Joe Louis and Max Schemling were global stars, ferocious foes and ultimately friends in their legendary boxing careers.

For 12 years — longer than any fighter past or present — Joe Louis would be the undisputed king of boxing. So dominant, in fact, that the “Brown Bomber” transcended the stringent racial barriers of ...

Louis dominated his first pro fights, taking on the best in Detroit and Chicago. In June 1935, he beat former heavyweight champ Primo Carnera with a sixth-round TKO. Three months later, he dispatched ...