How good was Max Baer?

He had a lethal right hand and an Iron Chin. There are some clips on youtube of him taking flush shots and laughing he was one of the first guys to clown his opponents in the ring. And if he took Boxing seriously he would have been much better than he was he had 50 career KO's and in his era you literally had to KTFO someone for the referee to stop it not like today where one guy gets a bloody nose and the referee stops the fight.

He also banged some of the top Hollywood Starlets of his day.

 

He would certainly take out Bonecrusher.

 

Very good fighter, arguably a top 15 heavy depending on criteria imo. Monster power in his right hand, plus an undentable chin makes for a tough combination to beat h2h.
His stretch from Uzcudon to Braddock is among the more impressive in HW history, he had two wins over lineal champions in Schmeling and Carnera plus a host of other quality victories. Baer at his best is a handful for most heavyweights in history.

 

Hard hitter, took a good punch, now if someone had actually taught him how to box.

I believe Baer falls short of being a great heavyweight, mainly due to lack of dedication. He let himself down with his non-effort against Braddock.

 

Those are bad matchups for Baer. See Louis-Baer for how he'd handle Tyson and I think Holyfield would counter him silly.

 

Arguably the hardest puncher of all heavyweight champions. Badly underrated left hook and jab, and some good defensive skills when he chose not to rely on his chin. In the exhibition with King Levinski, he neatly slips some attempts at sucker punching before putting the Kingfish out with a hook.

He nearly decked Galento with a neat little move. Max had his back to the corner when he ducked a hook (not bad at all, considering the height disparity), reversed positions when Tony's momentum carried him past, and came over the top with his patented right when Galento's own right got caught in the ropes. (For his part, a sagging Galento avoided the knockdown with an immediate lunge and grab. Tony recovered his bearings quickly, and deserves recognition for his rapid recuperative abilities.)

Marciano, Frazier, and Ali are cited as examples of great heavyweight endurance, but it was Maxie who produced the final 20 round win in the division over the aforementioned Kingfish under the blistering summer desert sun in Reno. Even in round 20, the footage reveals him to still retain excellent vitality. (Levinski too, for that matter.)

After the Frankie Campbell tragedy, Loughran jabbed his head off, then advised Max that he was telegraphing his shots. So even after the Campbell nightmare, he was able to improve in a way that was necessary for his continued success, whether or not he had ever met Campbell in the ring. The edge in dedication he lost after Campbell was probably responsible for opponents like Levinski going the distance with Max ten times in the 20 fights after Campbell, but that experience also supplied him with valuable championship round experience. So while many wonder how much Campbell's death may have hampered his further development, there may also have been advantages to how he changed his approach.

Loughran's advice, along with the experience of going 20 rounds with the rugged Uzcudun, triggered a 14 fight title winning streak. The first right hand he dropped Carnera with was no telegraphed roundhouse, but a short, sharp, driving, follow-through shot which resulted in Primo spraining his ankle (and sending him to the hospital).

When aroused, he could be utterly lethal, and the Levinski exhibition finally betrayed the true degree of separation between them. (Decades later, Larry Holmes did this with Leon Spinks.) The late career rematch win with Tommy Farr was a superb display of both power and championship round endurance.

To me, it looked like he made a choice to fall down against Louis. Only at the end of the Nova rematch does he appear to be punched into genuinely uncontrolled distress.

Yes, Max was traumatized by Campbell's death, but we're talking about him today because he trooped on to become a champion, just as Carnera did after Schaaf, Charles after Baroudi, SRR after Doyle, and Griffith after Paret. People forget that Marciano always said in no uncertain terms that he would have retired had Carmine Vingo died, in which case we would not be discussing the Rock as we do today. (In retirement, Marciano was very clear about saying he would have quit the ring then and there, even after having had experienced all the success he went on to have. Incredibly, Vingo has outlived most of Rocky's other opponents, but as near as I can determine, Carmine was also the youngest of Marciano's professional opponents, having turned 20 just two days prior to their fight.)

 

Max Baer has a credible claim to have had both the hardest punch and the best chin of all the heavyweight champions. He also had the stamina to go 20 rounds at a hard pace.

Duodenum has given a prety good summary. Baer had tremendous talent and largley squandered it because of a combination of the deamons he carried after killing Frankie Campbell and his own tendency towards partying. While Baer undoubtedly had enormous potential I do feel that slick technical boxers and counterpunchers would always have given him stytlistic issues.

One sorce that is a must for anybody interested in Max Baer is:

http://www.maxbaer.org/

This site is a treasure trove with a lot of nice little insights.

 

...the assessment of baer here are very good and detailed.

just one little addition...joe louis said hitting maxie was like trying to drive bricks in a wall. he always said baer wasn't the best guy he fought, but the toughest. in thier fight i think max was actually knocked down but admitted he could have gotten up but "they paid to see a fight, not an execution." tis was the only fight in which he was ever stopped, and i think it's the first time he was ever knocked down.

 

Holyfield would counter him so easy, and he might not hurt him, but he would certainly beat him to the punch and outpoint him.

Tyson might have a little trouble with him, but I think he also counters Baer, but he can actually hurt him.

 

Overall, Mad Max Baer was NOT a very good technical fighter at all.... Baer's style was simply stalk and destroy with brute strength and great power....

Max Baer was typically the George Foreman of the 1930s....... Big, powerful and sloppy in his attack, but often effective........ Baer won more than he lost........

Baer was all washed-up by age 32 in 1941........

I like Ol' Baer.........

MR.BILL:hat

 

Not a chance.

 

Mae West: Max Baer Bet
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. . . One day during the 1930s, boxer Max Baer called Mae West from the street outside her apartment in Los Angeles. West invited him to come up and see her sometime - - sometime soon. Sure enough, the couple ended up in bed. When they had finished, Baer rose and went to the window. Then, pulling up the shade, he began to wave - standing, still completely naked - to someone down in the street.
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It was Baer's agent - who had just lost a $500 bet that Baer could bed West on the spot.

http://maewest.blogspot.com/2004/10/mae-west-boxer-max-baer.html

http://www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=11324

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