The Joe Louis Story (1953) on Netflix

Plot summary

Sportswriter Tad McGeehan tells the story of the boxer Joe Louis, starting in Detroit in 1932, when Joe is still known as Joseph Louis Barrow. Walking home from a violin lesson, his friend Johnny Kingston persuades him to put the lesson money into boxing instead. A black eye in his first session does not discourage him, and he keeps returning. When his mother learns where the violin money has gone, she lets him continue on his promise to give the sport his whole heart. By 1934 he has won the Golden Gloves in Detroit and Chicago and signed with the manager Julian Black, and he begins training under Jack "Chappie" Blackburn. Promoters Mike Jacobs and Johnson then compete for his contract, but Joe is more interested in Marva Trotter of Chicago.