Top 20? Top 15? His demo jobs on Schmeling and Carnera were incredible, and he's got a host of wins a tier below that. Where's Baer come out at?
His wins over Schmeling, Carnera, and a number of others, make him a noteworthy name in the grand scheme of history. But, I'm not sure that I'd rate him terribly high. His destruction of Primo Carnera was huge, but his loss to such a huge underdog in James Braddock over shadows it. He scored a convincing KO over Max Schmeling, however Baer was a rather large and hard hitting heavyweight facing a man who had spent much of his career at light heavyweight ( Yes I know he beat Louis ), yet battled him over many rounds. A prime and well seasoned Baer was beaten early and easily by a rather green and upcoming Joe Louis. Baer was good, but he doesn't make my top 20.
One of the top hardest hitters of all time. One of the most charismatic characters in ring history. Schmeling, Carnera, Schaaf, all the big names fell to him. Outside of Louis and Braddock, he defeated most everyone available. His problem though, was that he wasnt consistant enough to keep himself at the top of the game. I'd rank him, as far as title holders go, inside the top 20.
Top 25-30. No defintley not top 15. Im sure you watched only two rounds of each fight, because the scorecards were dead even going into the 10th round against Max Schmeling. I had it 4-4-1 myself. This was baers best fight. This was also schmelings worst filmed performance. I think Schmeling takes the rematch if it had gone off. Also Primo Carnera won every round of there fight outside of 1st 2nd 10th and 11th by easily outboxing baer. the scorecards were actually very close. His embarrasing loss to James Braddock was the worst performance in Heavyweight Lineage history by a champion. Max Baer was an ATG puncher and recorded some great knockouts at his best. His Size Durability Punching Power and Handspeed made him a tough fighter to beat at his best. He is top 30 material. nothing more nothing less.
"Outside of Louis and Braddock, he defeated most everyone available" I don't think so. He lost to Loughran, Uzcudun, and twice to Nova. Also, several men he did beat, Schaaf, Risko, and Farr, also beat him. A very erratic performer, but certainly charismatic in the extreme.
He is not an easy fighter to rank for a number of reasons. He was obviously verry inconsistent and actualy did worse vs common oponents than Primo Carnera. Despite this at his best he seems to have been something special when he got it together and might have been the best of the mid 30s champs head to head. A top 20 ranking could be justified but I think that top 30 is more acurate.
My father was a fast prof. welter and was used to help train Baer. No doubt he was a hard hitter and deserves the high ranking for that, but speed appeared to be something he needed working on.
Intersting. On film Baer seems to lack a jab, and effort. I often wonder if the Braddock fight was a fix.
Not as long as Ingemar Johannsen and Jim Braddock are in there! I'd put Sharkey below him too. Baer was one of the hardest hitting HWs of all time, and had one of the best all-time HW chins to boot. I'd put him in the lower part of the top 20, maybe just outside it. Baer gets underrated by a lot of boxing fans.
I personally think that both Ingo and Jack's resume have a bit more substance. Sharkey lost quite a few fights, but beat a better list of opponents in my opinion. Ingo was one of the few fighters who defeated every man he ever faced and that included prime versions of Machen and Patterson...