Fight Night 1939

By all measures, 5’ 8” Tony Two Ton Galento stood no chance when he stepped into the ring against the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, the finest heavyweight of his generation.

Galento predicted, "I'll moida da bum," and lifted him from the canvas with a single left hook and entered the record books as one of the few men to put the great Louis down. A paloooka, a thug, a vibrant appetite of a man, Galento, the consummate underdog, scored some points for underestimated little guys everywhere. He had scrapped his way out of the streets and into the brightest light of American life, where he took his best shot.

The powerful, disciplined, dignified Louis, who thrilled boxing fans with his prowess and inspired millions of Americans, but especially Black Americans during the Jim Crow era, would ultimately gather himself and take Galento apart. It was a rousing display of determination and courage for both men, who emerged from their combat with respect for the other.

Joe Monninger's inspiring portrait of two men, a moment, and an era reminds us that sometimes it is through effort, exceeding expectations and beating the odds, that people can most enduringly define themselves.

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