The Cinderella Man James Braddock vs. Max Baer
71First Round, Max Baer -- James Braddock
Videos of the real James Braddock -- Max Baer Fight
You may have seen the movie, The Cinderella Man. If not, I highly recommend it. You can order it from Amazon below, if you like.
I was surprised to find that a film of the real Max Baer -- James Braddock Fight is available online. The film is split up into several videos due to file size restrictions. I found it some what difficult to find all the videos and watch them in proper sequence, so I thought it would be helpful to organize them into a hub for easy access so you can watch the real James Braddock -- Max Baer Fight.
Things to watch for. When watching a video its fun to look for specific things. I suggest you watch to see. . .
- How closely the actors in the film matched the real fighters.
- The Star of David emblem on Max's shorts. (This makes it easy to distinguish the two fighters.)
- How James cocks his head slightly and keeps moving, staying out of the the way of Max's big right hand.
- How Max Baer clowns around, just like he did in the movie.
- How the crowd reacts when the decision is announced.
- How the movie has taken a lot of liberties to make their version of the fight more interesting. (Too bad we currently have no commentator for the original film -- that would be really interesting.)
You can see the first video above. The others are posted below for your convenience. You can watch them in YouTub, too, but it is more convenient to watch thm here, since they are all in order. Click the small play button below the graphic. Please comment in the comment box provided and let me know what you think.
 | Amazon Price: $2.00 List Price: $13.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $0.19 List Price: $20.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $4.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $14.37 List Price: $21.99 |
Notes about James Braddock's Career.
Braddock had a great career as an amature and turned pro in 1926. He started out with some good wins as a pro, beating Pete Latzo and Jimmy Slattery among others. He got to fight light heavyweight champ Tommy Loughran in 1929, but lost a heartbreaking fight by a decision in 15 rounds.
After losing to Loughran, Braddock apparently lost confidence (and according to the movie ran into some bad luck with an injury to his hand). He lost to Maxie Rosenbloom, Leo Lomksi, and John Henry Lewis.
Like many others, his investments were wiped out by the stock market crash of 1929. Braddock couldn't get any more fights for several years. That changed in 1934 and he won contests with Corn Griffin and John Henry Lewis and he got a chance to fight Max Baer, the heavy weight champ.
On June 13, 1935, Max Baer was a 10 to 1 favorite. But braddock became the 'Cinderella Man' when he beat Baer as you can see in the videos. In 1937, Braddock lost the title to Joe Louis. But he retired a winner after beating Tommy Farr in 1938.
Source: www.ibhof.com/ibhfhome.htm
2. Baer -- Braddock Fight Video 2
3. Baer Braddock Fight -- Video 3
4. Baer -- Braddock fight Video 4
5. Baer -- Braddock Fight, Video 5
6. Baer -- Braddock Fight, Video 6
James Braddock, photo from Official Website
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Thanks for your comment William, I enjoy your hubs, too. Michael Hogan (Shamus) was quite a competitor and it looks like he had a lot in common with James Braddock!
I just came back to watch the Max Baer/Jim Braddock fight again, pguild. It was quite a contest. It was clear they were both tiring in the final rounds. By the way, my grandfather, Michael J. Hogan aka Shamus O'Brien, will be honored soon by the Atlas Foundation which is providing a tombstone for him (Sadly, he is without one now.) I've written a hub about and will do more when the Foundation is ready to set a date for the Memorial. It was a great idea to put the fight videos in order. It sure makes it simple to watch the whole fight -- a good one.
WOW!!! Great video. We need more champs like Jim Braddock!!!!
William F. Torpey Level 2 Commenter 3 years ago
This is a fantastic hub, Phil, and has special interest to me. My grandfather was a prize fighter, and his history isn't that far off from the "Cinderella Man," except he never won the title. His real name was Michael Hogan, but he fought under the name of Shamus O'Brien (Many fighters used aliases in those days because many matches were technically illegal.) Here is an except (May 9, 1959) from the local newspaper in Ireland, the Dungarvin Leader, that I think will interest you:
"Shamus didn’t seem to miss anybody-he fought lightweight champion Benny Leonard, welterweight champ., Mickey Walker, middleweight, Rocky Kansas, welterweight champ., Pete Latzo, featherweight champ., Johnny Dundee, and Jack Britton, Pinky Marshall, George K.O’Chaney and Negro champ., Leo Johnson - all to finish in the days of "no decision" fights in New York State and Pennsylvania. "The 400-bout career which took him to all parts of the country, ended in 1922 when after returning to Ireland to win the lightweight title there, he turned his powerful muscles to construction work as an Iron worker."