If max baer had taken the sport/training as seriously, what would be different?

'if' , but . maybe. would've. could've - it all means nothing really. It's all stupid.

 

But isn't that what a forum is for? The sharing of information and exploring of ideas?

 

Don't think he would have been unbeaten but he would have had a decent title run maby even won it more the once

 

He took his training a lot more serious than Riddick Bowe did as well as a lot of the Heavyweight champs in the 1980s.

 

Why do you say that he didn't take his training seriously? He was in good shape, was champion, beat Schaff, Schmeling, Primera, Levinsky, Farr, etc.

 

This. Boxing was way too competitive back then to go undefeated unless you didn't have that many fights or fought poor competition.

 

Baer was involved directly/indirectly in the deaths of two fighters. Other great fighters like Charles, SRR, E. Griffith, plus, many others, had similar ghosts bothering them. More than likely you could move Baer up a "half grade" with removal of the negative effects, but never to Joe Louis' stature.

 

I don’t know. The lack of training was used as an excuse when he lost to Braddock, but was it really true? Dempsey trained him to the HW championship. You’re saying he wasn’t serious then? To me Baer seems like an overachiever, not an underachiever.

 

Was reputed not to have been so focused after the tragedies in the ring.

 

Baer basically was a physical phenomenon for the times, there was nobody p4p near him in physicality in the higher weight classes. What he lacked was solid boxing fundamentals. His footwork was crap, he had no jab and his power punching was wild and sloppy. He didn't really understand combination punching. I was just going to say, give him to Dempsey and you'd see something. But if Gil Gonzalez is correct, not even Dempsey could help him out.

First thing I'd do is get him to keep his hands up and to develop a sharp, snapping jab. That alone could work wonders to not only pile up damage but also to get him in close so that he could bring his power to bear. When he let his hands go in tandem he could be pretty scary, and that's where you'd want him to be. All those wild swings would be a magnitude more effective if they were set up with a stinging jab.

Next would be his footwork so that he could close the ring effectively. Baer's best showings were against guys that came straight at him, where he typically had a size and strength advantage. Boxers and movers like Braddock gave him no end of difficulty. If he could learn to control space and shut the ring down or create space ad lib, I think you'd have a very scary guy.

 

Baer's brother was actually bigger than Max I believe.

 

Yes.

The commission almost pulled his fight with Carnera, owing to his lack of preparation.

After he killed Frankie Campbell he started having nightmares, took up smoking, and his focus generally went off the rails.

 

Yeah but wasn't that move by the commission a bunch of bull****?
Baer insisted he was being unfairly treated by people who didn't understand boxing.

They had him spar someone shortly before the fight to prove that he was actually in shape.
During their fight, it's clear that Baer was in phenomenal shape.

The commissions in those days often made some seriously bone headed moves.