LOUIS, JOE & TONY MUSTO FIGHT WORN GLOVES (1941)

On April 8, 1941 at the Arena in St. Louis world heavyweight champion Joe Louis fought Tony Musto in front of a crowd of 17,472. Louis knocked Musto down in the 3rd round and the fight was finally stopped by the referee in round 9 due to a severe cut over Musto's right eye. Offered here is the right hand glove used by Joe Louis and the left hand used by Tony Musto in this fight. These gloves were originally part of the Nat Fleischer, Ring (Magazine) collection and were displayed in their museum in New York. When Stanley Weston purchased The Ring the gloves were part of his collection. Weston, an artist who painted many Ring Magazine cover art also painted the equipment labels in the museum. Weston's habit was to list the fighter whose equipment it was name first. In this case Louis' name is first on the right hand glove and Musto's name is first on the left. Each glove numbered 1 inside an indication they are the fight gloves. They are also initialed inside. Stanley Weston's collection was auctioned by Geppi's Memorabilia Roadshow on October 25, 2005 and these gloves were Lot 79 in the sale. The gloves come with a full notarized letter from the daughter of Stanley Weston (who organized that sale) Toby Weston Cone.
These are Benlee, approximate 8 ounce, brown leather, fight worn gloves. Labeled in paint on each backhand. Include partial laces on each glove. Exhibit wear, but perfectly intact. Initialed inside and marked # 1 for the fight worn gloves. Some fading to labels. Perspiration stains inside. LOA from Toby Weston Cone, as well as our own with fight photo backup.