Presented is a Joe Louis cut signature, from the World Heavyweight Champion from 1937 until the temporary retirement of Louis in 1949. Louis held the World Heavyweight Championship over 25 consecutive challenges, more than any boxer, in any weight class, in history. Joe Louis was the first African American to be a national sports hero in the United States. Louis suffered his first professional loss on June 19, 1936, to German Max Schmeling at Yankee Stadium. Louis first won the World Heavyweight Championship in 1937 with an 8th round KO of James J. Braddock, at Chicago's Comiskey Park. One of the world's biggest fights occurred on June 22, 1938, when Louis defeated Max Schmeling. The German boxer was supported with public relations from Germany's Nazi regime, although Schmeling was never a Nazi himself. Louis won the fight with a 1st round TKO at Yankee Stadium. After retiring in 1949, Louis had to give up his World Heavyweight title, and a boxing comeback went poorly, ending in Louis' final bout, an 8 round TKO to Rocky Marciano in 1951. 

The Louis cut signature is on a piece of paper or thin card stock measuring 3x3.5". Louis scripted a neat, black fountain signature. The cut signature has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA CERTIFIED "AUTHENTIC AUTO" (65101013). The cut signature is in EXCELLENT condition.