Joe Louis vs Tommy Farr

Joe Louis made the first defence of the world heavyweight championship against Tommy Farr at Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 30, 1937, nine weeks after knocking out James J. Braddock for the title. The contest had been postponed for four days because of rain. Louis weighed 197 pounds and Farr 204, and the champion entered the ring a 5-to-1 favourite before an official attendance of 36,903. Farr, the British and Empire champion from Wales, had earned his opportunity by defeating former world champion Max Baer. He was regarded as strong and experienced but unlikely to withstand the punching which had stopped eight of Louis’s previous nine opponents.

Farr showed no apprehension at the opening bell. He moved directly towards Louis, sent out a double left jab and worked both hands to the body. His method was to keep the champion occupied, crowd the space Louis needed to deliver his full power, and bring the right hand over Louis’s low left. Farr maintained the attack in the second, landing hooks and occasionally reaching the champion with his right. Louis remained watchful rather than hurried. He began finding the distance with his jab and marked Farr beneath the eyes, opening damage which required attention from the challenger’s seconds.

The Welshman continued to advance through the early rounds and made Louis fight at a pace the champion had not expected. Farr did not possess the finishing power of Max Schmeling, but he was physically strong and willing to take risks. On one occasion a solid blow drove Louis back against the ropes. Thereafter the champion defended more carefully, ducking, rolling away from the right and catching punches on his arms. Louis had the more economical technique and the cleaner jab, while Farr compensated with activity and persistence. The fifth was a hard round for the challenger as Louis’s straight punches and short counters found their mark, but Farr recovered to make a strong showing in the sixth.

Louis produced his sharpest sustained attack in the seventh. As Farr came forward, the champion struck him with a rapid sequence of uppercuts and short blows, landing perhaps half a dozen punches in quick succession. Farr’s face was already cut and becoming heavily marked, yet he remained upright and answered rather than seeking refuge in a clinch. There were no knockdowns at any stage of the contest. In the eighth, Farr enjoyed one of his best moments when a clean left reached Louis and brought the crowd to its feet. Louis later acknowledged that the challenger had hurt him twice during the fight.

Farr’s performance had now changed the atmosphere inside the stadium. Spectators who had expected a brief defence began to consider an upset. Farr continued pressing in the ninth, but the effort required to stay close to Louis was beginning to tell. The champion regained firm control in the tenth and eleventh through his jab. He kept Farr at the required distance, struck him as he entered and made fewer unnecessary exchanges. Farr still attacked whenever Louis paused, but his output was becoming less consistent, and the accumulated blows had left blood around his eyes.

The challenger tired during the closing rounds, though he repeatedly summoned another attack when a stoppage appeared possible. Louis did not fight with the destructive accuracy he had shown against Braddock, but he remained composed and continued scoring with the straighter punches. Farr’s defence depended heavily upon toughness, movement of the upper body and his ability to smother Louis at close quarters. It was effective enough to carry him beyond the point at which most observers had expected the contest to end, but it could not prevent the champion from building a lead through cleaner and more frequent scoring.

Farr fought the fifteenth with urgency, knowing that his best prospect rested in forcing a decisive finish. He went after Louis and attempted to draw him into an exchange, but the champion refused to oblige. Louis boxed carefully on the counter, avoiding the challenger’s heavier swings and attempting a right uppercut to the body which missed. Both men were standing at the final bell, Farr badly marked but still advancing, and Louis having completed 15 rounds for only the second time in his professional career.

The unanimous verdict went to Louis. Referee Arthur Donovan recorded a margin of 13 rounds to one, Kid McPartland scored nine rounds to six, and Charley Lynch eight to five. Contemporary accounts differed slightly in recording the even rounds, with an Associated Press report listing Donovan’s card as 13-2, McPartland’s as 10-5 and Lynch’s as 8-4-3. The Associated Press itself scored the bout eight rounds to five for Louis, with two even. Whatever the precise tabulation, all three officials and the principal press score favoured the champion.

There was considerable booing when the decision was announced, much of it prompted by the unexpected sight of Farr finishing on his feet and still fighting. Further confusion arose when Donovan took hold of the challenger’s glove after the bell, apparently intending to congratulate him, and momentarily gave the impression that Farr’s hand was being raised in victory. The referee quickly corrected the misunderstanding. Farr accepted the result without formal protest, though the breadth of Donovan’s card was questioned more readily than the identity of the winner.

The promotion took gross receipts of $265,753.11, with Louis receiving $112,987.52 and Farr a guaranteed $60,000. Louis had retained his championship without distinction but with sufficient command to deserve the decision. Farr had not matched him in accuracy or control over the full distance. Yet, he had forced the champion through 15 demanding rounds, hurt him, and survived punches which had removed more celebrated heavyweights. He returned from the contest without the title but with a reputation greatly enlarged by the most important performance of his career.

Sharing Farr’s surname has always made this fight personal to me, although I’ve researched the family line and there’s no relation. Still, Tommy did himself and British boxing proud in New York. He wasn’t expected to hear the final bell against a young Joe Louis, never mind make the champion uncomfortable for long periods.

Farr’s success came from refusing to freeze. He crowded Louis, worked the body and brought his right hand over the champion’s jab. He was cut and badly marked, but he kept forcing Louis to think. That took serious courage because Louis was probably the most precise heavyweight finisher boxing has seen.

I don’t believe Farr won, despite the boos and later mythology. Louis landed the cleaner punches and deserved the decision, though referee Arthur Donovan’s lopsided card was harsh. Farr lost the fight but earned something lasting: respect from an American crowd that had expected him to be flattened.