The public celebration of his claimed Jewishness dated back to his fight in 1933 against a German, Max Schmeling.

ECONOMIST: Professional boxing

However there had been doubts the fight would happen after Farr came under pressure from the British Boxing Board of Control to instead fight German boxer, Max Schmeling.

BBC: Tommy Farr: Boxer who fought his way out of pits

It was co-written by myself and a Detroit journalist friend, Jon Pepper, as a specific look at a 1930s span when Louis lost to the popular Max Schmeling to whites' delight, only to transform into a red-white-and-blue hero in their eyes, triumphing in the rematch against a German example of so-called white supremacy.

CNN: The Jackie Robinson biopic and me