September 24, 1935: Joe Louis KO Max Baer

I agree. And Louis himself said the Max Baer fight was his best - he felt like he could go for three days that night.

I also believe that this version of Joe Louis would not have lost to Max Schmeling in 1936. For the Baer fight, Louis was highly motivated and really 'up' for the fight. For Schmeling he was overconfident and unmotivated, factors that Schmeling helped rely on in planning his strategy. At that, it took him 12 rounds to get the job done. Nothing to take away from Schmeling and his brilliant strategy, but the Joe of the Baer fight would probably have been a bridge too far.

 

or you may come to the same conclusions

 

If you think his description of Baer's performance is underrating him, then you're clearly overrating the performance.