History vs. Hollywood

History
vs.
Hollywood
Mike Wilson
► Fictional
character
Mae
Mae Braddock
Renée Zellweger
Joe Gould
Joe Gould
Paul Giamatti
Braddock
Russell Crowe
Jim Braddock
Did Braddock Return the Relief Money?
► YES
- After the comeback Braddock
returned the welfare money he had received
and made frequent donations to various
charities.
Title Defense?
► In
his first title defense Braddock lost his
title to Joe Louis
► BUT due to one of the most astute contracts
in sport business history . . . Braddock
received 10% of all Louis's future purses.
World War II
► Braddock
and manager Joe Gould both
enlisted into the U.S. Army in 1942
Gould and Braddock enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942, and rose to
the rank of First Lieutenant, accidentally shooting Sergeant John
Bender during a photo op in which he and Braddock did rifle
calisthenics.
Max Baer
Maximilian Adelbert Baer
Craig Bierko
► Baer
voted to Ring
Magazine's 2003
list of 100 greatest
punchers of all time
► Baer
went on to be
a famous actor
Jim Braddock vs. Max Baer
Father and Son
Max Baer
Max Baer, Jr. as “Jethro Bodine"
on the TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies
Myth of Baer – “The Heartless Killer”
Frankie Campbell
Max Baer (right) lands a right to the head of
Frankie Campbell as the latter falls to the canvas.
Campbell would die 12 hours later from head
injuries suffered in this fight. - Recreation Park,
San Francisco, CA - Aug 25, 1930
Myth of Baer – “The Heartless Killer”
► The
film portrays Baer to have
been unaffected by the death of
Campbell
► Boxing
historians have pointed
out that this portrayal is
completely inaccurate
► Baer
lost several of his next
fights because he was afraid to
hurt someone else
► Baer
donated a lot of his purse
money to Campbell’s family
Myth – Baer was Responsible for the
death of Ernie Schaaf
► The
film:
“Remember Ernie Schaaf? Nice guy . . . Ernie
took one of those on the chin from Baer. He
was dead and didn’t know it. Next fight, first
little nothing jab put him to sleep forever.
Detached brain, they said.”
In reality . . .
► Schaaf
fought in 2 other fights before
collapsing into a coma in the 13th round in a
fight against Primo Carnera
“While it can never be said with absolute
certainty, it seems now, as then, that Max
Baer in a high degree of probability did not
fatally injure Mr. Schaaf. In all of the tidal
wave of press reports following the Carnera
bout and death of Ernie, Max Baer’s name
was never even mentioned.”
Michael Hunnicutt
Boxing Historian