Max Schmeling was born on September 28, 1905, in Klein Luckow, German Empire. His full name is Maximillian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling and he became the heavyweight champion of the world in 1930, holding the title until 1932. Schmeling won the heavyweight world championship title through disqualification after his opponent, Jack Sharkey, hit him with a low blow that left Schmeling unable to continue the fight. Until today, Max Schmeling is the only Heavyweight World Champion to have won the title in such a manner. Throughout his professional boxing career, Schmeling had a record of 70 fights with 56 wins, 10 losses and 4 draws. Out of his fifty-six wins, forty were by knockout.
Max’s controversy
There was a lot of controversy surrounding Max Schmeling, because of his nationality and the time in which he fought. Schmeling had two matches in the late 1930s with Joe Louis. These fights became worldwide social events due to the fact that Louis was American and Schmeling was German. Likewise, Schmeling was supposedly associated with Nazism, because of his nationality. Long after World War Two, this issue was cleared. It became known to the public that in 1938, Schmeling had risked his life to save two Jewish children. This cleared the suspicions that Schmeling was associated with Nazism. Shmeling supported the efforts of the German government to soothe over the negative world view of Germany and its policies throughout the 1930s. The boxer became an elite paratrooper as a member of the German Air Force.
Max’s titles
Max Schmeling held a number of titles throughout his career. Between 1926 and 1928, he held the German lightheavyweight championship title. He later became the European Lightheavyweight Champion in 1927, holding the title until 1928. From 1930 to 1932, Schmeling was the World Heavyweight Champion. Towards the end of his career, Schmeling held the European heavyweight championship title between 1939 and 1943.
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