Jimmy Braddock was world class at the start of his career, and at the end of it when he won the heavyweight title. In between he lost a lot of fights to no hopers due to his brittle hands. How would Braddock's career have unfolded if he never had hand problems?
Tough to say, as Braddock's hand problems go back as far as to his fight with Joe Monte in Oct of 1927 when he first broke the right hand (broke again in his next fight against Swiderski), yet he was still able to have some very good success at light heavyweight after the initial hand problems.
He'd be remembered as far more than one of the "worst heavyweight champions", which he isn't rightfully even a part of now. The man was stupidly durable with an ATG chin and he could BOX on top of having a iron will. Underrated, sadly.
Braddock's hands did not help him, but what really hindered him, was taking fights at too short a notice, purely for money. A Braddock from a decade later or indeed earlier probably would of been a bigger force as he would of been able to rest more. Because when he did get that rest, he came back strong.
There are fights where Braddock scores a KD in the early part of the fight with that right, breaks his hand, and goes onto lose on points fighting one-handed. Happened more than once. However - I don't think Braddock would have won the HW title if he didn't have his hand problems. He would have had a successul and profitable career based upon his ethnic origin and his heart but he never would have lifted the title at 175 in my view and wouldn't have put a dent in the HW division. Braddock's time away saw him develop punching power, his troubles saw his heart swollen to unparalleled levels and his hand problems saw him learn to box and move when he could never have slugged it out 100% with Baer. Braddock was the right man at the right moment to become the HW title-holder, and looking at his performance v Louis, I think he was genuinely world class. There is even a story he grew an inch for that fight... So my answer is that without hand troubles, Braddock becomes a footnote, instead of the most intenesly popular champion in the history of the sport.
