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267 S Lightner Road
Port Clinton,
OH 43452
All
About
Joe
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Steve Stein
Contributing
Writer
I
S
tuart Kirschenbaum did a
double-take when he read the
emailed invitation asking him
to be a guest speaker.
The invitation came from the
Detroit Drunken Historical Society.
The group wanted him to talk about
the history of boxing in the city during
one of its monthly meetings.
The meeting was at a bar, of course:
Thomas Magee's Sporting House
Whiskey Bar in Detroit's Eastern
Market.
The former Michigan boxing com-
missioner (1981-1992) and boxing
historian took up the group on its
offer, even though he was scheduled
for hernia surgery the next day. It was
a wise decision.
"That was the best audience I've
ever had for a talk about boxing in
Detroit:' he said.
"I was supposed to speak for 30 or
40 minutes, and it ended up being an
hour-and-a-half. I didn't prepare any-
thing. I just told stories, talking about
my relationships with people like Joe
Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and the
Kronk Gym family. It was like come-
dian Alan King giving a speech.
"People in the group come from all
walks of life, and they're passionately
interested in the history of the city.
They just happen to meet at bars and
restaurants:"
Kirschenbaum said Thomas McGee's
was crowded and noisy when he got
there on a Thursday night earlier this
month. His speech was a sellout, with
150 attending.
"I thoroughly enjoyed the experi-
ence. And they want me to come
back:' he said.
Kirschenbaum was thrilled to find
other people who share his passion for
the history of boxing in Detroit.
"There are too many people who
live in our area who think Joe Louis
is the name of the arena, not a boxer:'
he said. "It's the same for the Lodge
Freeway and Cobo Arena. These places
were named for real people who are
part of our history:'
Did you know the Detroit Naval
Armory on East Jefferson Street is
where Louis had his first amateur fight
in 1934 at age 17? He was knocked
down seven times in two rounds by
1932 Olympian Johnny Miller from
Los Angeles.
Kirschenbaum can fill you in on the
Feed the animals and enjoy fun shows!
Stuart Kirschenbaum wearing his
"Bomber" jacket.
details of that bout.
Even though the Palace of Auburn
Hills isn't in Detroit, Kirschenbaum
will tell you that was where George
Foreman began his second comeback
with a fight Sept. 10, 1988. It was the
first event held in the facility built by
the late Bill Davidson.
A former light-heavyweight amateur
boxing champion, Kirschenbaum has
judged more than a dozen title fights,
and he won the 1993 Sports Illustrated
Joe Louis Award and 2010 Joe Louis
Brown Bomber Jacket Award.
He became the caretaker for Martha
Louis, Joe Louis' widow, after find-
ing her in an area nursing home. Her
family didn't know where she was. She
died in 1991 at age 78.
As founder and president of the
Michigan Boxing Hall of Fame,
Kirschenbaum continues to work on
providing it with a permanent home.
He was inducted into the Michigan
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2009
and was president of the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation.
It's been a little more than a year
since Kirschenbaum, a podiatrist, lost
his office on Grand River Avenue in
Detroit to a fire that was set after a
murder-suicide in the building. A man
burned down the Park Medical Center
and killed himself in April 2013 after
killing his ex-girlfriend.
Kirschenbaum had worked there for
30 years. The unmatched collection of
Joe Louis memorabilia he stored there
was destroyed.
The collection included the left box-
ing glove Louis wore when he scored
a first-round TKO of Nazi Germany
poster boy Max Schmeling in 1938 at
Yankee Stadium. The right glove still
exists. It's part of the Brown Bomber
collection at Cobo Arena.
Kirschenbaum now has an office in
the New Center area in Detroit and is
still involved in boxing as the state's
boxing commissioner emeritus and spe-
cial adviser to the governor on boxing
issues. He was appointed to the post in
June 2013 by Gov. Rick Snyder. ❑
Please send sports news to
sports@thejewishnews.com .
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July 24 • 2014
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