Joe Louis
Joe Louis was born Joseph Louis Barrow on May 13, 1914 in Alabama, and his family moved to Detroit in 1926. He turned professional in 1934 and, on June 22, 1937, he knocked out James J. Braddock to win the world heavyweight title. He held it until 1949, the longest reign of any boxer in history, with 25 consecutive title defenses. In 1938 he beat Max Schmeling in a rematch that lasted just over two minutes, and the fight became a focal point of anti-Nazi feeling in the United States.
Of the more than $4.6 million Louis earned in the ring, he received only about $800,000, and then came the taxes. In 1942 he fought charity bouts for military relief funds – he saw none of the roughly $90,000 raised – but the IRS later counted that money as taxable income paid to him. By May 1950 an audit put his bill at more than $500,000 with interest and penalties, so he came out of retirement. Basically, the 90% tax rate on his purses meant the debt grew faster than he could pay it, and by the end of the 1950s he owed over $1 million. In the early 1960s the IRS agreed to limit its collections to an amount based on his income.
His comeback ended when Rocky Marciano knocked him out on October 26, 1951, and he retired for good. Louis died on April 12, 1981, and President Reagan waived the usual eligibility rules so he could be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In 1993 he became the first boxer to be honored on a US postage stamp.
Note
There have been a couple of times in which I was late filing tax returns and thereby late paying taxes. Thanks to President George Bush senior and Joe Louis, the IRS was kindler and gentler. As a result, they were more agreeable in resolving the problems over time without much abuse.
Contains 11 spots: own 11 – 11 unused, 0 used.
Page is finished.
Album or Web Page Last changed Mar 7, 2025
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
✓ |
2747 |
29c (feb 1993) |
|||
✓ |
2754 |
29c (apr 1993) |
Famous Americans
✓ |
2749 |
29c (mar 1993) |
|||
✓ |
2746 |
29c (jan 1993) |
|||
✓ |
2766 |
29c (jun 1993) |
|||
✓ |
2755 |
29c (apr 1993) |
United Nations & Other Nations
✓ |
2804 |
29c (nov 1993) |
Intnl. University Games
✓ |
2748 |
29c (feb 1993) |
Columbus’ Expeditions - Quintennial
✓ |
2805 |
29c (nov 1993) |
Other
✓ |
2783 |
29c (sep 1993) |
|||
✓ |
2784 |
29c (sep 1993) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
