Billy Conn talks his best boxing in the basement, where the retired fighter raps his knuckles on the boxers, blondes, politicians and comedians on his walls in a half-century of photographs.
Most show Conn posing with celebrities like Rocky Marciano, Jayne Mansfield, George Bush and Bob Hope. But perhaps the most gripping show Conn and Joe Louis fighting 50 years ago Tuesday for the world heavyweight title in one of boxing`s most memorable bouts.
”I knew I could have beat him. I could fight anyone,” Conn said.
The scrappy Irishman, now 73, and the Brown Bomber are framed in sepia tones alongside all the show biz. Conn, who had just taken Louis` hard right to his left ear, points his toes and collapses to the mat before some of the 55,000 fans at the Polo Grounds in New York.
The referee counts Conn out and Louis keeps his title. It was the night the seemingly hyperactive Conn outboxed Louis for 12 rounds by alternately circling, darting, jabbing and staying away.
When the 12th ended, Conn raised his right hand in a fist to the crowd like he`d already won the fight. But in the 13th he wanted a knockout against the advice of his trainer, Johnny Ray, who told him to protect the lead.
Conn opened himself up too much and Louis stole the fight back with several blows to Conn`s head and the knockout two seconds before the bell.
