How Racist Car Dealers KO’d Joe Louis A never-before-published tranche of letters reveals the white-collar racism that prevented the world’s most popular athlete from selling Fords.

Joe Louis rolled into Detroit with his entourage days after he defeated Primo Carnera at Yankee Stadium. His unannounced arrival disrupted Mayor Frank Couzens’ plans for a big public gala. The ...

As Randy Roberts wrote in Joe Louis: Hard Times Man, "Attempts to recover the money between 1951 and 1962 made Louis' life a financial hell. Agents wrote him letters and called him on the phone.

Joe Louis was a titan, the undisputed heavyweight boxing champion for more than 12 years (with a record 23 title defenses) and probably the greatest American hero of the 20th century.

On his 100th birthday (he was born May 13, 1914, in Alabama), LIFE celebrates the man known to several generations as the 'Brown Bomber.' ...