Donald Trump set to pardon boxing legend

December 4, 2025 Oliver Obel

Joe Louis the heavyweight great whose victories once united a segregated nation is again the focus of a campaign for federal forgiveness. More than 40 years after his death, supporters are asking President Donald Trump to clear the tax debts that weighed on Louis throughout the final decades of his life.

The request comes at a moment when presidential clemency has become a defining feature of Trump’s second tenure in the White House, which began in January 2025.

According to reporting from outlets including BoxingScene, ABC News, and the New York Post, Trump has already issued a string of high-profile pardons this year. British billionaire Joe Lewis, rapper NBA YoungBoy (Kentrell Gaulden), and TV personalities Julie and Todd Chrisley are among those who have benefited.

A champion whose shadow never faded

Louis reigned as heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, defending the title 25 times a record that still stands. His prominence stretched far beyond boxing: wartime charity bouts, broadcasts heard in Black and white households alike, and his celebrated rematch against German fighter Max Schmeling made him a symbol of national resolve.

But those charity exhibitions, alongside poor financial management and complicated wartime tax rules, eventually left Louis with a crushing IRS debt. By the time he stepped away from the ring in 1949, he reportedly owed the federal government more than $500,000.

He attempted a comeback the next year, facing Ezzard Charles in a bout that drew a surprisingly small crowd at Yankee Stadium and produced only modest earnings. Financial necessity kept him fighting until a 1951 defeat to Rocky Marciano closed his career for good.

“Every dollar he earned”

The personal cost of that debt was revisited at a recent session of the World Boxing Council (WBC) Convention. Frank Garza, a close family friend who has long spoken publicly about Louis’ later years, told BoxingScene that the obligations eventually became “virtually unpayable.” He said IRS collections consumed “every dollar he earned,” leaving little chance for Louis to regain stability.

The pressure endured for decades. Frank Sinatra who had admired Louis since his prime helped arrange a job for him as a greeter at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, offering steady work the champion held until his death in 1981.

A push for recognition, not just relief

WBC attorney Robert Lenhardt told delegates that the organization is asking for more than a financial pardon. He argued that Louis’ contributions to American sports culture, and his role in challenging racial barriers during the 1930s and ’40s, warrant the Presidential Medal of Freedom as well.

Lenhardt said the council is awaiting formal word from the White House and is “hopeful to receive a signed document shortly” regarding its requests.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman called the potential decision “a moment of justice” for a figure whose athletic brilliance was dimmed, but never erased, by the financial burdens he carried.

Sources: BoxingScene, ABC News; New York Post, additional U.S. media reporting.