The Magnificent Max Baer

The Magnificent Max Baer PDF Author: Colleen Aycock
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476632901
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Boxing might not have survived the 1930s if not for Max Baer. A contender for every heavyweight championship 1932-1941, California's "Glamour Boy" brought back the "million-dollar gate" not seen since the 1920s. His radio voice sold millions of Gillette razor blades; his leading-man appeal made him a heartthrob in The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933). The film was banned in Nazi Germany--Baer had worn a Star of David on his trunks when he TKOed German former champ Max Schmeling. Baer defeated 275-pound Primo Carnera in 1934 for the championship, losing it to Jim Braddock the next year. Contrary to Cinderella Man, (2005), Baer--favored 10 to 1--was not a villain and the fight was more controversial than the film suggested. His battle with Joe Louis three months later drew the highest gate of the decade. This first comprehensive biography covers Baer's complete ring record, his early life, his career on radio, film, stage and television, and his World War II army service.

The Magnificent Max Baer

The Magnificent Max Baer PDF Author: Colleen Aycock
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476632901
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book

Book Description
Boxing might not have survived the 1930s if not for Max Baer. A contender for every heavyweight championship 1932-1941, California's "Glamour Boy" brought back the "million-dollar gate" not seen since the 1920s. His radio voice sold millions of Gillette razor blades; his leading-man appeal made him a heartthrob in The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933). The film was banned in Nazi Germany--Baer had worn a Star of David on his trunks when he TKOed German former champ Max Schmeling. Baer defeated 275-pound Primo Carnera in 1934 for the championship, losing it to Jim Braddock the next year. Contrary to Cinderella Man, (2005), Baer--favored 10 to 1--was not a villain and the fight was more controversial than the film suggested. His battle with Joe Louis three months later drew the highest gate of the decade. This first comprehensive biography covers Baer's complete ring record, his early life, his career on radio, film, stage and television, and his World War II army service.

Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man PDF Author: Jeremy Schaap
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547525834
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
New York Times Bestseller: This true Depression-era story of a down-and-out fighter’s dramatic comeback is “a delight” (David Halberstam). James J. Braddock was a once promising light heavyweight. But a string of losses in the ring and a broken right hand happened to coincide with the Great Crash of 1929—and Braddock was forced to labor on the docks of Hoboken. Only his manager, Joe Gould, still believed in him. Gould looked out for the burly, quiet Irishman, finding matches for Braddock to help him feed his wife and children. Together, they were about to stage the greatest comeback in fighting history. Within twelve months, Braddock went from being on the relief rolls to facing heavyweight champion Max Baer, renowned for having allegedly killed two men in the ring. A brash Jewish boxer from the West Coast, Baer was heavily favored—but Braddock carried the hopes and dreams of the working class on his shoulders, and when he emerged victorious against all odds, the shock was palpable—and the cheers were deafening. In the wake of his surprise win, Damon Runyon dubbed him “Cinderella Man.” Against the gritty backdrop of the 1930s, Cinderella Man brings this dramatic all-American story to life, telling a classic David and Goliath tale that transcends the sport. “A punchy read with touches of humor.” —The New York Times “A wonderful, thrilling boxing story, and simultaneously a meticulous look at Depression life.” —Jimmy Breslin

Max Baer and Barney Ross

Max Baer and Barney Ross PDF Author: Jeffrey Sussman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442269332
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 225

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Book Description
In the 1920s and 30s, anti-Semitism was rife in the United States and Europe. Jews needed symbols of strength and demonstrations of courage against their enemies, and they found both in two champions of boxing: Max Baer and Barney Ross. Baer was the only Jewish heavyweight champion in the twentieth century, while Ross was considered one of the greatest welterweight and lightweight champions of the era. Although their careers never crossed paths, their boxing triumphs played a common role in lifting the spirits of persecuted Jews. In Max Baer and Barney Ross: Jewish Heroes of Boxing, Jeffrey Sussman chronicles the lives of two men whose successful bouts inside the ring served as inspiration for Jewish fans across the country and around the world. Though they came from very different backgrounds—Baer grew up on his family’s ranch in California, while Ross roamed the tough streets of Chicago and was a runner for Al Capone—both would bask in the limelight as boxing champions. Their stories include legendary encounters with such opponents as Jimmy McLarnin (known as the Jew Killer), Max Schmeling (Hitler’s favorite athlete), and Primo Carnera (a sad giant controlled and mistreated by gangsters). While recounting the exploits of these two men, the author also paints an evocative picture of boxing and the crucial role it played in an era of anti-Semitism. A vivid and engaging look at these two heroes and the difficult era in which they lived, Max Baer and Barney Ross will appeal to boxing fans, sports historians, and anyone interested in Jewish history.

Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man PDF Author: Michael C. DeLisa
Publisher: Milo Books
ISBN: 9781903854372
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
In 1934, Jim Braddock was down and out. His boxing career blighted by broken hands, the New Yorker of English parentage had lost most of his previous twenty-one bouts and been forced to quit. Then came a visit from his old manager, asking if he wanted one more fight. Desperate for money, Braddock had no choice. Four wins later, he was the heavyweight champion of the world. His story captivated the nation in the way the racehorse Seabiscuit's would a few years later. Braddock's rags-to-riches success led Damon Runyon to call him 'the Cinderella Man'.

An Illustrated History of Boxing

An Illustrated History of Boxing PDF Author: Nat Fleischer
Publisher: Citadel Press
ISBN: 9780806522012
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
Updated by Nigel Collins, author of "Boxing Babylon", this classic "bible of boxing" has been continuously in print since 1959. Here in one stunning volume is the vast panorama of the "sweet science", from bare-knuckle fighting through the rise of Lennox Lewis. Photos throughout.

Hitters, Dancers and Ring Magicians

Hitters, Dancers and Ring Magicians PDF Author: Kelly Richard Nicholson
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786459913
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
This volume offers detailed information about the boxers who were active during boxing's "Golden Age," 1890 to 1910, focusing primarily on George "Kid" Lavigne, Bob Fitzsimmons, Barbados Joe Walcott, Joe Gans, Terry McGovern, Sam Langford, and Stanley Ketchel, and their opponents, who were also key figures.

Holocaust Fighters

Holocaust Fighters PDF Author: Jeffrey Sussman
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1538139839
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 211

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Book Description
A remarkable portrait of the heroic people who faced the threat of extermination by the Nazis and resisted by any means possible—whether through boxing, exposing the reality of death camps, armed guerrilla attacks, or deadly acts of vengeance. In Holocaust Fighters: Boxers, Resisters, and Avengers, Jeffrey Sussman shares the riveting stories of those who fought back against the Nazis. The lives of five boxers who were forced to fight for their lives while imprisoned in concentration camps are explored in depth, followed by the stories of those who managed to escape captivity and reveal the truth about the death camps. Sussman also depicts in fascinating detail the acts of the Avengers, a military unit that hunted down and killed Nazi war criminals. The final portraits are of the prosecutors who brought the Nazi leaders to justice, those same leaders who watched Jewish and Gypsy boxers beat each other for their own personal entertainment. Holocaust Fighters is an incredible account of the many ways people resisted Nazi rule, providing moving portrayals of the resilience of the human spirit even in the face of incredible horrors.

The Arc of Boxing

The Arc of Boxing PDF Author: Mike Silver
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476602182
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 240

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Book Description
Are today’s boxers better than their predecessors, or is modern boxing a shadow of its former self? Boxing historians discuss the socioeconomic and demographic changes that have affected the quality, prominence and popularity of the sport over the past century. Among the interviewees are world-renowned scholars, some of the sport’s premier trainers, and former amateur and professional world champions. Chapters cover such topics as the ongoing deterioration of boxers’ skills, their endurance, the decline in the number of fights and the psychological readiness of championship-caliber boxers. The strengths and weaknesses of today’s superstars are analyzed and compared to those of such past greats as Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Jack Dempsey and Jake LaMotta.

Max Schmeling

Max Schmeling PDF Author: Max Schmeling
Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
Schmeling's heavyweight championship bouts with Joe Louis in the late 1930s were great fights, but they were also political events--Louis, an American black, versus the German Schmeling, a representative of Hitler's master race. At 92, Schmeling may be the last living person to have conversed with Franklin Roosevelt, Hitler, Pope Pious XII, and Marlene Dietrich. It's all here, in this detailed account of the boxer's life through the end of World War II. Perhaps the most interesting part of the story is the way time has altered the boxer's point of view. When he lost the second Louis fight, he thought it was the most devastating event of his life. But now he realizes that, had he won that fight, he would have become the paramount symbol of Hitler's Third Reich. Though he was a patriot, Schmeling could not reconcile himself to Hitler's racial and religious persecution. This is a fascinating, humble autobiography, of interest as much for the times in which the subject lived--and the people he knew-as for the subject himself.

Blow the House Down

Blow the House Down PDF Author: Robert Baer
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0307347451
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
Former CIA operative Robert Baer pushes fiction to the absolute limit in this riveting and unnervingly plausible alternative history of 9/11. Veteran CIA officer Max Waller has long been obsessed with the abduction and murder of his Agency mentor. Though years of digging yield the name of a suspect—an Iranian math genius turned terrorist—the trail seems too cold to justify further effort. Then Max turns up a photograph of the man standing alongside Osama bin Laden and a mysterious westerner whose face has been cut out, feeding Max’s suspicion. When the first official to whom Max shows the photo winds up dead, the out-of-favor agent suddenly finds himself the target of dark forces within the intelligence community who are desperate to muzzle him. Eluding a global surveillance net, Max—in the summer of 2001—begins tracking the spore of a complex conspiracy, meeting clandestinely with suicide bombers and Arab royalty and ultimately realizing the Iranian he’d sought for a decades-old crime is actually at the nexus of a terrifying plot. Showing off dazzling tradecraft and an array of richly textured backdrops, and filled with real names and events, Blow the House Down deftly balances fact and possibility to become the first great thriller to spring from the war on terrorism. Also available as a Random House AudioBook and an eBook