How would Max Baer fair today?

Rob Calloway with a better chin and less science.

 

John Ruiz would probabaly school Max Baer.

 

Wlad would ruin Baer with that paper mache defense. now, his chin could keep him in the fight long enough to get to wlad's paper mache chin but i doubt it unless he can mimic Scam Cheater's rabbit punch.

Sultan would outbox and outthink him. iggy proved to have a solid chin and underrated defense against wlad. Chagaev could do the same but my opinion of him has really fallen. Valuev might outpoint him with his jab.

tough to say. no doubt top 10, but he could lose to 5 or 6 guys. he just doesnt impress me with his wide punches and pourous defense.

 

he would not lose to iggy. Hed probably lose to Wlad though. Hed beat Ruiz easily

 

I can definitely see him losing to Ruiz (here comes Zakman!). Ruiz has a spoilers style that smothers punchers ..... yes, that is post-Tua. The fight would be a bore but i think he'd wrestle half of the time and score the more effective blows the other half.

Valuev, Ibragimov and Valuev would all be hard fights. They all have good chins so that his punchers chance is somewhat limited. Sultan would counter him all night long while running, Chagaev would be very interesting and perhaps a toe to toe fight for a while, he is an excellent counter punching southpaw. Valuev's weakness is against boxers who quickly dash in and out of range; clearly that is not what Maxie does. The big Russian has never been hurt in 50 fights so the times Baer comes through i think he'll be alright. Other than that, his workrate should win him most of the rounds like for instance Carnera did.


A Povetkin fight would be very interesting as well, because Povetkin fights aggressively. Again, a lot depends on how well Alexander's durability turns out to be. An other swarmer in Uzcudun beat Baer, but he had a rock hard jaw. Povetkin's technical ability and speed are in an other league than Baer's, and his workrate (71 punches per round last fight) should win him most of the rounds.


Peter vs Baer would be a wild slugfest. Baer has a slight edge here although he cannot afford to get lazy, which he often did. Peter is always active in the ring, but he cannot afford to get lazy in preparation for this fight, which he often is unfortunately. He needs to come in at or below 248lbs.

 

Let's give the great Valuev cheer.

 

I think most would agree the problem with Baer wasn't physical. By all accounts he could take a hell of a shot and could swat like a fool. His stylistic flaws could be fixed, and he had a large frame.
His problem is that he was more a playboy than a fighter - something that no trainer could do anything about.

Still, I believe he'd be good enough to win a belt - and bad enough that he'd probably lose it in his first defence. He'd be a top-tier performer, prone to unexpected losses and scoring a few surprise wins.
In any event, he'd be a promotor's dream and would probably make a zillion bucks today.

 

He'd do about the same as Vladimir Virchis, of whom he's a carbon copy. Second-tier contender.

 

Where do you get your ideas from?

His power alone would send him efortlesly into the top 10 and up from there.