Born in Alabama in 1914, Joseph Louis was the seventh of eight children born to Munroe and Lillie Barrow. Louis began boxing at the age of 15 and turned professional in 1934. Nicknamed "the Brown Bomber", Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time. 

Louis enlisted in the U.S. Army following the Attack on Pearl Harbor, while still the reigning Heavyweight Champion of the World. He was placed into the Special Services Division, where he performed roughly 100 exhibition matches for service members. Louis fought in boxing bouts at USAAF bases across England throughout 1944. The programme for his match at Bushy Park included the following biography:

'Since being in the Army, Joe Louis has been giving exhibition boxing for the benefit of his buddies stationed in camps in the U.S and U.K. While Joe has been built up as a champion of the ring, he is like any other GI sweating it out until he can get back home to his wife and baby girl in the good old U.S.A.!'

Joe Louis returned to the ring after the way and reigned as champion until his temporary retirement in 1949, defending his title a record 25 consecutive times. Joe Louis died in 1981 at the age of 66 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. In 1982, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.