The slandered rer. The other side of the dollar

Max Baer is a talented boxer, handsome man, who earned the nickname “The Unsolved Clown” for his playful style of combat.

Max Baer (real name Maximillian Adalbert Baer) was born on February 11, 1909 into a German Jewish family. He was a talented boxer, a handsome man, who earned the nickname “The Unsolved Clown” for his playful fighting style.

Max Baer performed with a six-pointed star on his shorts. When he entered the ring, he usually did a somersault. During the break, he could have a friendly chat with one of the spectators, curious about, say, the health of his mother-in-law or the harvest on the farm. He gave the most extravagant interviews, reporters flocked to his press conference. He had a lively character and a reputation as a womanizer and drinker, which did not prevent him from being an excellent boxer.

In 1933, at one of the press conferences, he announced that he would deal with two “Nazis.” Max meant former champion world champion German Max Schmeling and current world champion Italian Primo Carnera.

Already in June 1933, Baer met with the first of them. The fight took place in New York with an overwhelming advantage for Max Baer over his famous namesake. The spectators shouted: “Hit! Nazi!”, which Baer did with pleasure. In the 10th round, the referee stopped the fight and declared Max Baer the official challenger for the match championship title.

So the next opponent of the “ring clown” was supposed to be the Italian Primo Carnera, favored by Mussolini. All year, during the preparation for the match, Max, in numerous interviews with the press, insulted his opponent in every possible way, and once during the filming of a film in which he starred with Primo Carnera, he approached the Italian and said: they say, the director did not allow me to send you to that light, but now hurry up to choose a place in the cemetery.

The fight took place on June 6, 1934 in New York's Madison Square Garden. Throughout all eleven rounds, Max beat the champion and in each round the body of Italy's favorite ended up on the floor. Three times Carnera asked the referee to stop the fight, but the referee threatened the athlete with lifelong disqualification and the beating continued. Only in the 11th round did the referee stop the fight and declare Max Baer the new world champion.

Having taken the highest title, Max Baer changed his lifestyle. He admitted to journalists that he never liked fighting; a carefree social life is another matter. Sports reporters were in despair; they could not capture Max in the training room, wearing fighting gloves. But their colleagues from other publications continually published pictures of the champion lounging on the beach, filming in Hollywood, squeezing the winners of beauty contests... This lifestyle did not contribute to improvement sports uniform world champion and exactly a year later he lost this title in a fight against a little-known descendant of Irish settlers, James Bradock.

Probably everyone has seen the film “Cinderella Man” (lit. “Cinderella”), released in Russian under the name “Knockdown” and dedicated to boxer James Braddock. The film was famously directed by Ron Howard from a script by Akiva Goldsman in 2005. The main role, the role of Jimmy Braddock, was played by Russell Crowe. If someone still forgot or didn’t watch, I’ll retell the plot in a nutshell.

During the Great Depression, disqualified boxer James Braddock was ready to take on any job to support his family. One day, for a small fee, he is offered to act as “meat” in a boxing match with John Griffin. Nobody believes in the victory of James, who, by the way, also has a broken arm. But unexpectedly Braddock wins in the third round. After equally sensational victories over John Lewis and Art Lasky, Braddock has the opportunity to fight for the world title. Again, no one believes Braddock will win. The current champion, Max Baer, ​​is younger, stronger, and more professional. But, in full accordance with the laws of Hollywood, victory goes to the main character, Jimmy Braddock.

This is the plot of the film, which does not contradict historical facts. But for us now it is more important to understand how James Braddock and Max Baer are presented in the film. Jimmy is the ideal family man, ready to do anything for his family. He is the idol of the poor - primarily of those hard workers who worked with him at the dock for pennies. Against this background, Maxi Baer is the favorite of fortune. He is rich and loved by women. The attitude of the public towards him in the film is not entirely clear. However, the leitmotif in the film is the idea that Baer killed two boxers in the ring. And he did it, as it were, not without pleasure. Because, according to the film, it threatens Braddock with death - and even in the presence of James’ wife. It is significant that when Braddock asks Baer why he wants to kill him, the father of three children, Max, according to the film, does not even think about dispelling the questioner’s speculations. And on top of that, he also promises to woo Braddock’s future widow. This is how Max Baer is shown in the film. And it is not surprising that all the viewer’s sympathies are on Braddock’s side.

The artistic approach of the filmmakers is clear, but is it worth making a monster out of a character who is a real historical figure? Maybe we should restore justice and ask who Max Baer really was?

Max, or more accurately Maximillian Adalbert Baer, ​​was born on February 11, 1909 in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a Hollywood handsome man, a talented boxer, a showman, and for his playful manner of fighting he earned the nickname “Madcap Maxie”, “The Fistic Harlequin of Hollywood”, etc. In addition, Baer was very distinguished swipe with his right hand, with which he could knock opponents off their feet, giving fights a touch of antiquity, for which Max was also nicknamed “The American Adonis.”

It must be said that Baer was an extravagant figure. Once in the ring, Maxie usually did a somersault. He created spectacles from his fights, so little similar to the careful and calibrated fights of heavyweights. In between blows, he could freely talk with someone from the audience, inquiring, for example, about the health of his mother-in-law. Possessing by nature not only athletic talent, but also artistry, he arranged the most witty press conferences for journalists, for which the correspondents loved him madly. Max, for example, has the following statement: “If after a missed blow I no longer see one, but three or more opponents, I hit back the one in the center.” The famous American writer Norman Mailer, who was keenly interested in boxing, once called Baer “an unsolved clown.”

Max Baer was actually accused of killing Frankie Campbell in the ring. This battle took place on August 25, 1930. In the second round, Campbell saluted the audience after a successful blow, but immediately missed a precise blow from Maxey. Between rounds, Frankie said to his mentor: “Something feels like it snapped in my head.” The fight, however, was not stopped, and Campbell even won the third and fourth rounds. But in the fifth, Baer pinned his opponent to the ropes and rained down a series of blows on him. Campbell's mentors could have thrown in the towel, but they did not, and it was only when the referee stopped the fight that it became clear that Frankie needed urgent medical attention.

Baer soon rushed to the hospital to see the dying man and met his wife Frankie there. They shook hands. "I'm very sorry," Baer said. To which Ellie Campbell replied: “But it could have happened to you, couldn’t it…” (“It even might have been you, mightn’t it?”).

Frankie died in hospital the next day. A day later, sports columnist Bob Shand reported that “no one feels more sorrow for the tragedy than Baer himself. The big kid is heartbroken and ready to quit the racket."

A criminal case was brought against Baer, ​​but Max was acquitted on all counts. When Widow Campbell was later asked if she had forgiven Max Baer, ​​Ellie replied, “I have no resentment toward Mr. Baer.” By the way, Baer did not leave the Campbell family, he helped her with funds and financed the education of Frankie’s children.

Until the end of his life, Max Baer was never able to recover from this incident. He often sobbed at night, regretting the tragedy. And after this fight, he never took boxing with the seriousness that this sport required. In particular, Max started drinking and smoking.

Isn’t it true that this “big child” in reality is not at all like the monster that Max Baer is presented in the film “Knockdown”?.. But this is not enough. The authors of the film "Cinderella Man" attributed to Baer a murder that he did not commit at all - the murder of Ernie Schaaf. Max did inflict a series of serious blows to Schaaf's head, but five months (!) before the latter's death. Ernie died on February 11, 1933 in a battle with the Italian Primo Carnera.

An interesting detail: the people’s love that we see in the film “Knockdown” towards Braddock was also inherent in Max Baer. On the advice of his mentors, Baer began to emphasize his partial Jewish origin, thereby embodying anti-fascist tendencies in democratic America. In particular, Max entered the ring with a six-pointed Star of David on his shorts and did not forget to exchange a few phrases in Yiddish with someone from the audience.

While the film “The Boxer and the Lady” (1933), which launched the career of the “fisted Harlequin” in Hollywood, was banned in Hitler’s Germany - it was banned precisely because of Baer’s partial Jewish origin, “the extravagant Maxi” said at one of the press conferences, that he would deal with two "Nazis", meaning the former world champion German Max Schmeling and the then world champion Italian Primo Carnera - the same one who killed Ernie Schaaf and who was Mussolini's personal favorite.

The Americans had high hopes for their favorite. The “fame” of a weirdo, a womanizer and a drinker did not prevent Baer from having a reputation as a worthy contender for the championship title. And the Americans were not mistaken. Already on June 8, 1933 in New York, to the screams of the audience “Beat the Nazi!” Max Baer chased Schmeling, stunned with fear and pain, for ten rounds until the referee stopped the fight by raising Baer’s hand.

Then, for a year, the “crazy Maxi” prepared for a fight with Primo Carnera, simultaneously humiliating the simple-minded Italian in the press, vilifying him with all the force of his causticity. Carnera was beaten in the same New York - and with no less efficiency than his German “comrade-in-arms”. Amid the same anti-fascist cries from the public, on June 6, 1934, Primo was mercilessly beaten by Baer for eleven rounds until the referee stopped the fight, declaring Max Baer the new world champion. The world heavyweight championships have never seen such results - 11 knockdowns in 11 rounds. Moreover, Carnera appealed to the referee three times with a request to stop the fight, but the judge, incited by public interest, demanded that the fight continue, threatening Carnera with lifelong disqualification.

Of course, after such successful fights, and even with world-famous boxers, Max could not expect that next year he would have to defend the championship title against the no longer young and little-known James Braddock.

Braddock belonged neither to the fascists nor to the Nazis, he was from a family of Irish immigrants and, in principle, was distinguished by all those positive qualities, which the film “Knockdown” tells us about.

It is difficult to say how great an athlete James Braddock was - experts differ in their opinions on this matter, and track record quite poor. One thing is clear: Max Baer did not take him seriously. According to one version, he entered the fight with injured hands (according to another, both of Max’s hands were broken during the match with Braddock). Baer entered the ring as if for a walk. At the same time, James understood that fate was giving him the only chance to get out of poverty, and Braddock did not miss this chance: “Cinderella” was cleansed of ash and became a prince. Despite the fact that the forecasts were ten to one in favor of “King Kong” Baer, ​​journalists and fans did not take into account the fortitude of the “hungry boxer”, capable of resisting a stronger athlete.

However, here again, the authors of the film “Knockdown” prudently omitted that before the fight with Braddock, Max Baer publicly stated: “I wish Jimmy good luck, and no matter what happens, I hope that we can still be friends.” - “I wish Jimmy the best of luck and no matter what happens, I hope we can still be friends.” And here the authors of the film “Cinderella Man” prudently omitted that during the match, feeling that he was losing on points, Max Baer said to Braddock: “I’m glad that the big money will go to you, Jimmy - you’ll spend it better than I did.” " And it is no coincidence that they did not include in the film the phrase spoken by Baer immediately after the defeat: “I’m happy for Jimmy!” - “I’m happy for Jimmy.” Yes, indeed, the historical Max Baer is not at all similar to the hero of the film of the same name. And it is not surprising that the son of Max Baer, ​​as well as some boxing experts, considered that the film “Cinderella Man” was unreliable, because Baer was slandered for the sake of glorifying Braddock.

All that remains is to talk about future fate Max Baer. After the defeat to Braddock, he no longer showed high sports results and soon left boxing completely. Later he performed in the spoken genre in his own variety show and acted in Hollywood.

On November 21, 1959, Max suffered a heart attack and called a doctor. As usual, he told jokes to the doctor who arrived and generally tried to joke, although it was clear that the situation was serious. Soon Max Baer died. He was only 50...

Max Baer (real name Maximillian Adalbert Baer) was born on February 11, 1909 into a German Jewish family. He was a talented boxer, a handsome man, who earned the nickname “The Unsolved Clown” for his playful fighting style.

Max Baer performed with a six-pointed star on his shorts. When he entered the ring, he usually did a somersault. During the break, he could have a friendly chat with one of the spectators, curious about, say, the health of his mother-in-law or the harvest on the farm. He gave the most extravagant interviews, reporters flocked to his press conference. He had a lively character and a reputation as a womanizer and drinker, which did not prevent him from being an excellent boxer.

In 1933, at one of the press conferences, he announced that he would deal with two “Nazis.” Max was referring to former world champion German Max Schmeling and current world champion Italian Primo Carnera.

Already in June 1933, Baer met with the first of them. The fight took place in New York with an overwhelming advantage for Max Baer over his famous namesake. The spectators shouted: “Hit! Nazi!”, which Baer did with pleasure. In the 10th round, the referee stopped the fight and declared Max Baer the official challenger for the championship match.

So the next opponent of the “ring clown” was supposed to be the Italian Primo Carnera, favored by Mussolini. All year, during the preparation for the match, Max, in numerous interviews with the press, insulted his opponent in every possible way, and once during the filming of a film in which he starred with Primo Carnera, he approached the Italian and said: they say, the director did not allow me to send you to that light, but now hurry up to choose a place in the cemetery.

The fight took place on June 6, 1934 in New York's Madison Square Garden. Throughout all eleven rounds, Max beat the champion and in each round the body of Italy's favorite ended up on the floor. Three times Carnera appealed to the referee with a request to stop the fight, but the referee threatened the athlete with lifelong disqualification and the beating continued. Only in the 11th round did the referee stop the fight and declare Max Baer the new world champion.

Having taken the highest title, Max Baer changed his lifestyle. He admitted to reporters that he never liked fighting; a carefree social life is another matter. Sports reporters were in despair; they could not capture Max in the training room, wearing fighting gloves. But their colleagues from other publications continually published pictures of the champion lounging on the beach, filming in Hollywood, squeezing the winners of beauty contests... This lifestyle did not contribute to the improvement of the world champion’s athletic form, and exactly a year later he lost this title in a fight against a little-known descendant of Irish settlers, James Bradock.

Ruslan Smorodinov

This is the plot of the film, which does not contradict historical facts. But for us now it is more important to understand how James Braddock and Max Baer are presented in the film. Jimmy is the ideal family man, ready to do anything for his family. He is the idol of the poor - primarily of those hard workers who worked with him at the dock for pennies. Against this background, Maxi Baer is the favorite of fortune. He is rich and loved by women. The attitude of the public towards him in the film is not entirely clear. However, the leitmotif in the film is the idea that Baer killed two boxers in the ring. And he did it, as it were, not without pleasure. Because, according to the film, it threatens Braddock with death - and even in the presence of James’ wife. It is significant that when Braddock asks Baer why he wants to kill him, the father of three children, Max, according to the film, does not even think about dispelling the questioner’s speculations. And on top of that, he also promises to make Braddock’s future widow his mistress. This is how Max Baer is shown in the film. And it is not surprising that all the viewer’s sympathies are on Braddock’s side.

Joe Gould and James Braddock
(top historical; bottom from the movie "Cinderella Man")

Jimmy Braddock and Russell Crowe, who played him

The artistic approach of the filmmakers is clear, but is it worth making a monster out of a character who is a real historical figure? Maybe it’s worth restoring justice and asking who Max Baer really was?

Max Baer, ​​1929

Max, or more accurately Maximilian Adalbert Baer, ​​was born on February 11, 1909 in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a Hollywood handsome man, a talented boxer, a showman, and for his playful fighting style he earned the nickname “Madcap Maxie”, “the Magnificent Screwball”, “the Fistic Harlequin of Hollywood”, “the boxing poseur” (the Pugilistic Poseur), etc. In addition, Baer was distinguished by a very strong right blow, with which he could knock down opponents, giving the fights a touch of antiquity, for which Max was also nicknamed “American Adonis”.

Max Baer, ​​19331935

It must be said that Baer was an extravagant figure. Once in the ring, Maxie usually did a somersault. He created spectacles from his fights, so little similar to the careful and calibrated fights of heavyweights. In between blows, he could freely talk with someone from the audience, inquiring, for example, about the health of his mother-in-law. Behr gave air kisses to the female half of the audience, and “encouraged” his opponent’s girlfriend with the word “C’mon!” He accompanied his successful blows with various exclamations, bowing to his opponent and the referee. Maxi also liked to simulate weak knees (as in the 8th round with Braddock) and even fleeting fainting. Spectators admired the fights with Maxi's participation, calling him “the menacing clown”, because, despite all the clowning, the “Livermore Larruper” knocked out his opponents with enviable consistency. Possessing by nature not only athletic talent, but also artistry, he arranged the most witty press conferences for journalists, for which the correspondents loved him to the point of sweet hiccups.

Max Baer was actually accused of killing Frankie Campbell in the ring. This battle took place on August 25, 1930. In the second round, Campbell saluted the audience after a successful blow, but immediately missed a precise blow from Maxey. During a break between rounds, Frankie said to his mentor: “Something feels like it snapped in my head.” The fight, however, was not stopped, and Campbell even won the third and fourth rounds. But in the fifth, Baer pinned his opponent to the ropes and rained down a series of blows on him. Campbell's mentors could have thrown in the towel, but they did not, and it was only when the referee stopped the fight that it became clear that Frankie needed urgent medical attention.

Defeated Campbell, Baer's legendary right-hander, 1930

Baer soon rushed to the hospital to see the dying man and met his wife Frankie there. They shook hands. "I'm very sorry," Baer said. To which Elsie Campbell replied: “But it could happen to you, couldn’t it…”. “It even might have been you, mightn’t it?” (According to another version, she replied: “It’s okay. This could happen to you too. It’s not your fault.” “Its all right. It might have been you. It wasnt your fault.”) About This is the story of then-sportswriter Bob Shand and contemporary biographer Jeremy Schaap, citing documents from the past. Some differences in the wording of Elsie's words - but while maintaining the essence of what was said - only confirm the truth of this meeting and its nature.

Frankie Campbell, 1929

Frankie died in hospital the next day. Bob Shand reported in the Oakland Tribune that “no one feels more sorrow for the tragedy than Baer himself. The big kid is heartbroken and ready to quit the racket."

Max Baer at Campbell's coffin, 1930

A criminal case was brought against Baer, ​​but Max was acquitted on all counts. When Widow Campbell was later asked if she had forgiven Max Baer, ​​Elsie replied, “I have no resentment toward Mr. Baer.” By the way, Baer did not leave the Campbell family, he helped her with funds and financed the education of Frankie’s children.

Until the end of his life, Max Baer was never able to recover from this incident. He often sobbed at night, regretting the tragedy. And after this fight, he never took boxing with the seriousness that this sport required. In particular, Max started drinking and smoking. Moreover, even the press noted that Max began to self-limit his “right”: in all matches, starting with the fight with Schmeling, Baer, ​​having the opportunity, did not deliver his legendary right blow to his almost defeated opponent and simply stepped aside.

Isn’t it true that this “big child” in reality is not at all like the monster that Max Baer is presented in the film “Knockdown”?.. But this is not enough. The authors of the film "Cinderella Man" attributed to Baer a murder that he did not commit at all - the murder of Ernie Schaaf. Max did inflict a series of serious blows to Schaaf's head, but five months (!) before the latter's death. Ernie was mortally wounded on February 10, 1933 in a battle with the Italian Primo Carnera and died four days later. In addition, the autopsy showed that Schaaf suffered from meningitis, which is why he died from a not so strong left blow from Carnera.

An interesting detail: the people’s love that we see in the film “Knockdown” towards Braddock was also inherent in Max Baer. On the advice of his mentors, Baer began to emphasize his partial Jewish origin (his paternal grandfather was a Jew), thereby, as it were, embodying anti-fascist tendencies in democratic America. In particular, Max entered the ring with a six-pointed Star of David on his shorts and did not forget to exchange a few phrases in Yiddish with someone from the audience.

At one of the press conferences, the “crazy Maxi” said that he would deal with two “Nazis,” referring to the former world champion German Max Schmeling and the then world champion Italian Primo Carnera - the same one who killed Ernie Schaaf and who was Mussolini's personal favorite. The Americans had high hopes for their favorite. The “fame” of a weirdo, a womanizer and a drinker did not prevent Baer from having a reputation as a worthy contender for the championship title. And the Americans were not mistaken. Already on June 8, 1933 in New York, to the screams of the audience “Beat the Nazi!” Max Baer beat Schmeling, stunned with fear and pain, for ten rounds until the referee stopped the fight by raising Baer’s hand. After each successful blow, the “Livermore executor” Baer said: “This one’s for Hitler!” - although at the end of the fight he himself told the referee that it was time to spare Schmeling, who was already literally beaten by Baer.

Max Baer vs. Max Schmeling, 1933, isolated episodes

Max Baer after defeating Schmeling, 1933

(In fairness, it must be said that Max Schmeling was not a Nazi and was not a member of any parties. Moreover, he once even sheltered Jewish teenagers during the Nazi pogroms. For many years, he was one of the most respected veterans of boxing Schmeling died on February 2, 2005, at the hundredth year of his life. Shortly before his death, he sent flowers and a card to the Ukrainian boxer Vitaly Klitschko, who was there due to a shoulder injury, with wishes for a speedy recovery. Vitaly himself named one of his sons Max in honor. Schmeling. But Vitaly, according to the magazine “Lechaim”, is the grandson of the Jewish woman Tamara Efimovna Etinzon...)

Max Baer in The Boxer and the Lady, 1933

Would you say this is the opinion of the interested party? After all, this is the story of my own son. But that doesn't mean anything! Because there are photographs and videos (some of them are on this site), there are a lot of books and magazines that Catherine Johnson managed to unearth in the archives. There is everything, but there is no image of the monster that Max Baer is shown in the film “Knockdown”. Maybe the filmmakers have their own secret informants, distinguished not only by their longevity (wow, they remember the mid-30s!), but also by their longevity?..

And now I suggest you watch a few sluggish rounds (see all rounds in the “Video” section) for the championship title and compare whether the fight between Baer and Braddock is believably shown in the film “Cinderella Man” (“Knockdown”). It is significant that in the film even the Star of David was removed from Baer’s shorts - probably due to tolerance (this is despite the general slander!). See for yourself that the staging of the fight in the film is purely artistic and fictional in essence: what is especially “touching” is the deliberate and almost successful murder of James in the last round by Max. In reality, during the first rounds Baer danced, characteristically adjusted his underpants, saluted the audience - in short, played the fool. Braddock, even if he missed blows, gave no less significant ones in response. And only by the seventh round (in my opinion, this was Baer’s most successful round) Max seemed to finally understand that he had almost lost the match. But it was too late - James had no intention of giving up other rounds, and the fight went on with varying degrees of success. And what is lost cannot be returned, and as a result, James Braddock won.

1935, 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds

Championship match, Max Baer vs. James Braddock
1935, 4th, 5th and 6th rounds

Championship match, Max Baer vs. James Braddock
1935, 7th and 15th rounds

I'm not even saying that Maxi didn't stop acting like a monkey in the future:

Championship match, Max Baer vs. James Braddock
1935, 8th round, episode

I would still like to say a few words about Jimmy Braddock, so as not to get the impression that his importance as a person and an athlete is being diminished. Yes, I have read more than once that Braddock “became great just because of one, and even then a mediocre fight” (meaning the match with Baer). James really did not have the talents that nature had endowed Maxie with. But Braddock had something that Baer did not have - real will. Having some inheritance from birth, Baer was rather uncritical about life and career. He was interested in pleasure. But Braddock knew firsthand what poverty was. In addition, he had a strong character and the endurance that allowed him, thirty years old, not only to withstand the onslaught of Baer - the onslaught of the very boxer who so thoroughly suppressed Schmeling and Karnera - but even snatch victory from him.

The uniqueness of Jimmy Braddock is precisely that he is Cinderella Man, as the famous journalist Damon Runyon once called him. Braddock embodied the dream of all Cinderellas and Cinderellas: without money, without any support “from above” (we seem to “forget” about the fairy fairy), without anything to be ashamed of - he set foot on the top of Olympus. I think this is what makes it unique. And well-deserved glory. And in this regard, the same Runyon is partly right: “In all the history of the boxing game you find no human interest story to compare with the life narrative of James J. Braddock." “In the entire history of boxing you will not find a story about human destiny that would be more interesting than the story of James Braddock” (epigraph to the film “Cinderella Man”).

James Braddock, 1937

But on Olympus, already with money, James, it seems, ceased to be who he was before: with negotiations he simply delayed the match with Schmeling in 1936. A year later, on June 22, 1937, Braddock gave the championship title to another athlete - a real boxer, talented, purposeful, named in 2003 by Ring magazine the best boxer-puncher of all time, Joe Louis. And if in the first round Braddock sent Louis into a dubious knockdown (Joe immediately stood up), then in the eighth round “the Brown Bomber” knocked James out with an accurate right blow. Well, what can you say: years, old sores, the status of a tumbler is not eternal...

At the same time, Baer was an artist in the ring. If it weren’t for his natural laziness and underestimation of his opponents, he might have been able to lead the boxing Olympus for a long time. But history does not know the subjunctive mood. Baer was world champion for only one year. But whoever he was, he wasn't the scumbag he was portrayed as in the movie Cinderella Man. Therefore, my quiet complaints are not against Baer or Braddock, but against the creators of the said film - first of all, towards the director Howard (Howerd). Ron is certainly a professional when it comes to directing, and I once really liked him for the film “Apollo 13.”

Let's know them by sight

However, I think all four should be ashamed in front of the family and fans of Max Baer. I, being an atheist, am not talking about the Highest Laws of the Universe...

Friendly sparring between Max Baer and Midget Wolgast

On November 21, 1959, Max suffered a heart attack and called a doctor. As usual, he told jokes to the doctor who arrived and generally tried to joke, although it was clear that the situation was serious. Soon Max Baer died. He was only 50...

An obituary announcing Baer's death appeared on the front page of the New York Times. More than one and a half thousand people buried Max. Four former world champions, including the legendary Jack Dempsey and the unrivaled Joe Louis, came to Sacramento, California, to say goodbye especially...

“I never got into a fight outside the ring. I never harmed anyone outside the ring. I loved people" ( Max Baer).

Max didn't lie, he loved people. And people paid him the same. Well, how could you not fall in love with a wit, for whom a joke has become as familiar as exhaling? Well, how could you not fall in love with an athlete who made boxing an art of spectacle? Well, what woman can resist a man with an ideal figure, proudly called the “American Adonis” by popular rumor?..

And no films will force us to betray this love...

In 1931, Baer lost a fight to Tommy Loughran. Possessing neither great strength nor great weight, Loughran was an excellent technical boxer.
Tommy Loughran introduced Max to Jack Dempsey, who agreed to become his coach.
Baer began dating quite strong boxers and in February-May 1931 he lost two fights, but this did not bother him or Dempsey.

The next time he lost was four years later.
At the end of 1932, Baer once again met with Ernie Schaaf and did what he could not do in their first meeting.
Five seconds before the end of the fight, he knocked him out deeply, but the referee declared victory on points.
In 1933, Baer was already considered one of the main contenders for the fight for the championship title, but in order to achieve this right, he had to meet with ex-champion Max Schmeling.

The Nazis had just come to power and immediately began to persecute the Jews. Absolutely indifferent to politics, Baer took this very seriously and sincerely hated Schmeling as a representative of the fascist regime.
Their fight took place on June 8, 1933, and it was for this fight that Baer first came out with a six-pointed star on his uniform.
Max Baer has not been interested in the national question since childhood. At the moment when he had to fight with a German, a representative of an anti-Semitic state, Baer decided that it was his Jewish component that should become the most important.
But poor Schmeling, who was as far from anti-Semitism as Baer himself, had to pay for everything.

The first round turned out to be the best for Schmeling. His right shocked Baer, ​​who had great difficulty staying on his feet.
Soon it began to seem to Schmeling that there were a whole bunch of Baers in the ring - he was getting so much trouble from him.
Vast experience allowed the German to hold out until the tenth round, but that was all.
After two knockdowns, the referee considered it best to stop the fight.

The path to a fight with the champion was open, and on June 14, 1934, Baer came out against Primo Carnera. He didn't give the Italian a single chance.
In the first round, Max knocked him down three times, and after the first knockdown, the huge Carnera simply ran away from him all over the ring.
Rounds from the third to the seventh passed in an equal fight, while Carnera gradually increased his momentum and, perhaps, he still won three of them, although with a minimal advantage.
In the eighth round, Baer began to take the initiative into his own hands again.
The Italian won the ninth round again. However, in the tenth round everything fell into place. Baer knocked Carnera down twice. When the round ended, Carnera could not find his corner and followed Baer to his seconds.
The end came in the eleventh round. After two more knockdowns from Carnera and his repeated requests to stop beating, the referee stopped the match.

Max Baer lost the title in his very next fight, just a year later, losing on points to James Braddock.
A few months later he met rising star Joe Louis. Baer was knocked out in the fourth round.

After leaving the ring, Max starred a lot and successfully in Hollywood.
In 1959 he starred in the famous film The Louder They Fall. This was a free interpretation of the fate of Primo Carnera.

On November 21, 1959, while at a hotel in Hollywood, Max suddenly felt severe pain in his chest.
He called the doctor, but when he arrived, he began to joke, as usual, although he was clearly unwell.
More than 1,500 people gathered for the funeral. One of the pallbearers was Jack Dempsey.

Baer Max was buried at the request of his wife in a Catholic cemetery in Sacramento, California, USA.
For sports career had 84 fights: 72 victories (of which 52 were knockouts) and 12 defeats.

He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995.