the seedy side of boxing

[Humean]

Braddock's manager Joe Gould was a real crook, if I recall correctly he was depicted very differently in the movie Cinderella Man.

Joe Louis was acquainted with many criminals, he was also an important cog in the formation of the International Boxing Club (IBC) which dominated the sport for around a decade and which was an important means in which the mob controlled the sport. Marciano was often to be found in the company of wise guys and his manager Al Weill was for a while managing him in secret whilst also being the matchmaker at Madison Square Garden, and that was probably about the least shady thing Weill ever did.

[Rockin']

Boxing is full of proper, upstanding people. To suggest otherwise is odious, contemptable, deplorable, malodious ...... uncivilized.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=...FB795B5BBDBBE3

[rightsideup]

I took a look back through Braddocks bio and Schmeling had actually fought his way into contention but he got squeezed because they couldn't get a deal with Schmeling like Louis had to take.
I forgot that Schmeling had stayed very active after the Louis win and won four or five bouts so he deserved the bout with Braddock.
Well he got Louis shortly there after!

Yes max deserved his shot and the boxing authorities were backing him for awhile but Louis had fairly good connections. Joe did give max a shot at the title.

[Anthony342]

Yeah I've heard in bios that Joe never felt he was truly the heavyweight champion until he beat Schmeling in their rematch.

[billeau2]

Braddock's manager Joe Gould was a real crook, if I recall correctly he was depicted very differently in the movie Cinderella Man.

Joe Louis was acquainted with many criminals, he was also an important cog in the formation of the International Boxing Club (IBC) which dominated the sport for around a decade and which was an important means in which the mob controlled the sport. Marciano was often to be found in the company of wise guys and his manager Al Weill was for a while managing him in secret whilst also being the matchmaker at Madison Square Garden, and that was probably about the least shady thing Weill ever did.

When you look at how the Ron Howard movie portrayed the Braddock Bauer fight the first thing one might say is "wow! why didn't someone write this movie years ago, what an event!" I must confess to enjoying the movie but indeed....Howard really had to massage, stretch, distort and revise many elements of the situation....Everything from Gould becoming the compassionate trainer to Max becoming a dangerous psychopath was stretching things a lot. Not sure about braddock....I certainly hope he was a stand up guy.

[rightsideup]

When you look at how the Ron Howard movie portrayed the Braddock Bauer fight the first thing one might say is "wow! why didn't someone write this movie years ago, what an event!" I must confess to enjoying the movie but indeed....Howard really had to massage, stretch, distort and revise many elements of the situation....Everything from Gould becoming the compassionate trainer to Max becoming a dangerous psychopath was stretching things a lot. Not sure about braddock....I certainly hope he was a stand up guy.

Jim was a talent that got a shot and lost to the great tommy lougran he lost his investments in the depression crash and really was destitute.

[JimEarl]

Boxing was outlawed in Chicago for 20 years because of the stink around the Joe Gans / Terry Mcgovern fiasco in 1900. And it wasn't the first "fight" that Gans manager had arranged to have thrown.

Boxing was evermore so the wild wild west back then.

[The Old LefHook]

Ron Howard is a nice guy who should never make a movie. He would not know a fact from a fork. Like him, his movies are all syrup and niceness. He had a little bit to offer as a child actor. I look at the work, not the box office receipts. He had all the connections and experience and positive energy to have the career he did. But look at his movies, what are they, I mean really?

Boxing does have some nice people, but they are overpowered by those pulling the levers, who are distinctly not nice. It is not a case of one rotten apple spoiling the barrel. Rotten apples can be found throughout the barrel that is boxing.

Nice people who go to prison are not as nice when they get out. I suspect many nice people who enter boxing at some level are not as nice once they see how things are done, if they still intend to be successful in that business.

[billeau2]

Jim was a talent that got a shot and lost to the great tommy lougran he lost his investments in the depression crash and really was destitute.

Everyone was destitute except the insurance companies (interesting fact) and of course the one's pulling the strings.