Joe Louis vs Bob Pastor 2

Making the eighth defence of his world heavyweight title, Joe Louis retained the championship by knocking out Bob Pastor 38 seconds into the eleventh round of their scheduled 20-round contest at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, on September 20, 1939. It was Louis’s second victory over the clever New Yorker, whom he had outpointed over ten rounds at Madison Square Garden in January 1937. Pastor had not been knocked down in that first meeting and his ability to remain on his feet while avoiding much of Louis’s heavier punishment helped secure him another opportunity. This time the champion settled the matter conclusively, although not before Pastor had survived five knockdowns and carried the fight considerably farther than seemed possible during its opening minutes.

Louis weighed 200 pounds, giving away none of his customary strength, while Pastor came in at 183. The challenger’s plan was plain: he intended to keep moving, change direction and make Louis follow him, using his left hand while avoiding prolonged exchanges. Pastor was a capable boxer with good legs, but Louis immediately denied him the time and distance required. The champion advanced behind a measured left jab and, once Pastor was within range, released his punches with the shortness and accuracy that had already disposed of most of the leading heavyweights of the period.

The first round was almost a complete contest in itself. Louis closed upon Pastor before the challenger could settle into his stride and floored him four times. Pastor tried to move along the ropes and turn away from the champion’s right hand, but Louis cut off his retreat and struck with both hands to the head. Each time Pastor rose, showing considerable courage and presence of mind, only to find Louis waiting for him. The champion did not waste his punches or rush wildly after the finish. He kept Pastor under pressure, placed his feet and drove him down again. That Pastor reached the bell after four visits to the canvas was a considerable feat of endurance, though it appeared merely to have postponed the inevitable.

Pastor was down for a fifth time in the second round. Once more he regained his feet and, rather than attempting to answer Louis punch for punch, returned to the tactics which had enabled him to last ten rounds in their first encounter. He moved continually, circled away and tied Louis up when the champion came close enough to work with both hands. Pastor’s recovery was remarkable. Having been on the floor five times inside six minutes, he survived the remainder of the second round and gradually restored some order to his boxing. Louis remained in command, but the swift conclusion expected after the opening assault did not arrive.

From the third round onward the contest became more deliberate. Pastor stayed mobile and made full use of the ring, occasionally darting in with a jab or a quick combination before moving beyond return range. He was not carrying sufficient weight in his punches to discourage Louis, but his evasiveness prevented the champion from mounting another sustained attack. Louis followed patiently, probing with the left and waiting for Pastor to remain still long enough for the right hand. At times the challenger’s movement made the action untidy, but it was sensible work from a man whose principal task had become survival. He had learned in the first round what happened when he remained directly in front of the champion.

Through the middle rounds Pastor continued to box with determination. He slipped some of Louis’s leads, clinched when trapped and did enough with his left hand to prevent the rounds from becoming entirely one-sided. Yet he was fighting a defensive battle throughout. Louis dictated the ground on which the contest was fought and obliged Pastor to spend much of his strength moving away from danger. The champion was unusually restrained after his violent beginning. He did not throw punches merely for the sake of activity and was content to stalk his challenger, knowing that Pastor’s legs could not carry him safely through 20 rounds. There were no further knockdowns between the third and tenth, but the threat of Louis’s right hand remained over every exchange.

Pastor entered the eleventh having survived far beyond the point suggested by his disastrous start, but his resistance ended almost as soon as the round began. Louis manoeuvred him into range and drove a right hand to the jaw. The punch landed cleanly and dropped Pastor for the sixth and final time. There was no recovery on this occasion. Referee Sam Hennessey completed the count with only 38 seconds of the round elapsed, giving Louis his 40th victory in 41 professional contests and another successful defence of the championship. No scorecards were required, although any reckoning through ten rounds could scarcely have outweighed the five knockdowns Louis had already registered.

The promotion attracted 32,199 paying customers, with 1,669 complimentary admissions raising the total attendance to 33,868. The gross receipts were $347,870, from which a net gate of approximately $296,000 was reported, while radio rights brought a further $17,500. Louis received $118,400 and Pastor $51,800. Pastor had justified his standing as a leading challenger by recovering from the first-round punishment and extending the champion into the eleventh, but he had never been in a position to win the fight. Louis had first overwhelmed him, then pursued him without haste and finally ended matters with a single, accurately delivered right hand.

When I watch Joe Louis against Bob Pastor, what strikes me is the champion’s patience. Louis dropped Pastor four times in the opening round and again in the second, yet he never lost his shape trying to force the finish.

That was the difference between a top professional puncher and a chancer relying on power. Louis placed his shots accurately, kept his feet underneath him and remained ready to strike again.

Pastor had already lasted ten rounds with Louis in 1937, and he was an awkward, intelligent heavyweight who understood how to survive. After that dreadful start, he got back on his toes, changed direction and tied Louis up whenever the distance closed.

Plenty would have folded, but Pastor recovered and dragged the contest into the eleventh. That deserves respect, although he was surviving rather than threatening to take the championship. Louis calmly tracked him, used his left hand to measure the range, and let Pastor spend himself.

Thirty-eight seconds into the eleventh, the right hand landed cleanly and finished it. People remember Louis for the knockouts, but his balance, patience and punch selection made them possible. He did not chase Pastor around looking for one big shot. He controlled the ring and closed the show when the opening appeared.