CINDERELLA MAN-James J Braddock,Max Bear and the..
Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 12:03 am
Greatest upset in Boxing History, by Jeremy Schaap
What a great book, as much as I liked the movie, I loved the book.
It gives you a feel for the times they lived in and the kind of men they were.
Unlike the movie, they spend alot of time on Baer, and I can see why his son was unhappy with the way his father was portrayed in the film.
He was a man who never hit another till he was 18, and from there found he had a talent for hitting people. He rose rapidly, had some help from men like Jack Dempsey, but after killing a man in the ring, he actually hated boxing. Yes he was a playboy, but he was not the wiseass thug of the movie, cocky yes, but not a bad man by any measure.
Braddok on the other hand, was a tough Irish man, who grew up fighting, found he was comfortable in violent situations and after standing toe to toe with his prizefighting older brother in a street fight, went into Boxing to make his mark.
He rose up the ranks, but had a string of bad luck and injury, that followed him into the Great Depression, where a seemingly washed up Braddock became a temporary labourer to support his family.
When things were at their darkest, he got a chance to reenter the ring, and Jim J Braddock walked into that ring a different fighter, he was more powerfull, more versitle and he had a life and death reason to fight, his family.
If you liked the movie, you'll love this book, same if your a fan of the old style boxers, when even contenders fought 3 times in a month, wore token gloves and when men dieing in the ring was not an unusual occurence.
5 Stars, or Gloves!
What a great book, as much as I liked the movie, I loved the book.
It gives you a feel for the times they lived in and the kind of men they were.
Unlike the movie, they spend alot of time on Baer, and I can see why his son was unhappy with the way his father was portrayed in the film.
He was a man who never hit another till he was 18, and from there found he had a talent for hitting people. He rose rapidly, had some help from men like Jack Dempsey, but after killing a man in the ring, he actually hated boxing. Yes he was a playboy, but he was not the wiseass thug of the movie, cocky yes, but not a bad man by any measure.
Braddok on the other hand, was a tough Irish man, who grew up fighting, found he was comfortable in violent situations and after standing toe to toe with his prizefighting older brother in a street fight, went into Boxing to make his mark.
He rose up the ranks, but had a string of bad luck and injury, that followed him into the Great Depression, where a seemingly washed up Braddock became a temporary labourer to support his family.
When things were at their darkest, he got a chance to reenter the ring, and Jim J Braddock walked into that ring a different fighter, he was more powerfull, more versitle and he had a life and death reason to fight, his family.
If you liked the movie, you'll love this book, same if your a fan of the old style boxers, when even contenders fought 3 times in a month, wore token gloves and when men dieing in the ring was not an unusual occurence.
5 Stars, or Gloves!