Max Baer vs. King Levinsky II (longest version now available on Rareboxing)

@70sFan865, I remember you posting on this fight among other Baer fights, a year or two ago. I remember responding. You posted the 11 min. version of this fight from youtube. This is the 25 min. version and well worth the watch.

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1. The highlight came with Levinsky threw a big right hand that came from a mile away and still landed. I'm sure it woke Baer up. Baer was painfully slow, just like Braddock, Carnera, and Sharkey. Even,
2. The two traded some long haymakers. Even.
3. The brawl continues. Even.
6. Baer used a little of the cross-arm defense he has been reported of using in the past. Levinsky.
7. Most uneventful round so far. Levinsky.
8. The exchanges were more sparse, and Levinsky was beginning to lose steam. Baer.
10. There was a lot more clinching in this round; Baer did A LOT of useless wailing to the kidneys. There was some good exchanges near the end. Levinsky.
11. Baer stalked Levinsky, but to no avail. Baer.
12. At the end, Baer was pinned in a corner, and the two had a MASSIVE exchange. One of the best I can recall ever seeing. Levinsky.
13. little of the film was provided, so I choose not to score it
14. Close, hard round. Even.
15. Uneventful. Even.
20. Baer's most aggressive round; he leaped after Levinsky with a lot of wild hooks. Baer continued with useless flailing inside. Baer.

I would urge you all to check what boxrec has to say about this fight. While it accurately reflects the action of the fight by calling a furious match, it gives Baer 14 rounds. As you can see, I had Levinsky winning several rounds, and most of them were even. Baer simply didn't throw enough to win, based on the filmed rounds. I have faith the unfilmed rounds were critical for Baer and made up the difference.

First Impression of Baer: Terribly slow, very inaccurate puncher. Clearly not mobile. Obviously, he was not a skillful fighter at all. But still a very solid chin on his head, great power, and good defense, he just didn't employ it often enough.
Though Baer was a rangy, clumsy fighter, I still had a lot of fun watching him.

Verdict: Despite pretty bad film of this fight, I liked it a lot. It was a really good battle. You know you've got a good fight when it's one of the worst filmed fights you've ever seen and you wish the entire fight was on film. Good heavyweight brawl. I would highly suggest it, unless you can't handle the film quality on your eyes. But if you can, I would advise you to place a higher premium on the fight than your vision.

 

I don't think Baer's defense was winning him the fight. But I was impressed, at least a little bit, to see that he had some.