Sometimes an idea - even when it’s such a silly little thing - gets in your head and you can’t shake it until you’ve found out the details. I’ve spent most of a lifetime not knowing the answer to this one and when it popped into my head again I pursued it until I was satisfied. A farm sets between Leonard and Highway 46 and people would always tell me as we drove past that that is where Charley Retzlaff lived, he fought Joe Louis. But that’s where the stream of information would end, no one seemed able to add to it. So a visit to the Heritage Center was in order for some research. Retzlaff was indeed a heavyweight fighter who compiled a lifetime record of 61 wins and 8 defeats; 52 of his victories were by knock-outs. He did fight the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, on January 17, 1936 and was knocked out after one minute and 25 seconds of the first round.
The fight gained the attention of sports writers, and a number of articles appeared in the Fargo Forum regarding it. This headline appeared on January 4: Louis adding weight for go - Bomber figures to scale 203 in Retzlaff tiff; then on January 8: Retzlaff-Louis fight will pack Chicago Stadium. With that headline three pictures of Retzlaff appeared making him look like a hayseed. The caption said Rancher Retzlaff, preparing for Louis fight Jan. 17 shows he can do a few things around N D farm. The first pictured him climbing a windmill, the second standing with a pitchfork in his hand and chewing a piece of straw, the third forking hay to cows tied up in their stanchions.
That article gave the first hint that Charley was not expected to win when it said “Retzlaff due to drag down something like $15,000, which if one is thumped around a bit, is soothing salve for bruises.” It went on to say that three rounds were the likely limit. “Here are the condemned man’s last words: ‘I am going to fight Louis like I hunt. I am going out and try to bring him down. Boxing him is suicide.’”
January 9: Probably for the purpose of fooling several of Retzlaff’s spies, the Brown Bomber turned in a poor drill Tuesday.
January 18: Retzlaff goes down gamely under barrage by Louis. Bomber ends it in first - North Dakotan is down twice in brief Chicago encounter. The article went on to say that they found a fighter game enough to slug with Joe Louis, but not anywhere good enough to keep the spectacular Brown Bomber from achieving his 23rd and quickest KO triumph. The victim was strapping Charley Retzlaff from the North Dakota wheat country . . . And on January 20 a photo appeared captioned: Joe Louis lands -- and so does Retzlaff.
The fight grossed $67,826 with Louis earning 40% of the take and Retzlaff getting 17 ½ % or $11,869.67. A heavy snowfall began two hours before the bout which affected the size of the crowd. Of course, it’s always boring to just read about it when you can watch it, so go to YouTube.com and type in Joe Louis vs. Charley Retzlaff and see the fight.
