IGX

Greatest upset in Boxing History, by Jeremy Schaap

What a great book, as much as I liked the movie, I loved the book.
It gives you a feel for the times they lived in and the kind of men they were.

Unlike the movie, they spend alot of time on Baer, and I can see why his son was unhappy with the way his father was portrayed in the film.
He was a man who never hit another till he was 18, and from there found he had a talent for hitting people. He rose rapidly, had some help from men like Jack Dempsey, but after killing a man in the ring, he actually hated boxing. Yes he was a playboy, but he was not the wiseass thug of the movie, cocky yes, but not a bad man by any measure.

Braddok on the other hand, was a tough Irish man, who grew up fighting, found he was comfortable in violent situations and after standing toe to toe with his prizefighting older brother in a street fight, went into Boxing to make his mark.

He rose up the ranks, but had a string of bad luck and injury, that followed him into the Great Depression, where a seemingly washed up Braddock became a temporary labourer to support his family.

When things were at their darkest, he got a chance to reenter the ring, and Jim J Braddock walked into that ring a different fighter, he was more powerfull, more versitle and he had a life and death reason to fight, his family.

If you liked the movie, you'll love this book, same if your a fan of the old style boxers, when even contenders fought 3 times in a month, wore token gloves and when men dieing in the ring was not an unusual occurence.

5 Stars, or Gloves!

DARTH wrote:Greatest upset in Boxing History, by Jeremy Schaap

What a great book, as much as I liked the movie, I loved the book.
It gives you a feel for the times they lived in and the kind of men they were.

Unlike the movie, they spend alot of time on Baer, and I can see why his son was unhappy with the way his father was portrayed in the film.
He was a man who never hit another till he was 18, and from there found he had a talent for hitting people. He rose rapidly, had some help from men like Jack Dempsey, but after killing a man in the ring, he actually hated boxing. Yes he was a playboy, but he was not the wiseass thug of the movie, cocky yes, but not a bad man by any measure.

Braddok on the other hand, was a tough Irish man, who grew up fighting, found he was comfortable in violent situations and after standing toe to toe with his prizefighting older brother in a street fight, went into Boxing to make his mark.

He rose up the ranks, but had a string of bad luck and injury, that followed him into the Great Depression, where a seemingly washed up Braddock became a temporary labourer to support his family.

When things were at their darkest, he got a chance to reenter the ring, and Jim J Braddock walked into that ring a different fighter, he was more powerfull, more versitle and he had a life and death reason to fight, his family.

If you liked the movie, you'll love this book, same if your a fan of the old style boxers, when even contenders fought 3 times in a month, wore token gloves and when men dieing in the ring was not an unusual occurence.

5 Stars, or Gloves!

A modern Max Baer movie would be great. Great Boxer, but unfortunately he was a head case after killing Frankie Campbell. If that death hadn't happened, chances are much of 1930's boxing history would have been different.

The Baer family criticism seems fair, until you realize that Max and his managers cultivated an image of being a jerk ass playboy. What you saw on screen was how how almost all of American saw Max Baer.

BB2/75