Obituary: Boxer whose defeat earned immortality

Max Schmeling, heavyweight boxer. Died aged 99.

He will never be remembered as one of boxing's finest world heavyweight champions. Indeed, the contest that earned him fistic immortality was a devastating 124-second knockout defeat at the hands of Joe Louis.

But when Max Schmeling died on Wednesday, aged 99, a piece of Germany died with him.

Schmeling ranks alongside those whose names transcend sport. He was a strapping white athlete who once dined with Hitler. An autographed picture of the Fuhrer even hung in his study.

But in truth he was not a supporter of the Nazi party. On November 9, 1938, when Nazi gangs destroyed 191 synagogues and murdered 91 Jews, Schmeling sheltered two Jewish youngsters in his Berlin flat and helped them to flee.

He also employed a Jewish manager, against Hitler's orders.

Schmeling was used by the Nazis as a symbol of Aryan supremacy. The heavyweight had become a reluctant hero when on June 19, 1936, he travelled to New York and knocked out Louis, the black American who was considered unbeatable. But it is the rematch for which he is best remembered.

By June 22, 1938, Louis had become world champion. A defence against the only man to have beaten him was a promoter's dream. It was a fight that pitted good (Louis and the United States) against evil (Schmeling and Germany), and in the US Schmeling was met by a groundswell of hatred.

The fight was brutal and brief. Louis knocked his opponent down three times in the opening round and hit him in the body with such force that Schmeling screamed.

His cornermen rushed into the ring to spare him further punishment. Louis threw more than 40 punches and each one landed with a sickening thud.

The ending on German radio was silenced and the defeated boxer was carried from the ring on a stretcher.

Returning home after their first contest, Schmeling had been met at the airport by Nazi members; now he cut a lone, battered figure. It was nearly a year before he recovered from his injuries to box on, but his moment in the ring had come and gone.

Schmeling retired in 1948, a former heavyweight champion. He won the title on a controversial disqualification on June 12, 1930. He had a record of 70 contests with 56 wins and 10 defeats.

In retirement, Schmeling shied away from the public eye and became a wealthy businessman.

He never drank or smoked and over the years befriended Louis. When the American died bankrupt in 1981, Schmeling paid for his funeral.

- INDEPENDENT