Max Baer is a Boxing God - Worhsip Him!!

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Zakman, Jul 2, 2007.


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  1. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    It was a disgusting representation.

    According to what i've read, Baer was deeply troubled about the injuries he caused in the ring, some say he was never the same fighter again.
     
    McGrain, Jul 2, 2007
    McGrain, Jul 2, 2007
    #16
  2. Zakman

    Zakman ESB's Chinchecker Full Member

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    Dude, it was an utter bull**** representation. Read Jeremy Shaap's book Cinderella Man, it shows the real Baer. He was extremely remorceful about killing Frankie Campbell. I believe he paid for his kid to go to college. And that scene where he makes leering comments to Braddock's wife - completely made up. I've read just about anything about Baer there is to read and other than the womanizing and his love of the nightlife, it's virtually ALL bull****.

    Actually, they appear to have based the Baer character on a character HE played in a movie which was a Primo Carnera biopic. I believe it's called The Harder They Fall. Utter fiction - and SLANDER to Baer's rep, imo. His son - y'know, Jethro - was deservedly PO'd about how they portrayed his father.
     
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    #17
  3. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Yes you're right - although those attributes as they displayed themselves in Frazier are about as rare as Liston's jab.
     
    McGrain, Jul 2, 2007
    McGrain, Jul 2, 2007
    #18
  4. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    ............They were so off-base about him in that film it was ridiculous, but from a purely film-making standpoint, I can see the need for a villain in that role. I don't think it was needed, frankly, as the villain was aptly played by circumstance, but this made it easier for the public as a whole to digest.
     
    salsanchezfan, Jul 2, 2007
    salsanchezfan, Jul 2, 2007
    #19
  5. hopkinsfan07

    hopkinsfan07 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Baer's son

    My father cried about what happened to Frankie Campbell. He had nightmares. "In reality, my father was one of the kindest, gentlest men you would ever hope to meet. He treated boxing the way today's professional wrestlers do wrestling: part sport, mostly showmanship. He never deliberately hurt anyone." He helped put Frankie's children through college
     
    hopkinsfan07, Jul 2, 2007
    hopkinsfan07, Jul 2, 2007
    #20
  6. brooklyn1550

    brooklyn1550 Roberto Duran Full Member

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    Massive puncher, iron chin...never really reached his potential and was never fully dedicated to the sport. I have him outside the top 20, or just inside of it, depending on what day you talk to me.
     
    brooklyn1550, Jul 2, 2007
    brooklyn1550, Jul 2, 2007
    #21
  7. Bad_Intentions

    Bad_Intentions Boxing Addict Full Member

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    :rofl
     
    Bad_Intentions, Jul 2, 2007
    Bad_Intentions, Jul 2, 2007
    #22
  8. brooklyn1550

    brooklyn1550 Roberto Duran Full Member

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    Well, my list changes all the time...I'm always switching it up and moving guys up and down.
     
    brooklyn1550, Jul 2, 2007
    brooklyn1550, Jul 2, 2007
    #23
  9. hopkinsfan07

    hopkinsfan07 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    yea same my top 5 stay the same most the time but 6-20 change alot
     
    hopkinsfan07, Jul 2, 2007
    hopkinsfan07, Jul 2, 2007
    #24
  10. Zakman

    Zakman ESB's Chinchecker Full Member

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    Right on the money. Baer didn't fullfull his potential, but his ability should not be questioned. The guy had an IRON chin - he was only counted out once, against the great Joe Louis and that was by choice. He could have gotten up, but said something to the effect "the fans paid to see a boxing match, not an execution."

    He was one of the hardest hitters in HW history, and deserves to rank in the top five in both punching power AND chin. And he didn't even really apply himself - that's says something for how good he really was.
     
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    #25
  11. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    ............Schaap did a tremendous job with that book. One of the best I've read, and from what I understand, his maiden voyage as an author. Not a bad way to start. Must reading for any boxing fan.
     
    salsanchezfan, Jul 2, 2007
    salsanchezfan, Jul 2, 2007
    #26
  12. Marnoff

    Marnoff Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    They portrayed him that way to give the main character someone to shine against.
     
    Marnoff, Jul 2, 2007
    Marnoff, Jul 2, 2007
    #27
  13. Zakman

    Zakman ESB's Chinchecker Full Member

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    It's an absolutely great book, and one that is quite unique in that it gives solid bios of two overlooked fighters today. Fans today don't realize what an upset the Braddock-Baer fight was - it was that generation's Douglas-Tyson. Boxing fans and experts expected Baer to rule the HW division for a long time.
     
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    #28
  14. salsanchezfan

    salsanchezfan Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

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    ...........That was indeed an enormous thing at the time. An absolutely huge upset, very much on the Douglas-Tyson level. It would be talked about to death today, in this age of instant media, but whatever.

    I'm frankly okay with Howard portraying Baer as he did, if only because it brought this amazing (and amazingly forgotten) story to the public conscience again. It's an incredible story, and one that deserves remembering.
     
    salsanchezfan, Jul 2, 2007
    salsanchezfan, Jul 2, 2007
    #29
  15. Zakman

    Zakman ESB's Chinchecker Full Member

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    I went and saw the movie myself, and truthfully, other than that really tasteless scene where the Baer character intimates he'll screw Braddock's wife after he kills him I wasn't horribly outraged. THAT I thought was really over the top - they could have established Baer as the "villan" without that sort of tasteless crap. Distorting the Campbell and Shaff fights were enough.

    You know what though - I suspect Baer himself would've understood it. He was a Hollywood guy and knew that movies were fantasy. Truthfully, it's only boxing fans, and diehard Baer fans like myself, who REALLY care. And Baer, Jr. of course - who I do feel bad for. He's a REAL weird dude y'know - quite a character just like Dad.
     
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    Zakman, Jul 2, 2007
    #30
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