Cinderella Man

Poststructural Pub
1

As a boxing aficionado, I look forward to Ron Howard’s interpretation of the story of James J. Braddock, a journeyman boxer who became the heavyweight champion of the Woooooooooooooooooooooooooorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrllllllllllllllllllllldddddddddddddddd! in the 1930s.

After all, I like Arrested Development and who can forget Ron as Opie?

The backdrop of the story is Depression America and a dockworker with a banged up body (he had arthritis in his hands) and who lost 40% of his fights but was given the opportunity to fight Max Baer, father of the man who was Jethro Bodine, who sat atop the fight game. Baer at the time was known for his devastating punching power, powerful enough to have killed 2 men in the ring. Braddock was a 10-1 underdog but through determination beat the champ on points in a 15 round decision.

It is a great rags-to-riches story, ROCKY in real-life.

In actuality, this type of fight (major underdog gets title shot) happens every 10 years or so. ie, Chuck Wepner’s fight against Muhammad Ali is the basis of the first ROCKY film. The latest and probably the most famous in our lifetimes is 45-1 underdog Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson for the strap.

What Tyson and Baer had in common with their upset losses was that they didnt take their opponent seriously enough to bother with proper fight training. In Baer’s case he relied too much on his right (and his penchant for clowning around in the ring) that he literally was outboxed over 15 rounds by a journeyman boxer; Tyson of course never bothered to prepare for a left handed fighter (which goes without saying!).
This would have been the same with Ali/Wepner but Ali always rose to the occasion.

Historically, Braddock is listed in the Boxing Hall of Fame but he has never been a true great within boxing circles for a number of reasons: He had a low W/L ratio, due to his arthritic hands he didnt defend the title for almost 2 years and when he did, he was KO’d by an up and coming youngster by the name of Joe Louis. He knew he couldn’t defend the title on a regular basis and chose to fight Louis over Schmeling, the former champ which represented a bigger pay-day and Braddock was savvy enough to get a cut of Louis’s future winnings.

I realize that Braddock outboxed Baer by following a simple caveat: Duck under Baer’s right hand (the same hand that floored Primo Carnera 11 times in 11 rounds when Baer won the title. (Trivia: Carnera made a cameo in the film “Mighty Joe Young” as himself. He was also in “Hercules Unchained”. Hardly “La Strada” but notworthy (sic) nonetheless) And while this entirely goes with the boxing dictum that a boxer always beats a puncher in the first fight (I cite Sullivan/Corbett I, Dempsey/Tunney I, Clay/Liston I, Tyson/Holyfield I ad nauseum) need I remind you of Ali/Frazier I? :slight_smile:

Bottom Line: Braddock’s story is a great story about what makes boxing great, regardless of the inherent brain damage which results from people trying to knock you unconscious.

I realize from the many, many polls that there not be too many 50-something, 4’10", high school educated, conservative thinking, non-musically trained boxing fans who play the tin-whistle out there so I have included a number of remarks that are hilited in case this thread needs to go off-topic.

Smoot

2

I liked Opie.

All I know about boxing is that my dad would used to have to watch those darn Friday Night Fights when we wanted to watch something else. And those Gillette commercials.

My only question is: Isn’t this where off-topic things go? And what does highlighting have to do with something going off topic? :laughing:

Poor Smoot, I’m sure someone will come along who is as excited as you about whatever it is.

3

I forgot to point out that I named my Yorkshire Terrier “Buster Douglas” in honour of the man what whupped Mike Tyson.

13 yo Buster is presently snoozing on his bed.

Edited to add Hiliting missed in the original post

4

Perhaps they’ll start their own Boxer Rebellion. :wink:

5

I guess. :laughing: I still want him to explain his Theory of Highlighting.

6

Thanks for the reminder. I went back and added some bold text to my earlier post. :wink:

7

I merely Hi-lite as a tribute to someone whose posts always are a great read.

8

Let me guess: He who is “like” the PALM TREE.

9

For a briefs period this morning I missed placed my boxers.

I liked the movie one of the better ones I’ve seen in a long time.

The fight I remember the most is the Canadian George Chuvalo going fifteen rounds against Muhammed Ali in 1966.

MakrB

10

That must’ve been quite disdressing.

11

This document first appeared over two years
ago. I rehearse it in order to point out that
boxing has a wider appeal than some
may think.

My wife is kind and agreeable to a fault,
so much so that she decided she needed to
become more assertive. Various therapies
didn’t help, so finally she took up
boxing. Her trainer, an ex-pro named
Davy, told her to say 20 times every
morning ‘I’m a mean motherbleeper.’

I’m a Buddhist, so every morning I sit
and chant ‘May all beings be happy, May
all beings be peaceful’ while my wife
shadow boxes nearby and snarls: ‘I’m
a mean motherbleeper!’

After six months of training, Davy didn’t
show up for a training session. My wife
rescheduled and he stood her up again.
She went back to the gym later
and confronted him. ‘You little bleep,’ she said. ‘Don’t you bleep with me, motherbleeper!’

‘OK,’ Davy said. ‘Take it out on me in
the ring.’ So they put on the gloves and
she gave him a bloody nose.

Afterward I went to see how Davy was doing.
He was sitting with his hand clamped on
his nose.

‘She’s an animal!’ Davy said in a nasal
voice. ‘I turned her into an animal.
I like that!’

‘Thank you, Davy, for turning my wife into
an animal.’

‘She’s a monster!’

‘Thank you, Davy.’

‘If she punched me in the nose, she’ll do
it to anybody!’

‘I know, Davy.’

The other day I found my wife looking at me with
a funny expression. ‘I haven’t punched
anything for a couple of days…’ she
said, thoughtfully.

‘I’d better take out the garbage.
The truck comes by around now.’

‘I love you so much I just want to
smack you one!’

‘Yeah, I can hear the truck. Can you hear
the truck? Better get out there with the
garbage.’

She lept to her feet and cried, passionately:

‘Come at me!’

‘I don’t want to come at you.’

‘Throw a hook. See what happens!’

‘I don’t want to see what happens.’

She sat down again, dejected.

‘Punching you would sure make me happy,’
she said.

I want her to
be happy.

So now I’m taking boxing lessons from Davy.
I’m about to turn sixty, and
I’m doing situps with Davy bouncing
a medicine ball off my gut. Davy saw
Roots too often, and
likes to torment white folk.

‘Your ancestors oppressed my ancestors!
Take that for my ancestors!’

‘Arrgh! No, Davy, my ancestors were
run out of Finland for pederasty
in 1923! Aiee!’

‘Don’t give me that line! They were
slave traders! Up! Up! Ready
for the medicine ball? Take that!’

'Ooof! Davy, would you like to learn
to play the penny whistle? Sweet,
soothing music… I can teach
you Davy! Arrgh

12

:laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

13

Your wife
Jim didnt take
up boxing.
She took up
fist-
fighting.
There is
a difference betw
een
the manly
(personly?)
art
of
self
defense and
kicking
someone’s
ass.
Your wife
knows the
lat
ter.
I fear

PM if
I
can help
but
I doubt
i
t.

your problem not
mine.
ha
ha

14

Benn V Eubank: World Middleweight Championship 1990

That was the fight to end all fights

Nine rounds of absolute war,it was a miracle that any one of them lived to tell the tale.

Slan,
D.

15

So, like, on Boxing Day, do Canadians go around with smooshed septa and cauliflower ears and bruised and swollen eyes?

I’ve always wondered.

16

I cannot watch a movie which is about people hitting each other. I did not see Million Dollar Baby, and I won’t see Cinderella Man either. I can’t watch that.
(I do, however, have a daughter who expresses affection by offering a “punch in the face.” Not sure where this pugilistic nature came from.)

17

She must be distantly related to Jim Stone’s wife. :laughing:

18

yes, I wondered after reading that post!

19

Nano, it’s always a tough decision to make that day. I’ve wrestled with it for years.

Jef

20

For those who, like me, didn’t know what “septa” were (I knew it in its singular form, though):

Main Entry: sep·tum
Pronunciation: 'sep-t&m
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural sep·ta /-t&/
Etymology: New Latin, from Latin saeptum enclosure, fence, wall, from saepire to fence in, from saepes fence, hedge
Date: 1698
: a dividing wall or membrane especially between bodily spaces or masses of soft tissue — compare DISSEPIMENT