I actually watched this one last night, but didn't get to it until today (obviously). Reason is, I didn't even take notes on it last night cuz I knew I would probably laugh too much. This content is protected 1. Both came out as painfully slow and cumbersome as I expected. Although a pattern was quickly established with Carnera doing the jab-and-grab and Baer throwing less, starting to stalk, in order to land his famous right hands. 1: 42 into the round, Baer lands a right hand on the tip of the chin. Certainly not Baer's most thudding punch he ever threw, but watching the film later on in slow mo, it's picture perfect. Right on the button. Everything that succeeds this knockdown is just plain hysterical for me to watch. Baer rushes in, hammering Carnera with a two-fisted assault and Carnera falls onto the ropes, almost in a sitting position, but he pulls himself back up. Then a telegraphed right hand from Baer lands on Carnera's back and he starts retreating/ staggering across the ring, with Baer chasing after. Baer lands another right, and with Carnera on the ropes on the other side of the ring now, Baer lands a left hook that knocks Carnera down again, although he's partially held up by the ropes. Carnera gets up quickly and begins another retreat, entirely unaware that Baer is right behind him about to hit him with another big punch. However, Carnera falls into the ropes as he's running away. Baer tries to hit Carnera, but the ref protects him. As soon as Carnera is up, Baer is on top of him with more punches and Carnera, very unbalance, nearly falls down again. Carnera survived the round. Sources as well as fans may differ on how many knockdowns occurred. I thought there were 2. 10-6 Baer. I took off an extra point from Carnera cuz I thought when Carnera wasn't down he was beaten very badly. 2. This round took events to new heights of hilarity. A Baer right hand soon staggered Carnera, his back back to the ropes again. Baer was instantly on top of Baer and the two were flailing quite humorously at each other, Carnera to no effect. They were tied up and Carnera went down with Baer on top of him. I have that one a knockdown. The moment they both got up Baer hit Carnera with another right hand, and attempted another, but they got tied up and they both went down again. Another knockdown. Baer pawed with his punches after that, but they clinched again and were thrown to the floor for the third time. Not a knockdown. I'm with Bob Sheridan. This round was more of a wrestling match. 10-7 Baer. 3. Surprisingly, the fight actually developed into a competitive one after the hectic rounds 1 & 2. Carnera seemed to have recovered well, and was landing a steady jab. Baer was scoring well still. And the two even had a brief but brisk exchange in Baer's corner. As the round was coming to a close the two had a furious exchange, eclipsing the previous one. Next, Baer landed a right hand, and Carnera went down, but it also looked like he slipped. I think both happened at the same time. So I am calling it a knockdown. 10-8 Baer. 5. The round was going Carnera's way with him pumping a better jab this round, but Baer reminded Carnera who his owner was with a right hand that made Carnera clinch. 10-9 Baer. 6. They get it on with some tremendous exchanges right away. Surprisingly fast for two such big men. For the first time Carnera is on the offensive and winning. A close round by any means though. 10-9 Carnera. 7. Carnera kept Baer away with a steady, heavy-handed jab. Baer was good about fighting his way off of the ropes when Primo trapped him there. 10-9 Carnera. 8. Carnera had a little success pinning Baer on the ropes briefly and landing some good shots. Carnera had another trip to the canvas, although it was a slip. For sure this time. 10-9 Carnera. 9. Carnera's most dominant round. At one point he actually has Baer doubled up and lands several punishing blows. 10-9 Carnera. 10. The early moments were quite bruising, Baer exploding with a flurry, and Carnera firing back. The beginning of the end came in the form of another Baer right hand, a sloppy one actually, that hit Carnera on the back of the neck, and Carnera began the retreat. He went to the ropes of one side of the ring to the next, where he collapsed. I called it a knockdown. Baer was about to rush in and continue, but there was something going on between he and the referee (what, I don't know) that delayed the fight. Anyway, Baer continued, hitting Carnera, with yes-a right hand, and Carnera went down again, with some help by Baer. Another knockdown. Baer followed up very sloppily after this but put Carnera down again. I didn't call that one a knockdown. I just think Carnera was hurt on a rubber legs and went down just from being hurt, not necessarily right before he went down. This time you know Carnera's hurt bad. He goes with Baer back to Baer's corner, until Carnera is instructed as to where his corner is. 10-7 Baer. 11. By round 11, knockdowns are pretty much common-place. A right hand puts Carnera down early. Primo beats the count and is met by a barrage. Later, a right hook high on the head puts Carnera down via a delayed reaction. Once again, Carnera gets up and meets Baer at ring-center, but his knees buckled before he was even hit with a punch and the referee wisely stopped it. That round was 10-6 for Baer before it was stopped. The final score was 96-73 for you-know-who. I thought that Baer gave an overall superior performance than he did against Max Schmeling. Verdict: A wildly entertaining classic. So hilarious to watch. I love this fight.
Lets try an experiment: The scoring in New York was based on round scoring (With a supplementary point system if the rounds come out even.) We let Carnera survive the 11th round, and say that Baer has nothing left after plummeling Carnera. Then Carnera wins the last four rounds by outjabbing Baer. When we use the round scoring system, Carnera would win the fight 8-7 !!
It's a classic! People may talk how unskilled both of them looked, but the fight itself was exciting as hell. Baer was a murderous puncher - most of his punches didn't even land cleanly and they still staggered Carnera. Primo had good chin though and he usually recovered well after a KD.
Carnera rolled his ankle badly with the first knock down. It destroyed his balance for remainder of the fight. Their are pictures of his ankle in a cast after the bout with Baer visiting him in hospital.
Baer really isn't slow on his feet, he's actually fast in that regard for a large framed guy. His punches aren't always quick because he loads them up everytime to bash through his opponents guard for the KO...and of course ended up with bad hands. I've always maintained Baer was an athletic specimen. That's how he was so successful despite not showcasing traditional skill, he built his style around maximizing his long power shots, stamina, durability, and quick feet. On that note, his loopy right hands look like a real nightmare to avoid. They are so loopy they fall out of your range of sight, and you can't tell if he's going low or high. That's how he KOed Schmeling who was clearly anticipating a body shot when Baer surprised him by going at upstairs. He's a fascinating oddity in HW history.
Great post, one of the best summaries of Maxie Baer I've seen on this board. Unfortunately, for most he was only good because he was big for his era - despite the fact that he had better record when he had size disadvantage than the other way.
A wonderful film to watch. This is the first time I have seen a film which more or less covered the entire fight. Normally I see an edited version which jumps from the early round knockdowns to the last two round knockdowns. I get a different impression watching all the rounds. Baer lands a big right and scores what seems to be two knockdowns in the first round. What happens in the second is bizarre. The first time Carnera goes down may have been from a boxing knockdown, but that is debatable. The last two "knockdowns" look like wrestling throw downs. When Carnera went down in the third it looked to me to be a slip but Baer did appear to have landed a punch, so I can see considering it a knockdown. Carnera survived all this very well. Between the 4th and the 9th Carnera comes back strong and actually gets the best of it. What stood out to me was Baer retreating so consistently. Baer usually held his ground or moved forward but here he backs and backs during these middle rounds. Carnera is clumsy and awkward, but still looks the better boxer with a strong jab. And he showed some one-twos and uppercuts. Baer took them well. It has been mentioned that this fight was scored on rounds. I think it was close in rounds after nine rounds. If I didn't know how it turned out and was just watching the film for the first time, I think it would have been hard to predict who would win. Carnera had taken Baer's best shots and was now out-boxing him. It continued that way through the first half of the 10th, until Baer got over that big right behind Carnera's ear which sent him down and seemed to completely discombobulate him. Carnera floundering after that punch reminded me of how Joshua floundered after Andy Ruiz hit him above the ear. The 11th was more of the same until the ref stopped it with Carnera on his feet and seemingly alert. Observations: Carnera didn't show a weak chin in this one. He stood up to Baer's punches better than Willard stood up to Dempsey's. And he fought on bravely and well until badly hurt in the 10th. And he still stayed in there. Carnera did not have enough of a punch to seemingly hurt Baer, but he could force him back and make him cover up. Baer had a rep of having an iron chin and it looks so here. Baer was big enough to reach Carnera's chin often, which set him apart from Sharkey and Loughran. And Baer was stronger than those two, although Carnera could still push him around. I agree that Baer looked better in this fight than any other. Baer was a big, strong if crude fighter with a top chin and punch. Carnera showed quite a bit in this one, I thought, despite losing badly in the end. He was far from inept.
