He became the first to win the heavyweight championship (at that time vacant) by disqualification in 1930, after opponent Jack Sharkey knocked him down with a low blow in the fourth round.

[4] He first became acquainted with boxing as a teenager, when his father took him to watch film of the heavyweight championship match between Jack Dempsey and Georges Carpentier.

Ironically, though he idolised the raging, brawling Dempsey, Schmeling developed a careful, scientific style of fighting that lent itself more to counterpunching.

He proved Dempsey's praises correct on 24 August 1926, when picking up the German light heavyweight championship with a first-round knockout of rival Max Diekmann, who had previously beaten Schmeling.

[5] The next year, Schmeling won the European championship by stopping Fernand Delarge in the first boxing match broadcast live in Germany.

Schmeling's debut in America took place at Madison Square Garden with an eighth-round knockout of Joe Monte, who was not a top-flight heavyweight but nonetheless had been in with some tough competition.

With the World Heavyweight Champion Gene Tunney having recently retired, promoters arranged a matchup between the German and veteran contender Jack Sharkey to fill the vacancy.

On 12 June 1930, at Yankee Stadium, in a fight billed as the 'Battle of the Continents,' Schmeling, known as a slow starter, fell slightly behind on points going into the fourth round.

When manager Jacobs ran into the ring, prompting chaos, the referee disqualified Sharkey and declared Schmeling the victor and the first man to win the world heavyweight championship on a foul.

When he initially refused to face Sharkey in a rematch, the NYSAC officially stripped him of their recognition as world champion, but he remained recognised by both the National Boxing Association (NBA) and The Ring magazine.

Most of the criticism faded after Schmeling's first defence, a fifteen-round TKO over Young Stribling, a future hall-of-famer with 239 wins to his credit by 1931.

Many in attendance, including former heavyweight champion Gene Tunney and the mayor of New York, felt that Schmeling had proven himself the better man and was robbed.

Promoter Jack Dempsey played up this angle and suddenly the fight was viewed as Baer defending his faith against the prejudice of the Nazis, represented reluctantly by Schmeling.

The fight, combined with a follow-up loss to contender Steve Hamas early the next year, left many wondering if Schmeling was still a world top-class fighter.

Returning to his native Germany, Schmeling won three of his next four fights, with one draw, including knockout wins over first Walter Neusel, then another avenging his previous loss to Steve Hamas.

However, many among the American press and fans remained unmoved on the idea of rooting for Schmeling in light of the Nazi Party's behavior.

The fight proved to be a competitive, hard-hitting affair for the first three rounds, but, in the fourth, a counter right from the German dropped Louis for the first time in his career.

For a further eight rounds, Schmeling battered Louis, often standing toe-to-toe with the vaunted puncher and landing that same right hand to the jaw repeatedly.

Rumors existed that the fight's organizers were stalling, afraid of the negative publicity that would be generated over a perceived Nazi getting a shot at the world's title.

The Madison Square Garden Corporation, the largest promotional company in the sport at the time, even attempted to get a legal injunction against a Braddock–Louis fight (Louis was not on their roster).

A furious Schmeling protested, but to no avail, and he was forced to watch from ringside as Louis knocked Braddock out and gained the championship.

Sorely disappointed and convinced that he would never receive his chance at redemption, Schmeling fought just once more in America, an eighth-round knockout of future contender Harry Thomas, before returning to Germany.

In his native land, Schmeling was regarded as a hero and promoted by the Nazi propaganda machine as a perfect example of German supremacy over the rest of the world by virtue of his defeat of the current champion, Louis.

He continued to press for a chance at a rematch with Louis and in the meantime padded his record against overmatched fighters Ben Foord and Steve Dudas.

The controversy and ballyhoo led to the event becoming the most anticipated boxing match since the rematch between Dempsey and Gene Tunney, or possibly earlier.

By early 1945, he was spending his time giving exhibition bouts against former British Free Corps member Eric Pleasants in German officers' messes.

[11] After the war, Schmeling settled in Hamburg where in 1947, strapped for money, he embarked upon a moderately successful comeback in boxing, winning three of his five bouts with two point-defeats before re-entering retirement for good in October 1948.

In 2005, Österreichische Post issued a stamp commemorating Max Schmeling, based on the 1926 painting by German artist George Grosz.

In a novel by Curzio Malaparte, Kaputt (1944), Schmeling figures prominently in the chapter "Cricket in Poland" depicting a gathering in February 1942 hosted by Governor-General Dr. Hans Frank in the Belvedere palace in Warsaw.

The series' time travelling protagonists Phineas Bogg and Jeffrey Jones convinced Louis not to back out of the fight and witnessed his victory over Schmeling in Yankee Stadium on 22 June 1938.