15 rounds between these two old time power punchers. Let's assume Maxie comes in focused, well-trained and close to his fighting best (likewise for Ray).
I really wish there was some footage of Elmer Ray available. For years I’ve wanted to know more about him. Even some of the written archived reports seem to be limited. Truly one of the most mysterious heavyweight contenders of all time - especially for a guy who held the #1 spot and met BOTH Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles in the ring..... In fact I was listening to a radio talk show which briefly touched upon his career and the subject was raised that no one seemed to know where he disappeared to after boxing nor what kind of life he lived. For years his boxrec Page had no date of death until somewhat recently. He apparently died in Florida in 1987... That said I can only speculate that Ray would have been a formidable challenge at his best, even for a great fighter like Max Baer. Max had a solid chin and dangerous power. His skills for a heavyweight champion are rather pedestrian when contrasted to other champions in his fraternity however. I’m thinking this would have been an entertaining brawl between punchers. At the end of the day I have to favor the man who’s career was more closely studied and scrutinized however and that would be the Livermore Laruper.
I've seen a few old newspaper articles on him here and there. Not sure if this is common knowledge, but apparently his manager Tommy O'Laughlin made him retire after Joe Louis knocked him out in an exhibition around March 17, 1949 (turned their contract over to the NBA). He said that he was doing it for Elmer's own good and that Elmer had lost his toughness in his last two fights and had been stopped by punches that he had once taken easily.
Yeah I think Janitor mentioned some years ago that Louis had made easy work of him in sparring. I never knew that was what prompted his retirement though. His record shows that he was starting to lose more frequently in the ring and to lesser men.
The boxrec date of death seems strange. I can't find any evidence for it (at least not in old newspaper articles). By the way, I found another article where his former manager insisted that Ray was really 6 years older than his listed age.
certainly plausible. In those days ( and depending on where one was born ) birth records were often spotty. I suspect there were a lot of early to mid twentieth century fighters who’s exact dates of birth were questionable at best. And then there was also a possible issue with being viewed as “ too old “ and running into the problem of managers, trainers, promoters, etc not wanting anything to do with you.
On paper we should favor Max, but everything that we know about Ray, suggests that he is the kind of fighter who could beat Baer in the right circumstances.
