Encyclopedia
James Walter Braddock was a champion boxer.
Fighting under the name
James J. Braddock , his amazing comeback from a floundering career earned him the nickname
The Cinderella Man from
Damon Runyon.
Early life and boxing career
James Walter Braddock was born in
Hell's Kitchen in New York City on West 48th Street within a couple blocks of the
Madison Square Garden venue that made him famous. His
Irish family was poor, and he never realized his dream to attend Notre Dame on a football scholarship and play for the famous Knute Rockne. Following a successful amateur career, Jim Braddock turned pro at the age of 21, fighting in the light heavyweight division. After three years, Braddock's record was 34-5-7 with 21 knockouts.
In 1928, he pulled off a major upset by knocking out highly regarded Tuffy Griffith. The following year he earned a chance to fight for the championship but he narrowly lost to Tommy Loughran in a fifteen-round decision. Braddock was greatly depressed by the loss and badly injured his hand in several places in the process. His career suffered as a result.
His record for his following thirty-three fights was 11-20-2, and he fought with what close friends described as "generalized indifference." With his family in poverty during the Great Depression, Braddock had to stop fighting for a period and work as a longshoreman. Braddock always talked of the humiliation of having to accept government relief money, but was inspired by Dorothy Day and the seminal Catholic Worker Movement, a Christian anarchist organisation founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, just getting started in 1933. After his boxing comeback, he returned the welfare funds he had received and made frequent donations to various Catholic Worker Houses.
Second chance, Baer vs. Braddock
In 1934, the boxer was given a fight with the highly touted John "Corn" Griffin. Although Braddock was intended as a stepping stone in Griffin's rise, Braddock scored an upset victory on June 14 1934. Braddock then fought John Henry Lewis, a future light heavyweight champion on November 16 1934 and won in one of the most important fights of his career. After defeating another highly regarded heavyweight contender, Art Lasky, on March 22 1935, Braddock was given a title fight against the World Heavyweight Champion, Max Baer.
Considered no more than a journeyman fighter, Braddock was chosen by Baer's handlers because he was seen as a guaranteed easy payday for the champion. Instead, on June 13 1935, at
Madison Square Garden Bowl, Braddock won the heavyweight championship of the world as the 10-to-1 underdog in one of the most stunning upsets in boxing history.
The fight showed a dogged Braddock taking heavy hits from the powerful champion, but Braddock kept coming until he wore Baer down. In the end, the judges gave Braddock the title with a unanimous decision.
Jim Braddock suffered from problems with his arthritic hands after several injuries throughout his career, and in 1936 his title defense in
Madison Square Garden against the
German Max Schmeling had to be cancelled in suspect circumstances. Braddock himself argued he would have received a $25,000 purse against Schmeling compared to $250,000 against rising star
Joe Louis. It was also likely that Braddock's manager did not want a potential German victory to become Nazi propaganda.
Joe Louis vs. James Braddock
When ready to fight, the thirty-two-year-old Braddock chose to defend his title against the then 23-year-old star
Joe Louis. Realizing that Louis would be a heavy favorite and being an astute businessman, Joe Gould negotiated an agreement whereby Braddock would receive 10% of Louis's future earnings. At
Yankee Stadium, in front of fifty thousand fanatics, Braddock knocked Louis down in the first round of their June 22 1937 bout, but Louis recovered and dominated the bout, earning an eighth round stoppage. Louis is on record as saying that Braddock was "the most courageous fighter I ever fought."
Retirement, World War II
Braddock always said he wanted his hand raised in his final fight. His last ring performance was in 1938 when he fought Welsh boxer Tommy Farr. Braddock came from behind to win a unanimous decision. The last two rounds were considered by many sportswriters to be the best of Braddock's life.
He retired afterwards and worked in construction. Braddock also went on to serve honorably in World War II. In 1954, he was given the James J. Walker Award in recognition of his long and meritorious service to the boxing industry.
On his passing in 1974 in New Jersey, aged 69, James Braddock was interred in the Mount Carmel Cemetery in
Englewood, New Jersey. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001. A county park in North Bergen, New Jersey is named in his honor.
The Film: Cinderella Man
The 2005
biopic Cinderella Man is a 2005 [i] American [i] Academy Award [i]-nominated drama film [i] ...
tells the story of James J. Braddock. Directed by
Ron Howard, and starring
Russell Crowe as Braddock with
Renée Zellweger as his wife Mae, the movie had an estimated budget of $88,000,000 and grossed a disappointing $108.5 million world-wide.
Paul Giamatti, playing Braddock's manager Joe Gould, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Although the film received many positive reviews , some critics argued that part of Braddock's journey was glamorized too much by director Ron Howard.
One example is that throughout the film, Max Baer is portrayed in a semi-hostile manner. The character of Baer in the movie is portrayed more as an arrogant villain who shows no remorse after killing men in the ring. In reality, Baer was shaken by the one death he caused, giving money to the family of his victim, and putting the victim's children through school, at the University of Notre Dame, which Baer regarded as the best Catholic university in America. His son, actor
Max Baer Jr. of "The Beverly Hillbillies" fame, has stated that he remembered his father having nightmares over the bout .
Baer was flamboyant, laughing often, and joking often. However, this was more for show than to be malicious.
In reality he was regarded by those who knew him best as humble, gentle, and sensitive, once remarking, "The only thing I don't like about boxing is that usually some guy gets hurt, and it's not me." He is remembered for his flair, and not as the
villain portrayed in the film. However, short of this discredit, the film was said to be fairly accurate, although the film is seen from the perspective of Braddock, who viewed Baer in this way, particularly the disparaging remarks made by Baer about Braddock's wife during the fight.
Braddock once remarked, "If he said those things to upset me, he succeeded, and he also lost. The guy obviously didn't know what kind of a guy I am or he would have kept his gloves up and his mouth shut." These words are themselves paraphrased in the movie toward the end of one round.
See also
- Lineal heavyweight champions
- List of heavyweight boxing champions
- List of male boxers
External links
- - from the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame
- - Collection of critical opinion of Cinderella Man
