Haven't read anywhere that any of his fights were ever filmed. I've been collecting boxing films since the 1970s. On a trip to NY in the '70s, I phoned Jim Jacobs to specifically ask about Rosenbloom films. He said then he had never seen one. This apparently was true since he subsequently issued his "Greatest Fights of the Century" and "Big Fights" series and never included a Rosenbloom film. I've kept my ear to the ground ever since and still have never heard of such a film. There are clips from Hollywood movies of his fooling around in the ring ("The Kid from Kokomo" for instance), but as far as I know that's it.
Almost 300 fights over 2 decades, many against top level operators and good attractions, in MSG, the Olympic, Chicago Stadium... There had to be some filmed.
Why? There was no commercial value in Rosenbloom's fights during his best years. There was a Depression on. The transport of fights during the time over state lines was illegal and this dampened smuggling except for fights that were worth the risk. His fights were relatively boring, and after 1932 or so the press started knocking him because of his slapping style. Apparently, he had no friends with projectors following him around taking home movies like a few fighters did. His fights at Madison Square Garden drew peanuts compared to heavyweight championship fights and the fights of big-names in the lighter weights like Canzoneri, Ross, McLarnin, and Armstrong so nobody cared that much. He had a few fights in Australia after he lost the title, but the two main newsreel production companies apparently didn't even care enough to film highlights of his fights as they did with other Americans like Tod Morgan, Archie Moore, Young Stribling, Allen Matthews, and Gus Lesnevich, etc The Chicago Stadium promoters filmed very few fights. None come to mind right now. They didn't even film Zale-Graziano II. The only reason Louis-Braddock was filmed was because Mike Jacobs was the executive promoter of the fight though he worked with a local promoter for the on-the-ground work. Same thing with the Olympic in the mid-to-late '30s. I think Joe Waterman was the matchmaker at the time, and he didn't film many fights either. The one exception I can call to mind right now is the Steele-Lesnevich fight. Waterman probably did that as a favor to Steele, Steele's manager Dave Miller, and Seattle promoter Nate Druxman. Waterman had promoted in Seattle a few years earlier and was a close friend to all three. As a matter of fact, Miller didn't make the trip to LA because he had confidence that Waterman would watch over Steele's interests. Anyway, Rosenbloom's fights at the Olympic were pretty much small potatoes and of no economic value to a promoter. I hope I'm wrong, but I've had my eyes open for 50 years and haven't come across a Rosenbloom fight film yet.
I take on board the sound rationale but it's still amazing that even with so many fights, there is not a shred of film of certain fighters in action. It would be good to have a database detailing what was originally filmed - whether or not anything has turned up since. As vast as Jacob's collection apparently is, there has been stuff turn up that he was apparently not in possession of and didn't put up himself.
Yeah but he was also the LHW champion for nearly 4 years, with quite a few defenses. There is footage of every LHW champ from that era except for Maxie.
Do you call what we have of John Henry Lewis fighting Joe Louis footage? What can you tell me about his abilities based on that fight? It isn't even a theatrical film, just a couple of odds and ends of outtakes from newsreels (I'm not even sure they were shown in a theater) that show him getting knocked down. You don't even get an idea of Joe Louis from that film. Rosenbloom didn't fight Louis, or we'd probably have some film of him as well. And then, where is the footage of Bob Olin who defeated Maxie and lost to John Henry? Unless I'm mistaken, there is no footage of Olin either. And what about George Nichols and Joe Knight who held the NBA's version of the world title in 1932 and 1933, respectively. And no footage of Tiger Jack Fox who fought Bettina for the NY version of the title in 1939. So really, the gap is not just limited to Rosenbloom's reign. It runs runs from 1930 to 1939. Then, what about the Melio Bettina and Anton Christoforidis footage that does exist? Those films are very sketchy home movies shot by friends of the fighters or we'd have nothing at all. And really when you look at the films in an effort to judge them as fighters, they are almost nothing. So there are no commercially produced films of those fighters either. If you're so sure about the Rosenbloom fight-film footage, get to work, start networking, and check for it under all the rocks. Then get back to me in six months with a report. I hope you can prove me wrong. Consider this a challenge, if you will. PROVE ME WRONG, AND I WILL BE HAPPY! And we're not counting training footage. We are talking fight footage!!
The transportation of interracial fight films was banned. That banned was almost completely ignored from the 1930's on as it was almost impossible to enforce.
Amazing to think that Greb & Maxie were 2 of the most active fighters in history (just shy of 300 fights for each of them), & not a single film clip is known to be available of either one.
And how about the most active of all the champs, Jack Britton... 345 recorded pro fights, and not a single clip saved on film!
The only boxing related clip I ever saw on Maxie was from a motion picture shot during his own prime where he was briefly working out I a ring and he looked very fast ... I'm going to try and find it ...
What kind of money would you pay for a film in the 70s? Have you seen or do you know if the Jack Dempsey vs Billy Miske title fight exists with the KO filmed?
I didn't have much money in the 70s and was just fishing around. By then, Jacobs' company had been selling quite a few fight films for home use on 8mm and I had bought a few. I was asked him if he would be selling some Rosenbloom fights like the others, and that's when he told me he had never found one. I was in NYC on a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the country and looked in the phone book and there his name was. We only talked for about 5 minutes. I have no idea about the existence of more footage of the Miske film. The clip turned up in an early documentary about Dempsey produced sometime in the 30s, 40s, or 50s. It's been online on youtube for quite a while but went unnoticed by most people because it was buried amongst a bunch of unrelated training footage. I knew what it was as soon as I saw it because I have a still photo of Miske throwing the exact same punch as he does in the clip.
