Baer, Max

(1909-1959)

   Born Maximilian Adelbart Baer Cussen to German immigrant parents in Omaha, Nebraska, boxer Max Baer developed his strength and physique working on cattle ranches in Colorado. This power gave him a devastating right-hand punch and a fearsome reputation in the ring. He turned professional in 1929. In 1930, he was charged with manslaughter when his opponent Frankie Campbell died after Baer knocked him out. Although cleared, he was suspended for a year. Baer, who always indicated his Jewish origins with a Star of David on his trunks, knocked out the German boxer Max Schmeling in 1933, and the following year he felled the giant Italian Primo Carnera 11 times before finally knocking him out in the 11th round to become world heavy weight champion. In June 1935, he lost the title to the “Cinderella Man,” Jim Braddock, but he continued fighting until 1941. He was twice beaten by Joe Louis. Baer acted in a number of films, usually playing the role of a boxer, as in The Prizefighter and the Lady (1933) and The Harder They Fall (1956).