“He can run, but he can’t hide” (“You can run, but you can’t hide”)

“He can run, but he can’t hide” is a famous statement of boxing champion Joe Louis (1913-1981). Louis had won a tough 13-round fight by knockout against Billy Conn (1917-1993) in 1941. For the 1946 rematch (after World War II), it had been suggested that Conn would dance around the ring and try to avoid Louis’s punches. Louis told the press in June 1946: “He (Conn—ed.) can run, but he can’t hide.”
 
Joe Louis had used the statement before. (See the July 3, 1939 newspaper citation, below.)
 
The statement has also been popular as: “You can run, but you can’t hide.” While Joe Louis was referring to the boxing ring, his saying has long been in general use for any person to challenge an enemy. In politics, the use is: “You can run (for office). but you can’t hide (from your record).”
 
     
Wikipedia: You can run, but you can’t hide
You can run but you can’t hide may refer to:

. “He can run, but he can’t hide”, a statement attributed to American boxer Joe Louis
. You Can Run But You Can’t Hide, a book by Duane “Dog” Chapman
. You Can Run But You Can’t Hide (Podes Fugir Mas Não Te Podes Esconder), a 2001 album by Da Weasel
. “You Can Run But You Can’t Hide”, a 2001 song from Girl Thing’s Girl Thing
. “You Can Run (But You Can’t Hide)”, a 1979 song by (The) Razz, co-written by Tommy Keene
   
Wikipedia: Joe Loius
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981), better known as Joe Louis, was the world heavyweight boxing champion from 1937 to 1949. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis helped elevate boxing from a nadir in popularity in the post-Jack Dempsey era by establishing a reputation as an honest, hardworking fighter at a time when the sport was dominated by gambling interests. Louis’s championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 27 championship fights, including 25 successful title defenses – all records for the heavyweight division. In 2005, Louis was named the greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on Ring Magazine‘s list of 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time.
 
Louis’s cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first African American to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II. He also was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport’s color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor’s exemption in a PGA event in 1952.
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Legacy
In all, Louis made 25 defenses of his heavyweight title from 1937 to 1948, and was a world champion for 11 years and 10 months. Both are still records in the heavyweight division, the former in any division. His most remarkable record is that he knocked out 23 opponents in 27 title fights, including 5 world champions. In addition to his accomplishments inside the ring, Louis uttered two of boxing’s most famous observations: “He can run, but he can’t hide” and “Everyone has a plan until they’ve been hit.”
 
Wikipedia: Billy Conn
William David Conn (October 8, 1917–May 29, 1993), better known as Billy Conn, was a Light-Heavyweight boxing champion famed for his fights with Joe Louis. He had a professional boxing record of 63 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw, with 14 wins by knockout. His nickname, throughout most of his career, was “The Pittsburgh Kid”.
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Joe Louis Era
In May 1941, Conn gave up his world Light-Heavyweight title to challenge world Heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Conn attempted to become the first world Light-Heavyweight champion in boxing history to win the world’s Heavyweight championship when he and Louis met on June 18 of that year, and incredibly, to do so without going up in weight. The fight became part of boxing’s lore because Conn held a secure lead on the scorecards leading to round 13. According to many experts and fans who watched the fight, Conn was outmaneuvering Louis up to that point. In a move that Conn would regret for the rest of his life, he tried to go for the knockout in round 13, and instead wound up losing the fight by knockout in that same round himself. Ten minutes after the fight, Conn told reporters, “I lost my head and a million bucks.” When asked by a reporter why he went for the knockout, Conn replied famously, “What’s the use of being Irish if you can’t be thick (i.e. stupid)?” Later he would joke with Louis, “Why couldn’t you let me hold the title for a year or so?”, to which the Brown Bomber responded, “You had the title for twelve rounds and you couldn’t hold on to it.”
 
In 1942, Conn beat Tony Zale and had an exhibition with Louis. World War II was at one of its most important moments, however, and both Conn and Louis were called to serve in the Army. Conn went to war and was away from the ring until 1946.
 
By then, the public was clamoring for a rematch between him and the still world Heavyweight champion Louis. This happened, and on June 19, 1946, Conn returned into the ring, straight into a world Heavyweight championship bout. Before that fight, it was suggested to Louis that Conn might outpoint him because of his hand and foot speed. In a line that would be long-remembered, Louis replied: “He can run, but he can’t hide.” The fight, at Yankee Stadium, was the first televised world Heavyweight championship bout ever, and 146,000 people watched it on TV, also setting a record for the most seen world Heavyweight bout in history. Most people who saw it agreed that both Conn and Louis’ abilities had eroded with their time spent serving in the armed forces, but Louis was able to retain the crown by a knockout in round eight. Conn’s career was basically over after this fight, but he still fought two more fights, winning both by knockout in round nine. On December 10, 1948, he and Louis met inside a ring for the last time, this time for a public exhibition in Chicago. Conn would never climb into a ring as a fighter again.
     
3 July 1939, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Bill Henry Says,” pg. 5:
Talk of a bout between Champion Joe Louis and Challenger Bob Pastor in Briggs Stadium, Detroit, some time in September reminds me of one of the few thoughtful remarks I ever heard Joe Louis make. “It’s all right,” he said, “to have good legs but remember one thing—when you’re in the ring you can run, but you can’t hide.”
   
9 June 1946, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, pg. 2C, cols. 2-3:
Conn Can Run. Admits Joe, but He Can’t Hide;
Louis Confident he Will Catch Up With Billy

POMPTON LAKES, N. J., June 8—(INS)—Joe Louis terminated his one-man conspiracy of silence today. After five years of permitting Billy Conn to build up the legend that he lost in 1941 because he chose to slug it out with Louis, the champion challenged the challengers with the flat statement that Conn “made no mistake” in the fatal 13th.
 
Louis was asked during the daily mass interview if Billy had made the mistake of trying to slug it out.
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Q—If he runs, will you chase him?
Joe—He can run, but he can’t hide.
 
Instapundit
April 7, 2010
YOU CAN RUN, BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE: Harry Reid Won’t Announce Stops On Bus Tour Out of Fear of Protesters. Plus, from the comments: “I have never heard of a double secret campaign tour.”
Posted by Glenn Reynolds at 1:47 pm
   
Burnt Orange Report
Rick Perry Can Run But He Cannot Hide.
by: Libby Shaw
Wed Apr 14, 2010 at 09:24 PM CDT
(Texas Governor—ed.) Rick Perry sat on a wall. Rick Perry took a big fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men could not put Rick Perry together again. (From an old English nursery rhyme, Humpty Dumpty.)
 
If Rick Perry had nothing to hide, his hand picked go-to crony would not continue to cover up the Cameron Todd Willingham execution investigation. According to Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle, Chairman Bradley of the Texas Science Commission has no intention of meeting anytime soon.