Joe Louis and Max Schmeling– young and old. Please note that both photos are reproductions, not original.

A display for the Joe Louis lover or the Max Schmeling lover. They're 2 bouts came at the height of tensions between the United States and Germany just prior to World War II. Max Schmeling won the first fight in 1936 and Joe Louis won the second in 1938. Although they were not friends, they did keep in touch and Max Schmeling was kind enough to contribute to the funeral expenses when Joe Lewis died without enough money to pay for the funeral.

As a side note, Joe Lewis was indebted to the IRS for a number of years, despite the fact that he had fought two exhibition matches and contributed the entire curse to both the Army and the Navy. This is a good example that there are only two things that are certain in life in the United States: death and taxes.