In today’s world Braddock would be labeled as a boxer who underachieved and didn’t get the most out of his talent until unexpectedly winning the biggest fight of his career. “When the nation was on its knees and everybody was in despair in helplessness and hopelessness, Braddock brought them to their feet because he gave them faith through his spirit that you can rise above your circumstance if you get a second chance,” King said. But he wasn’t a great fighter.”īraddock’s attraction for boxers and filmmakers is more about what Braddock symbolized. “He was a left-handed jabber,” Sugar said. “He couldn’t but his way into the top 10 heavyweights of all time,” says boxing historian Bert Sugar, who admires Braddock the man, but doesn’t think much of Braddock the boxer. Braddock, still in shape from working on the docks, won both in surprising fashion.īut that doesn’t make Braddock a great fighter. His fortunes turned when his manager, Joe Gould (Paul Giamatti in the movie), got him into two heavyweight fights at the last minute. In the book “Cinderella Man,” Schaap describes how Braddock was literally down to his last dollar, having spent his monthly relief of $24 paying bills for his family. With his wife (played by Renee Zellweger in the film) and kids to feed, Braddock focused more on earning a few bucks unloading freight at the New Jersey docks. He would lose 18 of his next 30 fights and eventually have his licensed temporarily revoked. Yet Braddock lost a 15-round decision at Yankee Stadium and seemingly much of his motivation. He grew up wanting to be a fireman or a train engineer, but became a highly regarded amateur boxer who turned pro at age 21 and worked his way up to a title shot with Tommy Loughran. “That’s what gave us the Brown Bomber.”Ī rugged Irish kid who grew up in North Bergen, N.J., Braddock didn’t seem destined for fame. “He broke the color barrier,” boxing promoter Don King says of Braddock. Braddock also managed to gain a controversial bit of financial security in the process. The fight – which was opposed by the boxing commission and had to be cleared by a federal judge – helped integrate boxing, and ended up with Louis becoming heavyweight champion, a title he held longer than any man. A couple of years later, in 1937, Braddock let Joe Louis fight him for the title – the first champion to defend his perch against a black man in 29 years. It’s like “Seabiscuit” on two legs.īut in real life, the tale didn’t end there. The film also dwells on the way Braddock, played by Russell Crowe, gave hope to the downtrodden during the Depression, by working his way back out of the bread lines. It focuses on the title bout with defending champ Max Baer – a fight in which Braddock faced 10-1 odds, the biggest underdog in heavyweight championship history, according to “Cinderella Man,” a biography by ESPN correspondent Jeremy Schaap. The Ron Howard movie, opening this Friday, charts the rise and fall and rise again of James Braddock, a Depression-era boxer who fought his way out of poverty to claim the heavyweight championship of the world. PERHAPS the most interesting story about “Cinderella Man” is the one the filmmakers left out.
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