Best filmed max baer performance?

100%. Baer had the goods physically. I'm fairly confident that with modern coaching and training he would have been made into something more aesthetically pleasing on film. But Good Lord does he look awful.

 

It doesn´t matter how open Baer was in the Schmeling fight, Schmeling was probably scared of him, and Baer explored that pretty well, that´s all that matters.. the mental aspect comes first, then we can discuss the fundamentals.
Baer could take advantage of his opponents, mentally, being open or not, whatever that means.. Baer was a better fighter than Schmeling even if he had a lack of pure fundamentals.

 

Schmeling was probably concerned with Baer’s power I doubt he was afraid of him. He stayed in the pocket all night. Schmeling was a better boxer than Baer. Schmeling beat Risko, Uzcudon, and Joe Louis all 3 held wins on Baer. Plus Baer lost his title in an abysmal performance to Braddock. Doubt Braddock would have beaten Schmeling had Schmeling been given the rightful shot at James.

 

Well, Baer beat Schmeling due to something better that he did.

 

It wasn't a lack of pure fundamentals. It was a lack on basic fundamentals. He would be eaten alive by guys ranked 80-100 in the world today.

 

Not 80-100, c´mon, Seamus. He was small for todays standards so I won´t even go there.. but he had a great sense of timing and could punch, that can make anyone competitive.

 

120-140?

I've seen hundreds of prelim heavies over the last three decades with better understanding of boxing skills.

 

It´s not only about skills. I´ve seen guys with more skills than world champions and they never made it. Schmeling had better skills and still lost to Baer ! Why skills matter when Baer proved he could beat that with all the other intangibles he had plenty.

 

Yes but upsets happen every year. I’m just saying Schmeling had the better career. Bigger wins, and bettter against common opponents.

 

I agree with you. But when we discuss Baer we can´t simply forget he did beat skilled guys.. so he must have be doing something right to beat Schmeling or other ranked guys that everybody would consider more skileld than him.

 

Thanks finally someone not looking through a nostalgic eye. Baer was a club level fighter. Just that for his day he was a stud 6 3 210 lbs athletic and powerful. Till he ran into someone that he just couldn’t stand there and take punches from in Louis.

 

Nah, you nailed it. It’s everyone else who missed the obvious.

 

I agree with that, he was a very big man for the era which helped him, he could punch and he had a cement chin. So he did have some natural attributes, but he is totally lacking in the skills department, he’s not even a good finisher.