Octavius
04-02-2005, 20:04
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GERMAN boxing legend Max Schmeling, who won renown for his upset victory over the previously invincible Joe Louis and his defiance of Adolf Hitler, has died aged 99.
The former world heavyweight champion passed away on Wednesday and was buried in his home state of Lower Saxony on Friday, the Max-Schmeling foundation said. A memorial service in Hamburg is being planned.
Among the tributes that poured in at the news, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed his sadness of Schmeling's passing and said: "He was a star, and yet fame never went to his head.
"Schmeling distinguished himself through his sense of fair play, his modesty and his irreproachability," Schroeder said, but added that the sportsman was still able to stay "free from any airs and graces."
The president of the national Olympic Committee, Klaus Steinbach, described Schmeling as "one of the century's greatest sporting heroes."
"With him we have lost one of the biggest, if not the biggest, leadership figures in sport," he said.
Born on September 28, 1905 in Klein-Luckow, eastern Germany, Schmeling was the first German boxer to become a unified world champion.
He turned pro in 1924 at the age of 19, won the then European 175-pound title in 1927 and the German heavyweight crown before moving to the United States.
Once there, his victories over Johnny Risko and Paolino Uzcudun moved him up to number two in the world rankings and earned him a shot at the heavyweight title.
He grabbed the belt left vacant after Gene Tunney retired by beating the American Joe Sharkey on June 12, 1930.
But it was the first-ever beating inflicted on Louis, the Brown Bomber, at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1936 that won him world renown, although he lost the re-match in 1938.
The defeat did little to harm his popularity in Germany and Schmeling retired on October 31, 1948 with a record of 56 victories, 40 by knock out, four draws and 10 losses.
However the boxer was almost as much of a legend outside the ring as in it.
Hitler tried repeatedly to get him to join the Nazi party and use him as a propaganda tool, but Schmeling refused and was eventually forced to join the army.
The Nazis tried to exploit his victory over Louis, a black boxer considered the greatest man at his weight to have ever stepped into the ring, as proof of white physical superiority.
Schmeling's generosity and modesty earned him respect in Germany and abroad. During the war, he visited prisoner of war camps holding Allied troops and handed out photographs to inmates.
He never outwardly opposed Nazism but nor was he a slave to it.
During the infamous Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, when synagogues and Jewish interests were attacked, he hid the brother of his Jewish friend Henry Levin and helped him escape to the United States.
Schmeling also gave financial help to Louis, who later became destitute, and set up a five million-euro (6.5 million-dollar) foundation to help charity groups and retired boxers in need.
After contracting pneumonia in 1998, he spent most of his time on his property in Hollenstedt, northern Germany around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Hamburg.
"With the loss of Max Schmeling, Germany has lost an impressive human being," said President Horst Koehler. "We will not forget him."
"Hamburg mourns Max Schmeling," said Ole von Buest, the mayor of the northern port city.
"His success as a world heavyweight boxing champion, his international reputation as a sportsman, an idol, will not be forgotten. Up until his death he was loved world wide and is an irreplaceable sporting and human role model."
GERMAN boxing legend Max Schmeling, who won renown for his upset victory over the previously invincible Joe Louis and his defiance of Adolf Hitler, has died aged 99.
The former world heavyweight champion passed away on Wednesday and was buried in his home state of Lower Saxony on Friday, the Max-Schmeling foundation said. A memorial service in Hamburg is being planned.
Among the tributes that poured in at the news, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed his sadness of Schmeling's passing and said: "He was a star, and yet fame never went to his head.
"Schmeling distinguished himself through his sense of fair play, his modesty and his irreproachability," Schroeder said, but added that the sportsman was still able to stay "free from any airs and graces."
The president of the national Olympic Committee, Klaus Steinbach, described Schmeling as "one of the century's greatest sporting heroes."
"With him we have lost one of the biggest, if not the biggest, leadership figures in sport," he said.
Born on September 28, 1905 in Klein-Luckow, eastern Germany, Schmeling was the first German boxer to become a unified world champion.
He turned pro in 1924 at the age of 19, won the then European 175-pound title in 1927 and the German heavyweight crown before moving to the United States.
Once there, his victories over Johnny Risko and Paolino Uzcudun moved him up to number two in the world rankings and earned him a shot at the heavyweight title.
He grabbed the belt left vacant after Gene Tunney retired by beating the American Joe Sharkey on June 12, 1930.
But it was the first-ever beating inflicted on Louis, the Brown Bomber, at Madison Square Garden in New York in 1936 that won him world renown, although he lost the re-match in 1938.
The defeat did little to harm his popularity in Germany and Schmeling retired on October 31, 1948 with a record of 56 victories, 40 by knock out, four draws and 10 losses.
However the boxer was almost as much of a legend outside the ring as in it.
Hitler tried repeatedly to get him to join the Nazi party and use him as a propaganda tool, but Schmeling refused and was eventually forced to join the army.
The Nazis tried to exploit his victory over Louis, a black boxer considered the greatest man at his weight to have ever stepped into the ring, as proof of white physical superiority.
Schmeling's generosity and modesty earned him respect in Germany and abroad. During the war, he visited prisoner of war camps holding Allied troops and handed out photographs to inmates.
He never outwardly opposed Nazism but nor was he a slave to it.
During the infamous Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, when synagogues and Jewish interests were attacked, he hid the brother of his Jewish friend Henry Levin and helped him escape to the United States.
Schmeling also gave financial help to Louis, who later became destitute, and set up a five million-euro (6.5 million-dollar) foundation to help charity groups and retired boxers in need.
After contracting pneumonia in 1998, he spent most of his time on his property in Hollenstedt, northern Germany around 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Hamburg.
"With the loss of Max Schmeling, Germany has lost an impressive human being," said President Horst Koehler. "We will not forget him."
"Hamburg mourns Max Schmeling," said Ole von Buest, the mayor of the northern port city.
"His success as a world heavyweight boxing champion, his international reputation as a sportsman, an idol, will not be forgotten. Up until his death he was loved world wide and is an irreplaceable sporting and human role model."