Book that puts Max Baer in a dubious light

[max baer]

- - The agenda is to write a bio with the credibility of the product being that of the author. Some authors are more credible than other political agendas or mickeymouse efforts...

Nobody would ever accuse Max of being a saint, but on balance he was a standup guy and something of a comedian who was miscast as a fighter when he was more oriented to showbiz is my take.

Not like you to be accurate queeny!

[BattlingNelson]

Lets face facts. Max Baer was not the nicest man in the world, but was he a stone cold killer. No. I am sure he wanted to win every fight badly, and he fought hard you know. Fighters need to accept the risks associated with professional boxing, and that is what it comes down to. I thought about writing a book about the Joey Gamache Vs Arturo Gatti fight because I thought Arturo Gatti got a really bad rap for the weigh in fiasco because the New York State Athletic Commission gave both Gatti, and De La Hoya free passes at the scales because the commissioners feared riots in the fallout of the trial of 3 police officers accused of shooting an unarmed black man 47 times.

No Gatti didn't kill Gamache, and Gamache after several minutes got up, and demanded to walk off like a man, but anybody who knows boxing knows Gatti would have put on all that weight irregardless of what he weighed that day at the scales, and that is kind of the way the judge at the Gamache trial saw it. I never went forth with the book because a non heavyweight book does not garner a lot of popularity.

It would have been interesting though. I recall that both the NYSAC and Gatti looked terrible in this incident, and it would be nice to get it all outlined in a book. Gamache still suffers and will suffer for the rest of his life because of this.

[GhostofDempsey]

It would have been interesting though. I recall that both the NYSAC and Gatti looked terrible in this incident, and it would be nice to get it all outlined in a book. Gamache still suffers and will suffer for the rest of his life because of this.

I remember the Gamache fight with Gatti. Gatti put on 17 pounds day of fight. Boxing was pressured to now allow that sort of weight gain and disparity. Yet here we are 24 years later and nothing has changed. Haney packed on 25 pounds on day of fight against Prograis and likely the same in previous fights against Loma and other opponents. Lots of other fighters are doing as bad or worse.

[BattlingNelson]

I remember the Gamache fight with Gatti. Gatti put on 17 pounds day of fight. Boxing was pressured to now allow that sort of weight gain and disparity. Yet here we are 24 years later and nothing has changed. Haney packed on 25 pounds on day of fight against Prograis and likely the same in previous fights against Loma and other opponents. Lots of other fighters are doing as bad or worse.

Yep. Something should be done with the ridiculous re-hydrations we see. I’m not sure if a return to Same day weighing is the answer though tbh.

[BattlingNelson]

Description from Amazon:

"Then The World Moved On: The Brutal Truth Behind the Baer–Campbell Fight" by Catherine Johnson, knocks boxing history on its cauliflowered ear, with the most painstakingly researched and scrupulously detailed book ever written about the tragic end of Frankie Campbell, and Max Baer's shocking hand in his death.

Preceded with a Foreword by Ray Mancini, the book chronicles not only Campbell's life and career, it exhaustively examines his fight with Baer, the resultant fallout and appalling coverup of the truth, and the horrific details of Baer's lies and manipulation of the event and its aftermath.

A variety of original source materials going back a century, were thoroughly investigated and meticulously pieced together, among them newspapers, court transcripts, medical records, genealogical, archival, federal, state, and local records, along with psychological analysis and brain trauma study, as well as interviews with Campbell's family members, former pro fighters, and boxing historians.

Along with over 1400 cited sources, over 150 rare photos, illustrations, and fight advertisements, the book also discusses the legendary men who made California a boxing mecca in the early Twentieth Century, and the popular venues where fights were held. Woven artfully into the narrative, is how the context of the times, the Golden Age of American Sports, the Roaring Twenties, Prohibition, and the Great Depression, affected the sport, and the lives of the men who molded the game.

[Willie Pep 229]

I remember the Gamache fight with Gatti. Gatti put on 17 pounds day of fight. Boxing was pressured to now allow that sort of weight gain and disparity. Yet here we are 24 years later and nothing has changed. Haney packed on 25 pounds on day of fight against Prograis and likely the same in previous fights against Loma and other opponents. Lots of other fighters are doing as bad or worse.

I did it once in high school wrestling but it didn't work out for me, because I had to wrestle before I could rehydrate properly. I was exhausted.

I weighed in at 106 at 6PM, wrestled at 8PM. Lost.

Woke the next morning at 122lbs and was 126 by that evening. 20 pounds in 24 hours.

[max baer]

I did it once in high school wrestling but it didn't work out for me, because I had to wrestle before I could rehydrate properly. I was exhausted.

I weighed in at 106 at 6PM, wrestled at 8PM. Lost.

Woke the next morning at 122lbs and was 126 by that evening. 20 pounds in 24 hours.

i enjoy reading your posts willie you are extremely well informed and educated. This video is about cutting weight and it's dangers. It really is a crazy thing making weight for the weigh in. same day weigh in's must be the answer and i think it could be done.

[max baer]

Just reconsidering my previous post saying that same day weigh in's must be brought back. Can you imagine all the people going to see the fight and all the ppv and everything being cancelled hours before the fight???
It could never work to cancel a fight just hours before. So I don't know what the answer is to this problem. Does anyone else have any ideas??

[QueensburyRules]

Yep. Something should be done with the ridiculous re-hydrations we see. I’m not sure if a return to Same day weighing is the answer though tbh.

- - Look, either they make weight or they don't, or eliminate weight classes...simples...

We don't have the data of what Duran's post weighin ring weight for the Leonard fight, but I'd imagine two large g****fruits devoured whole and two full steak dinners washed down with a gallon of OJ, might be looking at 160 that was a misteak on his part.

Same day weighin is a regression to poor boxing rules.

[billeau2]

Just reconsidering my previous post saying that same day weigh in's must be brought back. Can you imagine all the people going to see the fight and all the ppv and everything being cancelled hours before the fight???
It could never work to cancel a fight just hours before. So I don't know what the answer is to this problem. Does anyone else have any ideas??

How about a law stating how many pounds one is allowed to come in over? Works for me. For example, Weigh in weight and allowed a 10 pound difference for a weight before the fight.