Max Baer is a Boxing God - Worhsip Him!!

While better dedication would certainly have helped him, i don't think he had THAT much potential.

You don't go 50 fights many of which go 10 rounds or more without learning a thing or two about boxing technique and skill. I think he simply couldn't be much better, outside of stopping clowning. Some people are crude and will always be, simple as that.
Yes he has an iron chin and a huge punch, but so does Samuel Peter. Both will be crude punchers no matter how much they train.

Same with Bowe. All the dedication in the world wouldn't have stopped him from have a leaky defense where even journeymen had 50% connect percentage on; no wonder his career was so short. Not to mention the complete lack of a straight right hand which is the key to beat Lennox Lewis.

 

Baer was a slugger pure and simple who won by beating his oponents down. The one thing that a fighter like Baer cannot aford to loose is killer instinct.

He was verry consistent untill he killed Frankie Campbel and it was this event that caused him to become an inconsistent fighter.

A good example of what he had the potential to be is the Schmeling fight. Here was the best defensive counterpuncher in the division at the time and Baer still beat him down in the end.

Still I do not feel ready to worship him yet.

 

Joe Louis destroyed him, in a fight he claimed to be "in the best shape of his life" for.

He was virtually murdered by the "modern" fast combination-punching style he came up against.

He had a powerful right hand but it was dreadfully slow and telegraphed, and this was further highlighted when he came up against a sharp, accurate puncher like Joe Louis.

He lost to the title to the least-skilled heavyweight champion we've ever had, a battling upright offbalance slugger who telegraphed his shots and had lost a bucketload of bouts to journeymen. I hate to say it because I was touched by his movie and his story, but this is how I see it.

His defense was virtually non-existent and his hands were held way too low, which I guess he could get away with in his era, but not when he met a heavyweight that could throw fast, sharp effective blows.

What was his best win? Carnera?

 

John Ruiz?

 

Who do you see aresting his rise to the top?

 

People actually think Braddock whooped Baer's ass? It looked to me like Baer handed him the title on a silver platter. No disrespect to either fighter, but it was an awfully boring fight, only thing that made it watchable was Baer's clowning around.


Other than that, Baer was a dangerous fighter, but way too limited. I don't think he would've beaten Louis even if he 100% into boxing. Baer's only real weapon was his right hand, his defense wasn't all that, and he looks like he fought straight up a lot. I've never seen him bend his knees, or really get any of his weight on the ground.

 

If Baer had a good jab then he could have turned out to be an ATG. He had all the physical tools but the wrong style. At 6'3" with an 80" reach, he should've employed a good stiff jab to set up his potent right hand instead of stalking and throwing a telegraphed right hand. If he was around today with say Emmanuel Steward as his trainer then you're looking at an ATG in the making because he would be fighting with a more modern style.

 

Baers jab wasn't bad actualy.

 

Ron Howard is sort of a hack, so he turned Baer into a psycho killer. In fact, if Cinderella Man was a fictional script instead of being based on a true story, it would be pretty cheesy. It goes to show how incredible a person Braddock was, and how compelling a life he led.

 

What's so funny about that? People are not houses.

 

Hi Zakman,

There are THREE areas of boxing that Baer often neglected.

First, though he had a hard jab (as evidenced in the Schmeling
fight), I don't feel that he utilized his jab enough. If he jabbed
more, he would have been able to set up his right hand and
land with greater frequency.

Second, Baer should have punched to the body more often.
Against boxers like Tommy Loughran, body punching would
have improved Baer's chances greatly.

Baer did employ a VERY EFFECTIVE body punching attack in his
pier brawl with Tony Galento. Baer put a heavy hurt on Two-Ton
Tony with some really hard punches to the body.

Third, Baer could have tightened up his defense a bit. True,
Baer had a very good chin, but if he had a better defense, he
may not have gotten cut up and TKOED in his 1st fight with
Lou Nova.

As stated, Baer did, at times, display an excellent jab as well as
a crunching body attack. If he combined these with a better
defense, with greater concentration on his training, Baer would
have been more feared than Sonny Liston!!!


Grebfan9
www.firstroundboxing.com