Max Schmeling: German Heavyweight Boxing Champion Dies at 99

Max Schmeling was a German boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1930 to 1932. Born on September 28, 1905, in Klein Luckow, Germany, he turned professional in 1924.

Schmeling won the heavyweight championship by a foul over Jack Sharkey in 1930. In 1936 he knocked out Joe Louis in 12 rounds, but Louis won their 1938 rematch in 124 seconds. Schmeling refused to join the Nazi party, though the regime used his victories for propaganda.

He was said to have hidden two Jewish boys in his Berlin hotel room during Kristallnacht in 1938. After the war he ran a Coca-Cola bottling business and became a close friend of Louis, helping pay for his funeral. Schmeling died at his home in Wenden, Germany, on February 2, 2005, at age 99.

Achievements: World heavyweight champion (1930-1932), first to beat Joe Louis (1936).

Birth: September 28, 1905 - Klein Luckow, Germany.

Profession: Boxer.

Interesting Facts: He lived to 99 and outlived Joe Louis by nearly 24 years.