AIR DATE:
EPISODE: Episode 1
Tune in to Ring Talk with Lou Eisen this week to hear an in-depth look at one of the greatest boxing matches of all time: Max Baer vs. James J. Braddock. Host Lou Eisen will take you through the fascinating backgrounds of the two fighters, their intense rivalry, and the thrilling 15-round match which took place in 1935. Hear his accounts from witnesses, sports historians, and boxing experts, and learn why this classic match has become known as “The Cinderella Man.” It’s an episode of Ring Talk with Lou Eisen you won’t want to miss!
Transcribed
[, Music ], everybody hi, I’m Lou Eisen, and this is uh ring talk.
That’S great forget the name of your own show Luke and today we’re going to discuss a very, very uh, historic fight in the annals of boxing history and it’s the max bear fight uh.
He was the World Heavy Champion, he’s taking on James J Braddock June 13th, 1935 at the graveyard for Champions the Long Island Bowl in Long Island, Queens, New York, uh most Fighters went there most Champions, that’s where they went to lose their title, not purposely, but that’s What happened? This is a special fight with me.
I was in the movie Cinderella, Man and I just want to say that in the movie after the movie, because I know a lot of people in boxing and I used to get from very dear friends, I would get these calls saying.
How dare you portray Max? Bear that way and how dare you this and bear was a great guy and Ben ever said, and I said I know that I know we never spoke to Braddock.
That way.
I know all that, but I was just an actor in the film I didn’t write.
It so you know they just want to get his story out.
Bear was not a mean guy bear, as you see in the movie uh, and it’s seen in a restaurant.
Where he’s saying all those things about Mae Braddock, you know you’re too young and lovely to be a widow.
I can show you who the real man is never happened.
Bear is not like that when he was around, other people bear bear was a womanizer.
Without a doubt, but he did not treat other people like that uh Max bear is also another thing.
I’Ve had this argument with people before Max Mayer had a mocking David Star of David on his trunks on the left side and people said that he was Jewish.
He was not: Jewish father was Jewish, his mother was Roman Catholic and Judaism.
He trace the religion of the child from the mother because we don’t always know who the father is, but you always know who the mother is now.
This will relate to something I’ll say at the very end of the show of a comment bear made after Braddock.
Uh beat him and and uh, but bear is born in Livermore, California, February 11, 1909 and the reason that they used the star of Davids because um pitting ethnicities against each other in big business.
So people would would show up but rare cell, along with Doc Begley, who was the first two first modern trainers in the 20th century, the guys to say you know we got ta, we got, we got to go running uh like they used to do hundreds of Years ago, push-ups sit-ups medicine, ball skipping rope and Ray ourselves when those guys would get in the ring and show Fighters exactly what to do.
As I was saying to my producer Voice last night, watching um Food Center, so I quite like against the the fighter.
He was fighting for Eastern Europe, whose name I can’t pronounce uh in between rounds, his father.
I would just say that guy is a coward, that guy’s crap he’s an idiot he’s afraid of you, but that’s not advice, that’s insults.
How does that help your fighter? You have to have a trainer has to give tactical advice to his fighter to tell them exactly what to do in each round, and he wasn’t doing that, and so rare cell was brilliant at that.
For instance, when when Roberto Duran fought Ray Leonard, he said to him get Leonard against the ropes put your head under his head, and he did this when he beat Kenny Buchanan, lift his head up with your head and then hit him with a shot.
Also, put your lead left leg.
Your foot in between Leonard’s feet that way Leonard, can’t move side to side to spin off the Rope.
So these are the kind of things we tell your fire that help him win fights so um Braddock faces bear June 13th, as I said 1935 and um uh yeah scrapbook.
This was at the Madison Square Garden.
Bowl and um Braddock had a record of 66 wins: 13 losses: 51 Kos 64.
56 KO percentage not the highest by any means, but pretty damn good um.
He won the world heavyweight title June: 13 1934, the Madison Square Garden bull after he dropped uh uh primocarner ten times during the fight and the referee.
The best referee of that area, Arthur Donovan, stopped the fight at the 216 Market Round 11.
.
Now you know it’s interesting carnera boxing in that era was completely controlled by the mafia.
So at that time you you had um.
Uh 1934 is an interesting era, because only the killer, Madden who ran the sport have been exiled to Arkansas, where he ran a resort and because of that it still had a bit of control.
But it was eventually taken over by Frank Costello, prime minister of the underworld, Frankie carbo and carbo’s vicious henchmen, uh, uh, Blinky, Palermo and as vicious as only Madden ones, where you know a fighter that would even dare speak back, he would kill them their manager, their Trainer carbon palermal took fishes to the still whole new level, but that’s another story, so people would say well carnero.
You know he was a mob controlled fighter.
Why would they give the title away to Max Baer? They didn’t give the title away to Max.
Bear Max.
Bear won the title, but Maxwell was also a mob control fighter.
You don’t get to fight for the world heavyweight title in that era, unless they’re a guy who gives a large percentage of your money to the Mob.
That’S just the way it is.
If you’re not going to do it, fine, that’s fine, you don’t have to, but you’re not going to get a shot at the World Heavy Weight title.
You just fly that long and uh uh.
There were a lot of things pinned on Max.
Bear that I think shortened his life like in the movie Cinderella Man, they said you know, he’s killed two men, he didn’t kill two men, that’s not true at all.
He did Kill Frankie Campbell, whose real last name was camilli.
He was the brother of Dolph Camille, who played uh baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers and he fought him in 1930 and he knocked him out in the fifth round and later on, Campbell died of his injuries.
What people don’t tell you was this emotionally destroyed, bear and bear ended up supporting this was 1930 and for the next 29 years until he died, bear supported, Campbell’s, wife and children financially didn’t have to do that.
They had a benefit for them, but he did it.
Anyways, because that’s the kind of person he was, he was credited by various writers, so I’m not going to mention with killing Ernie schaff.
He never killed every Chef.
I actually went and took all this info to a neurologist that I know here in Toronto about Sinai Hospital and what happened was shaft beat him in the first fight.
Bear clocked him, but Jeff beat him in 1930.
, so in 1932 they have another fight and and bear um wins by majority decision, and it was a 10 round fight.
He knocked guy down and with less than 10 seconds left or after he got to eight and then the bell rang to save shaft.
Although Bears still won the decision and they say that’s the fight that killed Ernie schaff.
Well, that’s not possible, because shaft fought four more times: it’s not possible that you would get a catastrophic brain injury and then fight four successive fights and then fight another fight and get hit and die so uh.
This is in my book, which will be coming out.
Shafted and die from brain injuries certainly may have been.
They may have contributed a bit, but that wasn’t the main reason for Ernie shaft death.
Um a bear was a big man.
There was six two and a half and he had a huge 81 inch reach.
He was managed by Ansel Hoffman, who had mob connections and he was trained by Bob McAllister.
You know he started in California and the way better started was it’s basically working on his family’s farm with with his brother buddy, who was six six? Who also became the boxer and he would go to these dances – I guess held in Farms or town halls and for some reason, there’s always yahoos that who dances.
Everyone knows that were every guard over the world and he was talking to some woman and some.
This guy had his eye in a woman and shoved bear bear sit back off and he shoved them again and he took a swing up there and bear apparently put up his left arm and blocked it and hit the guy with the right hand, knocked him cold And then the guy’s friend came out who bear did the same thing and it knocked that guy out cold and then their third friend apparently had a bit of a lack of courage and a bit of fit of smart from the side.
I’M gon na link that alone he’s knocked out my two best friends with one shot each.
Maybe I shouldn’t pick on this guy, so it was suggested to bear that he started fighting.
He had some amateur fights around that era, but this was a Great Depression that he needed money.
So he starts fighting professionally in Stockton, California, and he’s moving up and he’s starting to make a name for himself because he’s starting to beat more and more and more and more and more um named Fighters uh Jimmy uh well.
Actually, before I get to Jimmy Braddock, I should say: bear had a great overall record um with 66 wins and only 13 losses.
He had 51 chaos 64.
5 for six kale percentage and Bear bear was a guy to be reckoned with.
This is a guy that could fight now.
Jimmy Braddock was also 62 and a half he had 47 wins.
We didn’t have as good a record.
He had 24 losses with four draws and 27 chaos.
He was born June, 7th 1905 in New York City and he died November 29.
1974 in North Bergen New Jersey.
It was known as the Bulldog of North Bergen bear born.
1909 died in 1959.
I think from a broken heart.
He died of a heart attack, but just you know, people blaming him for killing two men when that didn’t happen was heavy on his heart.
Um Braddock had one of the greatest trainers of all time.
Whitey bimstein Whitey bimstein is that gnomish bald guy with short arms with the Q-tips on his ears and in his mouth, uh massaging Fighters, training Fighters, you see on film or in pictures, and he was a very, very smart trainer and so he’s training, Braddock and Braddock’s.
Doing well he’s a light heavyweight 175 pounds.
He only weighed 191 when he fought there for the title: bear weighed 209, so Braddock’s fighting all these heavyweights, Tuffy Griffith Jimmy Slattery, great Alzheimer who he knocked out and he’s beating these guys and he finally gets the shot at Tommy.
Loughran and people talk about James Tony’s, one of the greatest defensive Fighters or all-around fighters ever so was Ali, so Sugar, Ray Robinson Tommy, loughran uh was com, was, is still considered by many people to be the greatest defensive fighter of all time.
You know this is a guy that stood six feet.
Six one fought carnera, who was six six 275 loughran was you know six one uh 175 180 outweighed by like 105 pounds.
I had five six inches on him and still made it a fight, although coronary just stepped on his feet, but the one thing that Braddock and bear had in common.
They both lost to Tommy Lockwood, and this was uh.
Braddock was 24, and this was his chance at the world like heavyweight title and loughran wiped the floor with him, and there was a point in the fight where Braddock is so frustrated.
He’S calling him all these names he’s cursing at him and loughran after he lands a four or five punch combination, says: hey.
You know you still got to be professional.
You still got to be a gentleman.
Don’T talk like that to me, you don’t like it any very religious person, awkward didn’t like that kind of language.
He didn’t like people fouling or whatever he said.
There’S no reason to not be professional.
You know he said to Braddock later just to fight.
You know not for the presidency of the United States, it’s it’s not for some higher call, just a prize fight, no reason to act like a bum and not saying Braddock did, but that’s how loughran felt about it and lochgren won and where was Brad up to Go after that, he was 24 he’d risen up the rank so quickly, but now he loses to loughran.
He made good money, but he invested it in a cab company and then the Depression hit.
So all his businesses tank – and this is the height of the Great Depression – it’s got, no money he’s got three young kids he’s married and he tries to keep fighting, but it’s lost a lot when we’re so one-sided who’s.
Gon na go pay to see him, so he fights some more a couple more times, lackluster fights and then he fights a guy named Abe Feldman and during Abe Feldman fight.
He breaks his right hand.
Now, when you break your hand in boxing it not only prevents you from throwing it, although some guys will uh, more importantly, prevents you from blocking shots, and so he was a one-armed fighter.
He was an orthodox fighter and it just it didn’t you know it.
The fight would stop because both guys they looked like they weren’t putting forth an effort, they were they they just both weren’t.
It wasn’t Braddock’s night of the broken hand, Falcon wasn’t that great, so the referee stopped the fight and they were both disqualified.
At that point, uh Jimmy the boy uh Johnson, the Bandit Jimmy the boy Bandit Johnson, the promoter Matchmaker for Madison Square Garden, recommends to the New York State athletic commission that they suspend Braddock’s license, got a broken hand, looked like he didn’t, make an effort and take His license away and here’s the interesting thing he did this – he did this, and that was a mistake because he did it.
Without the permission of only Madden you see, Braddock’s manager was Joe Gould, Joe Gould uh was an associate of only maddens um.
That’S right, no Champion you’re right, scrapbook no Champion ever defended his title successfully at Madison Square Garden pool.
That’S why they called it.
The graveyard and Joe Gould worked for only man in doing various things, so in Joe gold in the movie they’ve shown going to to um uh, Bruce McCall the actor who’s playing, Jimmy, Johnson and and Gould’s begging for a fight.
That’S Paul Giamatti was a wonderful person and ask him to get you know.
Braddock could fight he’s broke he’s down on his luck, didn’t happen that way.
Gould went to his boss only matted and said.
What’S going on here, Braddock’s one of your Fighters, you have a larger percentage.
How are you gon na make money off a guy when he’s not fighting? Why isn’t he fighting because Johnson got his license suspended and so Madden speaks to Johnson and says? Did I tell you to do this? No well, but he looked so bad and he he you know he’s he didn’t put up a good fight, he’s been stinking out and he’s the man just you know, shut up.
You don’t talk back to me.
I’M owning the killer Madden I didn’t did I specifically say to you to get his license taken away.
No, then, why did you do it? You know, and this is the point we’re trying to realize is well.
I could lose my life here.
He could very well take out a gun and blow my head off and he said I’ll get it back.
He said, you’ll get it back now, not an hour from now, not tomorrow, not the next day.
You made a mistake.
You mentioned Iran fighter called him up, get his license back if you want to leave the office and make it to your car later and he gets his license back and Braddock at this time is going through the worst time, like everyone else is during the Great Depression, you know because his hand’s broken um, they got to put it in a cast, didn’t heal correctly, had to break it again, put it in another cast, he can’t get jobs, so he paints his cast Black and he goes to the docks and works as a Stevedore and he’s making money on the dogs he has to go on welfare, getting eight dollars.
You know for the month now you have to remember: you can get a good meal for a buck back then, but with three kids and a wife, eight bucks isn’t going to go far and um.
So he’s taken all these jobs he can.
He doesn’t have the fare to take to go and pay a nickel or or 10 cents for the ferry to New York.
He doesn’t have that money he’s got to walk across the bridge.
He’S got to walk 10 miles to get to the job.
Do the job and then walk home and then, when he gets home, there’s only so much food and he gives it to his kids.
He barely has any so his weight starts to go down.
Also, they turned electricity off on him, so he had to go scrounging for money.
He went to Madison Square Garden and asked all these people and he said, listen.
You know me, I’m an honest guy.
I would never do this I’ll pay, you all back, and he did.
You know you got money from various people there, Joe Gould, who was just about broke himself and different Fighters and people there gave him some money, so we could turn uh the electricity back on.
In his apartment – and they you know the heat, the lighting have the stove work and it was.
It was difficult for him to have to beg like that.
He didn’t want to when he started to do well.
He paid back all the money.
I think it came to 56 or something or maybe more to the welfare people.
He didn’t want to be known as someone who took it, I’m making money now I will give it back.
He paid back all the people that he borrowed money for it so from so he was a very proud man and Joe Gould is working only Madden and says: okay, we’ll give him a fight, we’ll give him a fight.
You know what he’s been good he’s been a good money owner, we’ll give him a fight.
Put him out against John Corn.
Griffin Griffin was a fighter from out west a big heavyweight.
Now the thing about Griffin was, he could really punch, but he had no Chin and he goes in against a guy like Corn, Griffin and uh.
He does well against Griffin and he he beats Griffin uh June 14th.
1934.
He stops him in three rounds.
It was only a five round fight that was all, but both guys hit the deck in the second round, and then he knocked him out in the in the uh third round.
Uh, that’s June 14th, 1934, a little while later November, 13th 1934.
He defeats the great John Henry Lewis on points uh after dropping win the fifth round and then right after that uh March 22nd 1935.
He was a 15-round decision, Anonymous decision over our Laskey three months later.
He challenges bear now.
There’S something people should know about these fights that they don’t that’s not commonly known John Henry Lewis, who we fought and then our Lasky who’s, a huge fight, a Jewish fighter, six foot, three six, four Louis and Lasky – were blind in one eye, they’ve been fighting most Of their career, like that and Lewis eventually fought Joe Lewis, his best friend and got knocked out and left it around, but he needed the money he knew his license was about to be pulled and Jack Blackburn who trained Lewis.
It was my opinion, the greatest fighting machine That Ever Walked the face of this Earth said you don’t want to torment them and punish him for the whole fight, just knock him out early.
He still gets the same money and Lewis did that so John Henry Lewis, who, by the way, was the grandfather, great grandfather of uh, LL, Cool, J, I’ve beaten Braddock before on speed, you know hand and foot speed this time.
Braddock was different, but it was different for Braddock because of the fact that before a lot of it was his ego.
I love the money I love being in the Limelight.
I’M doing well, I’m beating all these guys, but now after losing to lochrane and the depression.
Taking away everything from him now he’s in a position where a lot of Fighters were back then, where I have no choice but to win.
If I don’t win, my family doesn’t eat.
You know I can’t say to my to my daughter Rose Marie or to my sons, Howard or J, or to my wife may sorry, United this week I didn’t win.
I have no choice but to win because my family needs to eat and he gets in the ring and he he beats the hell out of John Henry news.
Also, you have to remember Joe Lewis, notwithstanding uh Braddock had a great chance.
Braddock could take a solid shot so when it came to fighting Max bear, he wasn’t worried about fighting Max Baer.
You know people said he’s.
The big killer Braddock had taken heavy shots from guys before he didn’t phase him.
So he beats these guys and then the date November November June 13th, 1935 Madison Square Garden, Bowl Long Island City, referees, Johnny, McAvoy, George Kelly and Charles Lynch are the judges.
What’S interesting is this was Bear’s First Defense of the title and Brad it could beat him.
Also only had one defense of the title and a bear was a 10 to 1 favorite going into the fight.
If you could even get odds uh on the fight, because it was it’s supposed to be a mitch mismatch.
It was like the alley listing for his fight.
No one gave bear or Braddock a chance.
Everyone thought it was going to be destroyed.
Damon Runyon called him, the Cinderella, Man, you know – and everyone said maybe, but his pumpkin is going to burst long before midnight.
So but Braddock had a secret and I spoke to the one of the greatest, if not the greatest boxing historian of all times, like great Hank Kaplan, were for Angela Dundee and I surprised them because I’d read up on Braddock and all the fighters from there.
I said I said he said to me: do you know who really trained Braddock and showed him how to beat him a bear? And I said, Sally semen – that’s right! Redheaded Jewish fighter freckles from the Bronx who was the former World featherweight Champion, he’s the one that got in the ring because he said everyone I thought was bigger than me and punch started.
This is how you beat a guy like Braddock and ba and Braddock was smart.
He also got Tommy.
Loughran who’d also beaten there and him to come into His Camp along with Whitey, bibstein and Ray our cell.
So you have a great Brain Trust there.
These guys are saying to him.
You know, for instance, Tommy lockren saying this is bear gets frustrated easily.
He doesn’t like it when someone fights back and he’s going to walk to you in a straight line, and he you know, if you can land punches on them quickly and then keep turning, keep circling him, which is going to force him to turn he’s going to Start joking around he’s, going to start making faces and and doing poses and and that’s fine because you’re putting rounds in the bank and it was locker and salty Seaman who impressed on him that you don’t have to knock them out.
That’S not the goal, you have to beat them and you can beat them by using your ring.
Smarts.
Your brain is your most potent weapon now scrapbook, you said John Henry Lewis, The Strip from his New York City Crown because he didn’t defend his crown against tiger Jack Fox because of doctor recommendations due to poor eye vision.
Yes, but he did get a fight.
He knew that and that’s why Joe Lewis agreed to fight him.
Lewis fought most John Henry Lewis thought most of his fight: uh fights blind in one eye.
That was an uncommon back then Harry grab thought blinded one eye eye surgery wasn’t as perfected as it was like today, and these were starving times.
They they had.
No, they had no um uh special.
They had surgery back then, but it wasn’t as good as it was today.
Now I want to say something about tiger Jack Fox great fighter.
People say well, he was, he threw.
He beat lamatta that was Blackjack Billy Fox completely different fighter tiger Jack Fox was an all-time great fighter.
Now Braddock uh, as I said, was born in 1905 in New York City died in North Bergen New Jersey in 1974.
uh there was a big weight difference for the fight Braddock, just weighed 194 and and bear weighed at 209 pounds and it’s hard to explain how Stunned the audience were because people were watching the fight like this and they were thinking all we hope.
Braddock can do it.
We hope Braddock can win, but knowing that all bear bear was so strong that all he needed was one punch, one punch to knock a man out.
That’S what keeps you in the fight last night drawn to Davis, I thought was losing to Hector Garcia and then completely re-adapted his strategy, and he because he’s very heavy-handed with both hands a One-Shot bang.
It’S over and that’s the kind of fighter.
That’S the kind of fighter bear was now um.
I mentioned the people involved.
Johnny Mcavoy was a referee who is a veteran referee.
He scored the fight 9-5 with one even for Braddock, and it wasn’t done today when they announced it like.
When was that excitement? This judge scores it.
You know eight rounds to four for this guy at X score eight five rounds to four for the other guy and then the final job it does.
They didn’t do it that way.
They didn’t say these are the scores and the winner new Champion is so what happened was um Charlie Lynch scored 11-4 for Braddock? As I mentioned, Johnny McAvoy, the ref had it 9-44 9-5 for Braddock, with one even and George Kelly had it 7-7 with one around even but they had a supplementary point system.
So, although he had it even in rounds with one round even on points, it goes to Braddock, so Braddock wins the World Heavyweight Championship by unanimous decision and it it it’s um.
As scrapbook mentioned no Champion, whoever defended the title at the Madison Square Garden.
Bowl was able to do it successfully, uh the paid attendance.
This isn’t, the height of the Depression was 29 366, but the gross gate was 205 366 and 97, and then that was 169, 000, 74 cents.
A lot of the money came from the film of the fight bear share was 88 805 braddocks was only 31, 000 and 244.
, but I say only this is 1934.
.
This was a man who was lucky to get eight dollars a month.
Now he’s getting Thirty.
One thousand dollars and um yes, Al Gainer was another great uh light heavyweight, champ um from Connecticut library, Ferguson, Connecticut, Willie Pep was from Connecticut that badalino was from Connecticut um.
I think I probably made a mistake when I mentioned the numbers before, because the paid attendance probably was around 290 000.
It would not be 29 000 mistake.
Bear received 42 percent of the net receipts and Braddock also got 15 of the net receipts.
On top of its Thirty one thousand dollars so for Braddock, this was Manna From Heaven.
This was incredible.
Now now I’m the heavily champion of the world.
So now I get to go on tour in Vaudeville now I get to appear in short movie films.
Now I get all these uh promotional, uh, um opportunities where I can make more money, and now a guy who was dead broke gets all the money he needs.
Um interesting thing is referee.
Johnny McAvoy took three rounds away from Max Baer uh, the fifth ninth and 12th for low blows are backhanding, but the Associated Press said it didn’t matter, because Braddock won two of them about the eight of the fouls anyway backhanding.
I got to mention that you see this in Braddock a lot a lot or excuse me not Braddock bear a lot of his fights if they would throw a punch.
He was right-handed and Miss like this.
He would bring it back like this and smack you at the back of his hand, almost like a pivot punch, which was outlawed you’re not allowed to do that, but he did it all the time he hit he hit.
Braddock low Braddock was fighting from a Crouch at times and he landed foul blows and every time he did he would just go and he’d go like this to the audience and then he go with his other hand and then he would bow.
However, he would make fate he’d make faces, like that.
You know or he’d turn around and wiggle his rear end.
I mean he was joking and every time you get to the corner, his Corner, his manager, Ansel Hoffman, would say to him.
What are you doing? This is the heavyweight title max.
This is why you have what you have.
This is your house.
This is everything you have to win this.
If you don’t win this, your money goes down 90 for every successive fight.
You must beat this guy.
You can beat this guy stop clowning, but loughran Tommy, lochran and Whitey binstein and Ray arcel and Sully Seaman.
They all knew when you frustrate Max bear you get him off this game.
That’S the whole point, that’s what you want to do when you fight another fighter.
You want to disrupt the Rhythm when Ali beat listen the first time the goal going in is, as Angela Dundee told me, take away lessons.
Jab everything for listening comes off the jab, so Muhammad took away his jab.
How did he do it? Movement moving around the ring, kept moving with his feet and kept popping his jab, and if listing can’t throw the jab, he can’t get his other shots going.
If Max bear is frustrated and can’t get into a rhythm.
He can’t fight his fight and he’s not going to win inside him.
Something will quit he’ll, say what the hell and that’s a lack of discipline and a lack of focus.
Now everyone experiences that I’m a writer so there’s some days when I’m working on an article – and I think you know what it’s it’s – 11 45 at night I’ve been working on this for several hours for four or five hours.
It’S not there.
It’S not going to happen tonight, better, just get rest and try tomorrow, you don’t have that option in professional sports special in boxing you don’t have the option.
This is one reason why I love it.
Why my producer Eric always loves it? Why his father Graham loves it? You know it’s not like hockey, where you can change shifts it’s not like football, where you can get a substitute or or basketball where you can go off and someone comes off the bench.
You don’t get that in boxing.
It doesn’t matter how tired you are, or if you have a broken hand or a broken jaw.
You have to fight that’s why it’s called the fight so um they keep going and the more the more bears aren’t doing it on purpose, but the more Bearer does.
This, the more warnings he gets, the more he’s out of his rhythm and Braddock kept circling him.
They say it was one of the most boring fights I enjoyed watching it, but then again I’m a boring person, so Braddock was hitting with his jab and then Braddock had an awkward.
Almost George foreman-like right hand will come in over the top with arca’s right head, but it landed and every time bear would land on him.
He’D hit him right back, but what Braddock’s specialty was is getting in unloading, the shots and then getting away.
And then there were times – and this was in the movie, but it happened in an actual fight where bear throws a shot and he misses so much.
He almost falls down right and then he stands up and puts his hands behind his back and wipes his hands.
In the back of his trunks, and then he tips his head to the audience, I mean that’s what he was doing and his Ansel Hoffman is pulling his hair out.
He’S saying: what are you doing? You know you’re losing the fight I’ll get him you’re losing the rounds and the best way to lose a fight is for a guy to look for one knockout shot.
Knockouts come organically.
The only exception to that rule, of course, Joe Lewis, and especially when he fought Billy Conn Lewis, unlike any other fighter that ever lived, could rearrange your skull with one punch, bear had tremendous power or power, but he had to have something to hit and Braddock wasn’t Going to stay in range and even when Braddock was there and bear did hit him two three four shots in a row: Braddock just shook it off and kept punching back.
That’S that was bear’s face.
This isn’t supposed to happen.
That’S a problem see in boxing when you hit a guy, Your Best Shot and he’s still there.
That’S the point.
You know that Freddie Roach told me this, where you got to concede The Knockout and win the fight on points just touch the guy up put rounds in the bank, but bear wasn’t doing that.
Braddock was going in and hitting bear to the body to take away.
Bears legs and then he kept hitting him in the head, and you know in between rounds bear was saying two: two ants off and how’s my hair.
Who cares how your hair is, you know, hit the man get your hands on and the later the fight goes.
The more the more desperate um Max Berry comes, which is better for Braddock.
It’S a desperate fighter is going to make mistakes and take risks, and when he did, Braddock took advantage of it now and the last couple rounds.
Braddock’S Corner said: you know what stay away from them.
Don’T give him the chance and Braddock said hell.
No, I can’t stay away from him.
I’Ve been fighting him head up even up like this.
Why would I? Why would I just run for two rounds and and take a chance of getting screwed over when’s it going to happen so uh bear and by the way, Braddock um? Thank you.
Scrapbook uh people said well, you know Max bear big car now, who was a mob fighter? Car bear was a mob fighter.
Now, when I say mob fighter, I have to really make I have to explain this well enough.
I’Ve had some friends so you’re, not explaining it fully, which is true Fighters that were mob Fighters didn’t choose to be mob Fighters.
They chose you.
Basically, they walk into your dressing and put a gun to your trainer’s head and they say: hey, I’m your new manager and if you say no, he is they’ll, kill him and if you keep refusing they’ll kill you too, they the mob.
It’S hard to explain them.
It’S not hard to explain it, but when someone said no to Bob it’d be like trying to show your dog another dog on TV, look at the dog and TV and your dog tilts its head huh, that’s the way the mob was, and someone said no you’re, Not doing that to me because they never heard no from anyone, no one had ever done that to him and lived so only certain Fighters Got Away With It Ray Robinson, but eventually he went with them uh when he lost all his money and basilio stood up For him, although his trainers or his managers had to pay them a hefty fee, so Braddock was mob controlled because of Joe Gould, but ghoul took care of him.
So this man – and this happened all the time where other lesser Mobsters would try to muscle in on Braddock, or they tried to do with the Jimmy McLaren and only managers killed him.
It was as simple as that.
The best story I heard about only Madden was, you know he was in prison for a while on time comes out, goes in again for violating Parolees in New York, Joe Gould picks him up, and he says to Joe gold so what’s going on and what he Means is with my rackets: he was a bootlegger, he ran boxing, he supplied Linens.
He ran The Cotton Club.
He ran the store Club.
He ran.
All these different clubs and Joe Gould conference says: okay, okay only, but you asked he said.
Dutch Schultz took over your rackets, Doug Schultz took uh assigned this person to your Lenin, this to your bootlegging, this guy to run boxing and this guy to run the clubs four different guys in 24 hours, all four guys were found in the East River.
They were dead.
This was only Madden’s response and not too long after Doug Schultz was dead, but that was that was to get him from killing the mayor, uh Dewey or not the mayor.
The uh district attorney who’s going against him off, but essentially only Madden was tough at his nails, yeah you’re right.
He was an eminent sing-sing and he did half his time because the mob paid off people there and got him out early, but only Madden, who George chavalo met and had great, has great stories about.
Only Madden was not a guy to be trifled with.
That’S why they call them the killer.
Imagine that in 24 hours you get out, four guys who took over are dead and that shelf doesn’t retaliate, doesn’t say a thing, that’s power and that’s the kind of power he wielded in boxing.
So when he said to to um Jimmy the boy Bandit Johnson, I never okayed you getting his license suspended by the New York State athletic commission.
I want it back now on an hour from now, not a day from now.
This is my product, my property earning my money, and you take that away from me and of course not too long after Johnson was gone, wasn’t killed, but he was replaced by Mike Jacobs um.
So these guys did not fool around so Braddock ends up, as I said, winning the title, and if you have I have I have the issue here.
I haven’t been able to find it, as you can tell this room, there’s a mess.
I have two 3 000 books, unboxing and even more magazines um.
There were 12 photos of the boat in the August 1935 issue of the Ring magazine Pages, five, six and seven and uh, but – and there was a great article on unboxing Cinderella, Man by the great writer Francis Albert Canty, um, the holiday issue of the ring in 98 said it was the 20th greatest heavyweight uh um bear was ranked as the 20th grade it’s heavyweight of all time and that the magazine rated his win against bear braddocks winning against Bears the ninth most historically significant upset in the history of professional boxing.
I think I think the the biggest upset of Courts was uh clay Liston in uh in 1964.
, so Barefoot listlessly, he didn’t you know he.
He was steamrolled guys.
You have to understand who was on his record.
He knocked out Max Schmeling.
He knocked out later on.
He knocked out Tony galento.
There was a company called Circle, films and circle films.
I’Ll only get you great, there’s, not only great films of the fights, but they had a mic in the ring.
You could hear the fighters talking to each other.
So when he’s fighting galanto he’s you fat master and I got enough chocolate spaghetti out of here.
I’M gon na kill you and bears just pounding Glendo and the fight stopped, and when you fight smelling, he says you, Nazi son, of a you’re killing my people, you’re gon na die tonight, and it’s fascinating to hear this.
What’S interesting, of course, was smiling.
Wasn’T a Nazi: he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he despised Hitler and saved people on kristallnacht.
He saved young Jewish kids, his manager, you know yes, so the muscled um was was Jewish, so uh schmelling, you know loss, but he he would never bad mouth Max bear or anyone that just wasn’t family but because of where he lived.
Unfortunately, you know in fact, schmaling even told Hitler off to his face, but because he was so famous you know, and in that time the world heavyweight champ he he got away with it um.
What happened was was that um Braddock was smart.
He stayed out of the way he landed.
Jabs came over solid shots, put combinations in and whenever he did, that bear would drop his hands.
Stick.
His chin out and Braddock would hit him.
It made no sense and Braddock executed the fight plan that was laid out for him by Sully Seaman and and Tommy loughran, and he thanked them and and Ray our cell and Whitey bimstein and he kept hitting bear in the body with the right hands.
But he also constantly kept changing his position.
He never stood in one place long enough to allow bear to get comfortable and he ignored Barrett’s Antics.
He kept Landing spearing Jabs and he kept piling up points and putting rounds in the bank and every time he go back to his Corner.
Whitey bimstein did this and Angela would do this he’d cradle his face in his hand, and he said Jimmy remember this.
Please you don’t have to knock the man out.
All you have to do is beat him.
That’S all don’t go for The Knockout.
Don’T leave yourself open, just keep Landing points, putting the rounds in the bank and then you win by the way his birth name is James Braddock.
The J was given to him by Joe Gould because he thought it would help promote him more and it was because of James J, Jeffries and James J Corbett.
So he thought well, we’ll have another one James, J Braddock and it was gold to some as an amateur and thought there’s something there there’s something there.
This guy’s got talent, but he’s also got spunk and the crowd uh was in absolute disbelief watching the fight, the crowd couldn’t believe it because they knew Braddock was winning.
This was the thing Braddock’s winning the canned Braddock hold the victory, that’s what they want to know from radical ass to the 15th round without getting caught by bear and they knew bear could erase everything.
Braddock had done with a single punch, so every time Braddock connect.
The crowd was firmly behind Braddock and every time Braddock connected the crowd went nuts um Max Baer was playing a different, a dangerous game, he’s playing a game of chicken and um people kept saying.
Why isn’t he going after this guy? Why isn’t he letting his punches go and the more he waited and while and clowned and joked and didn’t take it seriously, the father and father he came behind.
He put himself in a position where he had to score a knockout.
That’S not a position.
A fighter wants to be in, he was just giving away The Greatest Prize in sports and after every round is manager and said, what’s wrong with you.
Are you having a mental breakdown, hear the world heavyweight champion? This is a gold mine.
This is this, is you know a right to Mint money, you’re not going to get any more movie rules, you’ve been in several movies, the Pride’s fighter and the lady you’re not going to get that no more Vaudeville dates, you’ll be the guy that clowned away the Title no more money.
What are you doing and bear just said? Just leave me alone.
I know what I’m doing and so in round six Braddock kept Landing tremendous Follies on bear and then getting out of the pocket and at the end of the round the audience started.
The boo bear and bear was really upset by this.
He was really stung by this and um in the seventh round.
He came out determined to get Braddock and he landed one of his trademark right hands on Braddock’s chin, it’s stunned him but Braddock held on and then when he let go.
He danced out of out of Harm’s Way and then Brad just kept picking his spots and pot.
Shotting him and eighth, ninth and and tenth rounds bear gave him away.
Bear is making faces.
He was clowning for the audience he he was sticking his rear end out.
He was saluting the audience you know, so it came out of conversation with them.
You know with Braddock, and it was it’s an amazing thing to watch.
You can get it on YouTube, he’s not taking the fight seriously at all and in the 11th round they said you know from here on in these are the title rounds you got to win.
If you don’t win, you’re done so he steps on the gas in 11th round, but the same thing Brad it come tough.
He hits Braddock with some tremendous shots, but Braddock stays in the pocket and hits back and the bear stun bear has this look like this? Isn’T supposed to happen when I hit a man, he goes down and he hit braddocked some really good hard right hands didn’t move.
Braddock Braddock had great balance, but he had an iron chin, Joe Lewis notwithstanding, and then in the 12th round.
Braddock comes after bear and lands rights and left to braddocks or to Bears rib cage and hurts them, and then, as the urgency level kept going up and up and up um bear wasn’t able to rise to the level.
The more urgent and the more desperate bear became the Maori clowned.
This is what they apply for, and the more Braddock Rose to the occasion, the more he landed body, shots and headshots, and this is what Tommy lachrin said, The more frustrated and the more desperate he gets.
The more he won’t fight in the more he’ll clown doesn’t have the focus and the discipline of a champion and the more you beat him and get out of the way of his shots or stand up to him and show him you can take them.
The more he’s going to quit on you and that’s exactly what happened.
Uh in the 11th round bear stepped on the gas, but nothing happened and then in the final round that was close.
Both guys were tossing shots, but at half speed, three quarter, speed and they’re.
Mostly body shots and when no fight was over Joe Gould leaped into the ring and starts hugging and kissing Braddock, knowing that his guy hit one and uh it was the upset of the century.
It really was the upset of the century.
We hear about the fight of the century, No One thought this would happen and radica emerged from 1929 to 1934 was hell.
You know he he’d been forgotten, he was the Forgotten man and then Daniel Damon rottenham called him.
The Cinderella Man, and so I was mentioning about children before after the fight Max Bayer was interviewed and he said I’m glad Jimmy one Jimmy’s a real gentleman and personally I really like him.
A lot he’s got a wonderful family and he’s a great man and he’ll be a great Champion.
Now that doesn’t happen these days and he said, he’s got three beautiful young kids.
I don’t know how many kids I have.
I don’t know because I’ve slept with too many women that went out over the air and bear got in a lot of the trouble.
The sensors went berserk now people that heard it didn’t care, but the sensors are like you can’t say that on air, after the fight and for years later, Braddock said that they asked him.
He must have been unbelievably elated.
When you wouldn’t tell him he said, I was happy and I was sad.
I felt very bad for Max, bear and asked him.
I he said max wasn’t cut out to be a fighter.
He was too sensitive.
He wore his emotions at the surface and he said when Frankie Campbell died.
You could see the life go out of him and uh.
He said it was just a saddest thing.
He was, he said he was such and Braddock was in tears.
He was such a sweet man.
He was happier for me that I won and what it would do for me than he was for himself.
He seemed almost relieved that he lost a world heavyweight title, and so after this fight, Braddock doesn’t fight for three years.
He hangs on to the title.
You know he gets all these promotions.
He goes into Vaudeville and then there’s a young man coming up named Joe Lewis and Braddock was signed to fight smelling.
But because what was going on in Germany, they were afraid that Hitler would steal the heavyweight title.
A schmelling Beat Braddock, which could happen because smelling was a former world champion and a great fighter.
What would happen then, and then we wouldn’t see the heavyweight title again until after the war, if we saw it again at all, so what happens? Is he signs a contract to fight smelling, but he breaks it? Joe gold breaks, it doesn’t matter.
Gould’S got only Madden, but but this time only man it’s in Arkansas but he’s still exerting influence and Via carbol in Palermo and John Reed Kilpatrick.
And so what happens? Is he breaks the contract and he signs to fight Joe Louis now Joe Gould knows Jimmy Braddock can’t beat Joe Lewis right, Braddock’s 34, but he’s gotten he’s got an arthritic right hand.
He’S got arthritic ribs and he just you know he.
He can’t bring his left hand all the way up, because his arm is arthritic as well to defend himself and against Joe Lewis’s right hand that could be fatal, so he makes a deal.
He sits down with Mike Jacobs the promoter.
Now the promoter of Madison Square Garden: this was what was interesting: um Jimmy the boy band of Johnson, the promoter Matchmaker for Madison Square Garden didn’t want Lewis to fight there because he was black didn’t know his trainers were managers were black and said: you’re you’re, the N-Word is going to have to lose and he said no, he isn’t so.
They hooked up with Mike Jacobs Johnson had the garden but Jacob said Lewis.
The biggest draw in sports so Lewis ends up challenging Jimmy Braddock in Chicago and before the fight Joe Gould says to Jacobs.
We’Ll give you a shot at the title, but we want 10 of all of Joe Lewis’s future title.
Defenses and Jacobs extends his hand and Gould says: uh-uh got ta, be in writing and he said I’m not doing it right, he said.
Well, then you don’t get a shot at the title.
Gold said it’s got to be in writing and Jacob’s had mob guys with him too, but they had it in writing.
It took them forever to get the money, because Jacobs was also a swindler and didn’t want to give it to them, but um.
They fought in Chicago and Kaminsky Park and in the first round, Braddock knocked him down Dr Joe Lewis, down with the right hand – and you know I was trained at Whitey benstein – said: listen this guy’s a this guy’s ferocious he’s a war machine.
You know.
So why not go after? What have you got to lose? What are you going to do stand back? Let him beat you to a pope and he comes out and Lewis isn’t ready for it.
He didn’t think Braddock would do that and he knocks Lewis down it’s legitimate.
Knockdown Lewis gets up, has trouble getting his balance falls into the ropes, but he’s there and then Braddock tries to finish him off.
He can’t.
But after the first round his trainer Jack Blackburn says to Lewis, why did you get up? He said: what do you mean? You should have stayed down on one knee for the Full Count of nine and gather yourself.
You think getting out quicker means.
No one saw the knockdown doesn’t work that way in boxing.
You know and don’t take this guy lightly.
This is a world heavyweight champion.
He beat Max bear.
He knows what he’s doing.
He said, wear him now and because he knew he had problems.
Arthritic ribs in arms.
He just started to hit him to the body and Lewis’s speed and power took over and finally, in the eighth round.
He throws a jab and then a right hand hits Braddock in the face caves in his face, knocks him out cold.
In the background you see Ray our cell and I think what he bimstein literally carried Braddock to the dressing room or to his Corner Lewis called Braddock the bravest man he ever fought, and he always called him champ when he met him genuinely.
He genuinely liked him.
Um and Braddock did get, did get the 10 Max bear after he lost, went on to fight uh, more fights quite a few more fights um.
He lost to Joe Lewis in four rounds.
He had the greatest line I ever heard in boxing.
They asked him what the definition of fear is, and he said, standing across the ring from Joe Lewis and knowing that he wants to go home early.
Also uh after the third round after Lewis had dropped them a number of times.
He comes back to the corner and Hansel Hoffman, his manager says you’re doing great Pax.
He hasn’t laid a glove on you and bear says then keep your eye on the referee, because somebody’s kicking the crap out of me, and so he keeps fighting and fighting and fighting and, as I said, he beats galento and then he loses to Lou Nova and He fights some more and then he loses to lunova again in a brutal knockout, and then he retires he’s still a young man and bear went back to Hollywood.
To hang out with his friends appear in movies.
He was in the movie The Harder They Fall.
What’S interesting about the harder they fall was written by Bud, show before I got to meet bear plays essentially himself.
He plates a guy called buddy Brannon who, who knocks out another guy uh, who died so who’s supposed to be Ernie, schaff and then fights Toro Marino who knocks him out and I said: didn’t that bother bear and he said, bear needed the money and he was Happy to get the part and and uh he was great in that film, but he dies two.
Two years later and at his funeral Joe Lewis was a pallbearer James, Braddock Lewis was in tears, so was Braddock, they genuinely love them.
This tells you a lot about maxbury the people, even the people that fought him loved him.
He was you know you see after Lewis, beats him there’s a lot of clips of Lewis after his other fights, where bears in them dressing room with him kisses him on the cheek and says great fight.
Joe said this is my guy.
This is my best friend.
I mean that’s the way bear.
Was he didn’t take fighting personally, you know he enjoyed being friends of all these guys.
It was a special Community, he thought, and in 1959, when Bear died.
Um sorry about that.
When Bear died in 1959 uh, he was having chest pains in a hotel in California, and he said I need a doctor and the operator said we’ll send up a hotel doctor.
He said, don’t I’m not a hotel, I need a people doctor and the doctor got there.
He died.
A lot of people thought it was just.
It was too much the grief of Frankie Campbell losing his life and everything gone through and writers still blaming him for it.
That many years later, even though and blaming him for Ernie schaff, even though he had nothing to do with the death remembering Chef, they just never let up on them, and the other thing too I wanted to mention to you – is the Star of David on his Trunks I spoke to Ray arcel, who was Jewish and he said to me Lou.
I can promise you when we were in Los Angeles and he was working out at the gym.
There was this big communal shower.
So I can tell you for a fact.
He was not Jewish meaning bear wasn’t a circumcised, bear didn’t, speak Yiddish or Hebrew, he wasn’t primaries, but not every Jewish boy is part of it, so you can’t always afford one, but but uh when he died.
He’D been married by a priest.
He was the service when he died, was by a priest and he was put in a Christian Cemetery but bear like all people.
This was 1959.
It was a shock because he was only 50 years old.
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