Jump to content

Max Baer-the Clowning Killer


Recommended Posts

Now before I proceed, I just wanna clarify this: the "killer" in this title is not supposed to be some kind of accusation or anything, just simply a fact that Max was a killer puncher, had great power. Ok, now we go on to the subject: Max Baer or Madcap Maxie as he also was known in his alter ego of clown, was one of the most popular and entertaining boxers in the first half of the 20th century, not just one of the hardest hitting ones. He was known as a merry prankster, which was in contrast with his ring persona of knockout artist and fearsome warrior. However, despite possessing above average skills and that big punch, he wasn't able to stay focused just on boxing and therefore, his reign as world champion and his time as a world class contender were cut short. He is however also credited for being the main responsible in maintaining the public's interest in boxing during the onset of the great depression. He was 32 when he left the ring, after two tough losses to up and comer Lou Nova. He left behind a record of 66 wins, 51 by ko and 13 losses. Another testament to how entertaining he was is the fact that he has no draws on his record.

 

Maximillian Adelbert Baer was born 11 February 1909, in Omaha, Nebraska, the eldest of six children of a father whose Jewish family emigrated from France and a mother of Scotch-Irish origin. His father was a butcher, just like his own father before him and the young Max began working at his slaughterhouse in his teens, which helped him to build an impressive body, with a well-muscled frame and broad shoulders. He also credits working here for developing that lethal right hand punch of his. He also took the Charles Atlas exercise course to further develop into a musclebound fighter. Already at 18 he stood 6 feet tall and weighed 190 pounds. He would later reach a height of 6feet2 and a half inches and weighed around 210 in his prime. Encouraged by friends to train as a boxer, he set up his own gym on his father's ranch and set to building up his punching power. He eventually moved to Oakland, California, in pursuit of finding a manager, taking a job at a local factory to support himself. There he met the factory owner's son, J. Hamilton Lorimer, who became his first manager. With Lorimer backing him, Max fought his first professional match in Stockton, California, on May 16, 1929, knocking out the otherwise forgotten Chief Caribou in two rounds. He fought sixteen more times before the close of the year, losing just once, disqualified for picking up and throwing an opponent to the floor. He was again disqualified in his first match of 1930, this time for "stalling." He went on to win his next seven fights, however, six by knockout, securing a match with his most talented opponent yet, Les Kennedy, one of the best fighters in California. Still raw and unschooled, Max was unable to solve the puzzle of Kennedy's professional, experienced style and lost a ten-round decision.

 

And then, on 25 August 1930, something would happen that would profoundly affect Baer forever: he took on the promising Frankie Campbell, who had recently knocked out Les Kennedy. Campbell was reportedly over-confident going into the fight and showed little respect for his younger opponent, deeming him to be too crude to be a real challenge for him. However, Baer started bringing the pressure to Campbell from the onset with his strength and punching power in the first round and did well. To make matters worse, Campbell's seconds jeered Max, which only infuriated him more. In the second round, Campbell pushed and wrestled Baer to the floor which drew laughter from his seconds. Campbell stepped over Baer even, making the insult bigger and went to the neutral corner. As he was smiling to his wife who was seated ringside, Baer furiously leapt to his feet and went charging at Campbell. Campbell didn't realise Baer was up and just as he turned his head he was hit by a big left which sent him into the ropes. He continued to hammer away at Campbell who was tangled in the ropes almost, before the bell sounded. Back in his corner, Campbell said "I feel like something broke in my head." He came back strong in the next two rounds however and was ahead on the points before the fifth. It was then that Baer really knew he had to do something drastical to win. The cornermen of Campbell continued their jeering and even started insulting Baer's family at this point. He then threw himself over Campbell with furious blows and drove him to the ropes where he smashed him on the chin with a devastating right hand, his signature punch. That was enough to render Campbell unconscious but Baer didn't stop there and continued firing away with all he had. Finally, the referee Toby Irvin stepped in as Campbell fell unconscious and bloody to the floor. Irvin later claimed he didn't want to stop the fight earlier because he wanted to be absolutely sure Campbell was finished and was afraid Campbell's men would accuse him of "faking". Baer was victorious but Campbell would never fight again. Unfortunately, the ring doctor was seated too far back and it took him about 20 minutes to fight thru an angry crowd before he got to Campbell. Campbell was rushed to hospital where he was diagnosed as suffering from brain bruises and haemorrhages. Surgery would be futile, so Campbell was helpless and died the next morning. Max came to the hospital, approached Campbell's sobbing wife and offered her his hand with tears in his eyes and said "It was unfortunate, I'm awfully sorry." She replied "It might have been you, might it not."

 

It was a huge blow for a 21-yearold and naturally, Max considered quitting the sport. He proceeded however and in a bizarre stroke of fate found himself fighting Ernie Schaaf next, another future victim whose death Baer would partly be accused for. Baer had nothing special to show in this first fight with Schaaf and was thoroughly battered but lasted the 10 round distance. In his next fight he knocked out Tom Heeney in 3 before he lost to Tommy Loughran on points who proved too clever for the less polished Baer. He also lost surprirsingly to the smaller but very tenacious Paulino "Basque Woodchopper" Uzcudun on points in a 20-round fight. He returned with knockouts over Jack Van Nev and the then-tallest boxer in the world, Portuguese Jose Santa Camarao, whom Baer knocked out in 10. He also avenged the loss to Les Kennedy with a KO 3 and the loss to Johnny Risko with a UD10. 1932 would prove to be a good year for him, as he first defeated King Levinsky on UD10, then by UD20, before he signed to fight Schaaf again on 31 August at Chicago Stadium. Schaaf was the better man in the first half but Baer came on stronger in the second half and started battering his man, before he knocked him out flat in the 10th and the last round. However, the bell deprived him of knockout victory, so the fight went to the scorecards and the verdict was a majority decision for Baer. Schaaf continued to fight but constantly complained of headaches after that and even though he won a couple bouts, in February '33 he was battered and knocked out in the 13th round by behemoth Primo Carnera and died 4 days later. Once again, Baer's image as a killer began to be shaped by the medias. Next year he faced off against Tuffy Griffiths of Iowa at Chicago Stadium where he stopped Tuffy by TKO 7, after flooring him once in the 6th before that. In June that year he was selected to face Max Schmelling on Yankee Stadium in New York. Schmelling was a former world champion and the favorite in the fight which was promoted by Jack Dempsey and produced a gate of 239 K. A crowd of 53,000 turned up, among them Jack Sharkey and Primo Carnera himself, to watch what was later deemed the fight of the year by The Ring. As Schmelling had come from Hitler-ruled Germany, Baer chose to wear black trunks with a star of David on them, proudly displaying his Jewish heritage. The two men went at eachother from the get go and there were numerous exchanges but Baer, taller and heavier of the two by 14 pounds, got the better of the German legend and floored him in the 10th for an 8-count and Schmelling got up groggy. As Baer jumped at him, the ref then stepped in to save Schmelling of further punishment. It was Baer's first victory over a former world champion and a top 5 contender.

 

Because this fight was a sort of an eliminator for the world title, Baer received a shot against the world champion, the intimidating 6foot6 Primo Carnera. Carnera was avoided by some top contenders of that time and nobody gave Baer much chance of winning, despite the impressive display against Schmelling. Carnera also weighed over 50 pounds more than Baer and was considered unnaturally large even for a heavyweight. The fight happened on 14 June '34 at Madison Square Garden. Once again, Baer fought with the Star of David on his trunks, which he was later criticised for by some, who felt that he as only half-Jewish (some claimed he was only quarter) he wasn't really qualified to represent the Hebrew people. Baer came into the fight weighing 209 1/2 pounds and Carnera weighed 263 1/4! Despite all that, Baer proved that size is useless if you are stiff and can't avoid punches, as he dominated Carnera from the opening, battering him at will and knocking him down no less than 11 times! Baer also taunted Carnera with his clown antics before the fight started and even during the fight. The fight was finally stopped in the 11th round and finally, the clownish knockout artist from Omaha had done it. Unfortunately, after achieving his greatest success in the ring, Baer didn't stay focused and went on drinking, clowning and having a good time, not least by socialising with women. He had not fought for almost exactly a year before it was time to defend his heavyweight crown, against the heavy underdog called James J. Braddock, known as Bulldog of Bergen. By the time the fight was over, he would gain another, more famous moniker. Braddock, a 10to1 underdog, did the unthinkable and outboxed and outworked the slow and untrained Baer, who had his moments but most of his punches were blocked or avoided. In the late rounds Baer turned it up and hurt Braddock a few times but Braddock held on and managed to survive till the final bell, which spelled defeat for Baer. 2 judges favoured Braddock clearly while the third had it even. Farewell to the crown.

 

Just three months later, Baer signed to fight the biggest fight of his life, albeit not a title one, against the Brown Bomber: Joe Louis. Unfortunately, Baer entered the fight with a broken right hand, which was like going into a gun fight without the gun for him. He was down for the first time in his career in round 3, after getting hit with two rights to the head. He just made the count but was then again put down by three consecutive left hooks to the jaw. The bell saved Baer from the knockout, but in the next round he was again dropped with an overhand right and a left hook, which was the end of the fight. However, it later turned out that due to a timekeeping error, the round went on at least 9 seconds longer than it should, which means Baer technically should have survived it. Baer however replied "What's the difference? I was beaten and beaten in grand fashion." Louis later said that this performance was his best ever. Nobody ever again stopped Baer so early in the fight. He came back next year and put on a winning streak of 19 fights, 15 by knockout. After curiously losing an exhibition 6-round bout against Willie Davies, in April '37 he faced the best Welsh heavyweight ever, Tommy Farr. It was a disappointing performance by Baer, who was cut on the eyebrow in the first round and beaten up by the Welshman for the 10 rounds in a fight that took place in Haringay Arena in London. Of course, Farr went on to win by a clear decision. Baer was very disappointed naturally and said "I'm washed up. I'm going back to my California ranch and retire." But it didn't go that way. Only a month later he again returned to Haringay Arena and this time was in better luck, stopping Ben Foord of South Africa by TKO 9. In March next year he had a rematch with Farr but this time at Madison Square Garden and this time Baer produced an impressive performance, batttering Farr to the canvas three times (something Louis himself was unable to do) and winning by a clear 15-round decision. He had one more fight against a journeyman that year and won by ko, but in June next year he faced the up and coming contender, the 6foot3 Lou Nova. It was an even fight but Baer sustained a mouth cut early on and it hampered his breathing, so the fight was stopped in the 11th. It was actually the first boxing match ever televised.

 

He then scored 4 more knockouts, among them a 7th round corner retirement against legendary Tony "Two Ton" Galento and a TKO 1 against Pat Comiskey, who had only one loss previously and who would later go 10 rounds against Lou Nova. Finally, 4 April '41, came his final fight and the second against Nova. Baer put Nova down in the 4th with his famous right but then Nova came on strong and put him down twice in the 8th before the fight was stopped. It was an unworthy ending to such a career but still a brave one. Baer then finally retired, after years and years of tough and punishing fights. During world war 2 he served as a physical conditioning instructor for the US Air Force. Later, he starred in a popular night club with former light heavyweight champion Maxie Rosenbloom and also appeared in several movies, first one was Prizefighter and the Lady in 1933. His brother Buddy Baer was also a heavyweight contender who fought Joe Louis twice for the world championship. In his last years of life, he worked as a referee. Max Baer died 21 November 1959 while staying in a hotel after having refereed a boxing match. He experienced chest pains in the morning and called the front desk. "House doctor will be there in a moment", the reply came. Always the joker till the very end, he replied "A house doctor? No dummy, I need a people doctor!" He was given medicine and administered oxygen and appeared like he was heading towards recovery when he was later again stricken with another heart attack. He then rolled over, turned blue, said "Oh god, here I go!" and passed away. He was 50. His son Max jr was for a while a professional boxer but lacked his old man's big punch and hung em up after a while. He later started acting and became famous as Jethro in the Beverly Hillbillies sitcom. He later condemned the negative portrayal of his father in the Ron Howard-directed Cinderella Man, a film about James J. Braddock.

 

Max Baer was inducted into the International boxing hall of fame in 1995 and was named the 22th hardest puncher of all time by The Ring. Same magazine also declared him the 20th best heavyweight of all time in 1998.

Edited by BoztheMadman
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re: Max Baer-the Clowning Killer

 

Max Baer was inducted into the International boxing hall of fame in 1995 and was named the 22th hardest puncher of all time by The Ring. Same magazine also declared him the 20th best heavyweight of all time in 1998.

 

Cheers for this Boz. Missed this thread as Ive been busy uploading loads to the careers threads. :thumb:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...