James Walter Braddock (June 7, 1905 – November 29, 1974) was an American

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

who was the world heavyweight champion from 1935 to 1937. Fighting under the name James J. Braddock (ostensibly to follow the pattern set by two prior world boxing champions,

James J. Corbett James John "Jim" Corbett (September 1, 1866 – February 18, 1933) was an American professional boxer and a World Heavyweight Champion, best known as the only man who ever defeated the great John L. Sullivan (hence the " man who beat the man ...

and James J. Jeffries), Braddock was known for his spoiling, counterpunching style, powerful right hand, and his iron chin. He had lost several bouts due to chronic hand injuries and was forced to work on the docks and collect social assistance to feed his family during the Great Depression. He made a comeback, and in 1935 he fought

Max Baer Max Baer may refer to: * Max Baer (boxer) (1909–1959), American boxing world champion ** Max Baer Jr. Maximilian Adelbert Baer Jr. (born December 4, 1937) is an American actor, producer, comedian, and director widely known for his role as ...

for the world heavyweight championship and won. For this unlikely feat he was given the nickname "

Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Penn ...

" by Damon Runyon. Braddock was managed by Joe Gould.

Early life

Braddock was born on June 7, 1905 on West 48th Street in Manhattan's Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. He moved to North Bergen, New Jersey at an early age. He was one of seven children being raised by immigrant parents; Irish mother Elizabeth O'Tool and

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

father Joseph Braddock. He stated his life's early ambition was to play college football for

Knute Rockne Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

at the University of Notre Dame, though this did not come to pass, as he remarked that he had "more brawn than brains".

Career

Braddock pursued boxing, fighting as a light heavyweight. His first fight in a ring occurred on November 27, 1923. He turned pro at the age of 21. After three years, Braddock's record was , with 21 knockouts. In 1928, Braddock pulled off a major upset by knocking out highly regarded

Tuffy Griffiths Gerald Ambrose "Tuffy" Griffiths (January 1, 1907 – November 15, 1968) was an American boxer. He fought as a heavyweight and occasionally as a light heavyweight under the name Tuffy Griffiths. Early life Gerald Ambrose Griffiths was bo ...

. The following year he earned a chance to fight for the title, but he narrowly lost to Tommy Loughran in a 15-round decision. Braddock was greatly depressed by the loss and badly fractured his right hand in several places in the process. His next 33 fights were significantly less successful, with a record. With his family in poverty during the Great Depression, Braddock was forced to give up boxing and work as a longshoreman. Due to frequent injuries to his right hand, Braddock compensated by using his left hand during his longshoreman work, and it gradually became stronger than his right. Braddock felt humiliated by having to accept government relief money, but he was inspired by the Catholic Worker Movement, a Christian social justice organization founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933 to help the homeless and hungry. After his boxing comeback, Braddock returned the welfare money he had received and made frequent donations to various Catholic Worker Houses, and fed homeless people by inviting them to meals with his family.

Max Baer fight

In 1934, Braddock was given a fight with the highly touted John "Corn" Griffin. Although Braddock was intended simply as a stepping stone in Griffin's career, he knocked out the " Ozark Cyclone" in the third round. Braddock then fought John Henry Lewis, a future light heavyweight champion. He won in one of the most important fights of his career. After defeating another highly regarded heavyweight contender, Art Lasky, whose nose he broke during the bout on March 22, 1935, Braddock was given a title fight against the World Heavyweight Champion,

. Considered little more than a journeyman fighter, Braddock was hand-picked by Baer's handlers because he was seen as an easy payday for the champion, despite his recent impressive victories. Instead, on June 13, 1935, at

Madison Square Garden Bowl Madison Square Garden Bowl was the name of an outdoor arena in the New York City borough of Queens. Built in 1932, the arena hosted circuses and boxing matches. Its seating capacity was 72,000 spectators on wood bleachers. The idea of the stadiu ...

, Braddock won the Heavyweight Championship of the World as the 10-to-1 underdog in what was called "the greatest fistic upset since the defeat of

John L. Sullivan John Lawrence Sullivan (October 15, 1858 – February 2, 1918), known simply as John L. among his admirers, and dubbed the "Boston Strong Boy" by the press, was an American boxer recognized as the first heavyweight champion of gloved boxing ...

by Jim Corbett". During the fight, a dogged Braddock took a few heavy hits from the powerful younger champion (29 years versus 26 years for Baer), but Braddock kept coming, wearing down Baer, who seemed perplexed by Braddock's ability to take a punch. In the end, the judges gave Braddock the title with a unanimous decision.

Heavyweight Champion

Braddock's first title defense was to be against German

Max Schmeling Maximilian Adolph Otto Siegfried Schmeling (, ; 28 September 1905 – 2 February 2005) was a German boxing, boxer who was heavyweight champion of the world between 1930 and 1932. His two fights with Joe Louis in 1936 and 1938 were worldwide cul ...

on June 3, 1937, in the

. However, Braddock backed out of the bout in favor of a fight with

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

in Chicago. Braddock argued he would have received only a US$25,000 purse against Schmeling, compared to $250,000 against rising star Louis. There was also concern that if Schmeling won, the Nazi government would deny American fighters opportunities to fight for the title. Finally, American commentators had expressed opposition to the fight in light of the connections between Schmeling and Adolf Hitler, with whom the German fighter had been associated after his earlier victory over Louis. In his only defense of the title, Braddock lost to Louis in the 8th round by a knockout, the only one of his career. Braddock and Louis saw each other frequently over the years, and the Brown Bomber always greeted him the same way: “Hello, champ.” As Jeremy Schaap wrote, “ ouisfought eight world heavyweight champions, more than any other fighter ever, but he never called anyone but Jim Braddock ‘champ.’”

Personal life

Braddock married Mae Fox in 1930, and the couple had three children, James (Jay) Jr., Howard and Rosemarie. Braddock enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942 and became a first lieutenant. He served in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

on the island of

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, where he trained enlisted men in hand-to-hand combat. Upon return, he worked as a marine equipment surplus supplier and helped construct the

Verrazano Bridge The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge connecting the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water linking the relatively enclosed New York Harbor with Lower New York Bay and th ...

in the early 1960s. Braddock was a member of the Fairview Teeko Club, New Jersey, where he was regarded as one of the strongest teekoists.

Death and legacy

After his death in 1974 at the age of 69, James J. Braddock was interred in the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Tenafly, New Jersey. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001. James J. Braddock North Hudson County Park in North Bergen, New Jersey is named in his honor. The 2005

biographical film A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

'' tells Braddock's story. Directed by Ron Howard, it stars

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

as Braddock and Renée Zellweger as his wife, Mae. The film had an estimated budget of $88 million and grossed $108.5 million worldwide. Crowe's performance earned him a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

nomination for

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

. Paul Giamatti, playing Braddock's manager Joe Gould, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The role of neighbor Sara Wilson was played by

Rosemarie DeWitt Rosemarie Braddock DeWitt (born October 26, 1971) is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series '' Standoff'' (2006–07), co-starring with her future husband Ron Livingston, as well as Charmaine Craine on ''Unit ...

, who is Braddock's real-life granddaughter. The film received mostly positive reviews.

Professional boxing record

All information in this section is derived from

BoxRec BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website dedicated to holding updated records of professional and amateur boxers, both male and female. It also maintains a MediaWiki-based encyclopaedia of boxing. The objective of the site is to document every profess ...

, unless otherwise stated.

Official record

All newspaper decisions are officially regarded as “no decision” bouts and are not counted in the win/loss/draw column.

Unofficial record

Record with the inclusion of newspaper decisions in the win/loss/draw column. W

Notes

References

* Joe Louis, Edna Rust, Art Rust Jr., ''Joe Louis: My Life'' * "Cinderella Man" by Eminem, 2010
''Joe Louis, 66, Heavyweight King Who Reigned 12 Years, Is Dead''
Obituary, ''New York Times'', April 13, 1981.
Louis' TAX issues
* Jenny Nolan
"The Brown Bomber – The Man Behind The Fist"
'' The Detroit News''
"Remembering Joe Louis"
WTVM * "The Long Loneliness", by Dorothy Day, 1952

External links

*

ESPN.com

Official James J. Braddock website
(includes videos of some rounds of Braddock's fights with Baer and Louis)
Braddock's career record
– from the Official James J. Braddock website *
Collection of critical opinion of ''Cinderella Man''
at Rotten Tomatoes
James Braddock vs Max Baer, 13 June 1935, all rounds

James Braddock vs Joe Louis, 22 June 1937, all rounds

Quits Docks To Win Three Great Fights: Half Starved, Braddock Battles His Way To Scrap With Baer, by Harry Grayson, Sports Editor, NEA Service, June 5, 1935
{{DEFAULTSORT:Braddock, James J. 1905 births 1974 deaths American male boxers United States Army personnel of World War II American people of English descent American people of Irish descent Boxers from New York (state) Burials in New Jersey Heavyweight boxers Light-heavyweight boxers Military personnel from New York City People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan People from North Bergen, New Jersey People from West New York, New Jersey World Boxing Association champions World heavyweight boxing champions Catholics from New York (state) Catholics from New Jersey United States Army officers Military personnel from New Jersey