nineteen times and lost twenty-one of his twenty-six fights between 1944 and 1946, ever got to share canvas space with one of the finest fighters of all time remains a mystery. And it did Joe's credibility no good at all after his string of one-sided defenses. It did not seem to bother him, though. For Joe, it was business, an interruption to his new obsession, golf.