Max Marek was the only boxer ever to beat Joe Louis. He owned an art and curio shop at 3800 North Sheffield on the southern edge of Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. I took this picture in 1976, a year before Marek died. In the 1930’s he beat Louis in a Golden Gloves bout and won a scholarship to Notre Dame. Most of the paintings in Max’s store were of boxers and religious themes. At the peak of his boxing career, he was ranked among the top ten heavyweight boxers in the world.
