Photograph: Courtesy of the New York Yankees

As we lament its impending demise, it’s worth remembering Yankee Stadium, River Avenue at 161st Street, has a place in sports history besides just being the House That Ruth Built. Starting in the 1920s, the stadium played host to a number of high-profile boxing exhibitions, with a ring placed over second base. The most famous of these was on June 22, 1938, when African-American heavyweight Joe Louis took on German pugilist Max Schmeling, whom Hitler had widely touted as a paragon of Aryan superiority. With 70,000 fans in the stands (and the world listening on radio), the Brown Bomber knocked out the Teutonic titan in the first round—after a mere two minutes and four seconds. Schmeling complained of illegal kidney punches, but Louis had struck a decisive blow against bigotry both here and abroad.

—Dan Avery

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