Not so noble art of boxing. Just released DVD tells the film of lucrative deal surrounding Joe Louis’ first heavyweight title win

He was one of the greatest boxing heavyweights of all time successfully defending his title 25 times for more than ten years. But early on in his career Joe Louis found himself up against an unofficial colour bar that had kept black boxers out of title contention.
Twenty years earlier, Jack Johnson’s reign as the first black heavyweight champion had outraged white America and even led to race riots.But in the murky world of boxing, the colour of money works wonders. Louis secured his first shot at the richest prize in the sport by agreeing to a deal that kept the man he defeated – James Braddock – ¬in clover for the rest of his life.
This was that Braddock would receive 10 per cent of Louis’ rings earnings if Louis became champion. The older Braddock put up a good fight but went on to be knocked out in the 1937 showdown. But he and his manager could not n their wildest dreams have predicted that Louis would go on to defend the title 25 times in 11 years, netting them a total of $1.5m – £30m today – until Louis retired undefeated in 1949.