No. Baer would have demolished him. Even a well prepared Morrison would have, in my opinion, taken Bentt's head off!
As sloppy as Baer was, he ironically had much better durability and stamina than Morrison ever did. Bentt's best punches were straight shots down the middle and Baer's best punch was a right hand down the middle. It would basically be a shootout and you'd have to favor the much more experienced and more durable fighter in Baer even though Bentt has faster hands.
I could see Bentt winning this just on his ability to box and throw a straight punch. Baer, fun character as he was, is promoted to legendary status on forums when his actual boxing ability was perhaps some of the worst i have seen. People go on that " he destroyed Schmeling" but he still looked crap and that nite Schmeling was worse and i would have backed Max S. in a return bout. For one of the worst examples of boxing talent have a look at Baer v Galento - the lack of talent on display is actually quite hilarious. So bad they make someone like Lucas Brown look like Ray Leonard
No. The only world class fighters that Bentt would have a chance against, would be ones with poor chins. Even then it would be a slim hope.
Bentt wins nearly every round in a shutout. He was a highly successful amateur boxer, knew how to actually box and had the physicality to back it up.
Always found Bentt overrated. He had a mere 11 wins, and literally all of them with the exception of Morrison, were against men with losing records. As a matter of fact, in his fight prior to Morrison, he was held to a close decision against the 14-18-1 Mark Wills. I would bet the house on Baer, particularly the one of the Schmeling bout.
Bentt was a very good amateur and good enough to beat Tommy Morrison (who some people seem to rate highly). He was a bit mismanaged as a professional, and admits his heart was never in boxing anyway. I think, unless it's a short fight, 4, 6 or maybe 8 rounds, he has no chance. In a 10, 12 or 15 rounder, the best version of Baer would KO him or beat him up badly down the stretch.
Honestly, although I haven't seen every round of Michael Bentt's professional career, he never looked good as I was expecting from his amateur career. His highlight is a KO of Morrison but all that really proved was he had the power to KO a guy with an inadequate chin. All other footage I've seen of Bentt he looks very lethargic, not in great shape, not really do much of anything. Just a decent heavyweight, but lacked any sort of special quality, despite his pedigree from amateurs. People underestimate the mental side of the game. Max Baer also had his shortcomings and often didn't 'turn up' for fights. But he showed his special qualities enough and had a load of raw ability that took him to the top. When he was on form he was a nightmare for most heavyweights.
Bentt won one fight against a fight with more than 15 wins, he faced two of them and lost once as well. He's not big (shorter reach than Baer), he doesn't have elite power, he's not elite boxer. Baer fought in the 1930 though, so he has to lose this one.
Leave it to this board to big up a guy who knocked out the erratic drug addicted china chinned Morrison in his only noteworthy win and then nearly killed and retired by a former cruiserweight in his next fight. Baer at or near his best destroys this guy, hopefully without a tragedy. Baer was erratic in his focus and injuries but was always in great shape, durable, and dangerous. That's enough here.
Bentts amateur pedigree, boxing know how and physicality saw him lose by first round KO to a bum in a gimme debut fight. Some people talk absolute bollocks on here.
To be fair, I think that guy Jones turned out better than average for a debut. He was an awkward lanky southpaw with very long arms. But of course you are correct. All that amateur experience and supposed skill amounted to nothing when he got tagged in the pros. And it's not as if Bentt improved much in the pro ranks. He caught Morrison early, his next best win is Mark Wills.