My point was that it didn't stop him from being, during his career, the most popular boxer in the world. His contemporaries clearly valued his courage more than his ability.
I think Jake Lamotta's done pretty well out of ranging bull. Ali has become god like. Joe Fraizer is overated because of the above. Sonny Liston - see above above Tyson is underated - for the moment but this will change with time.
i think its harsh to say that patterson was put on the floor by a novice in his first fight. it wasnt as though this was some kid he was fighting, he was fighting an olympic champion who was fully grown and a great olympic champion
I haven't seen Braddock's standing shoot up any in historical circles since the release of the film. Perhaps he's talked about a little more because of the publicity, but that's about it. If you're talking about popularity among the general public/correlating autograph value, then sure, his stock has improved, like any fighter's would after a critically-acclaimed motion picture about his life. The same goes for Jake LaMotta. Second, Braddock was not a bum, and his record certainly doesn't suggest anything of the sort. No professional fighter with a winning career, let alone a professional world champion, deserves to be called a "bum," and I would prefer to spare the rod on the losing ones as well.
The original poster apologized for calling Braddock a bum around thread #16. It looks like we're pretty much in agreement that that's the one thing Braddock wasn't. Regarding Patterson, it seems to me he had a nice run at the end of his career and was far from shot. I remember in 1978, after Spinks beat Ali, people were jokingly saying that Floyd should come back and fight Leon. At that time Floyd's age at the time, 43, seemed OLD. In light of achievements by Foreman, Hopkins, Holyfield, etc., I'm thinking he might have been able to pull it off. Back to the original topic, why isn't Wilfred Benitez mentioned alongside the "fab four" (or whatever they're called) of Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran? I can see the reasoning, actually, but I think to exclude him from the discussion leaves out an important piece of history.
.................Glad to see this post. Anyone knowing his boxing history knows Braddock was no Superman, but he was far, far from a bum.