Professional boxing classics is a series of video’s of some of the greatest champions of the ring. You will find great fighting action from Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Gene Tunny and many others.
I would not consider most of the more recent heavy weight division champion to be worthy of such all time greats. So I have added several more recent champions from the Middle weight and Light Heavy weight divisions such as Sergei Kovalev, Andre Ward, and Gennady Golovkin.
Having been an somewhat of an amateur boxer myself, I was inspired at a young age by Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and by the time I was 14, I became a fan of Muhammad Ali.
When he was given virtually no chance of beating the terrifying Sonny Liston.
My step grandfather George Timmerman had a gym back in those days. Where I l learned how to keep the speed bag going with my elbows. And sparred with my friends. While hanging out at George Timmerman’s gym I got into constant discussions over how would Ali have fared against Joe Louis when both were in their prime. And how could Tunny beat the ferocious Jack Dempsey?
Today there’s a lot of discussion on Quora Digest about how much smaller world champion boxers would do against the giants in the current heavyweight division.
The answer can be found here in Professional Boxing Classics in just a single fight between Jack Dempsey and Jess Willard. With Dempsey weighting just 188 pounds, and Willard at 245 pounds, Dempsey just took Willard apart.
Back in those days there were a lot more boxers training on a serious level than there are today. My grandpa Timmerman used to spare a few rounds with his pals and then they would job 18 miles and he was just an amateur.
Harry Greb, one of the greatest Middleweight champions of all time had 298 professional fights in 13 years for an average of 23 fights a year.
In Professional boxing classics you will learn about the real Max Baer.
I’m sure you have all seen the movie “Cinderella Man” staring Russel Crowe as James Braddock and Craig Bierko as Max Baer. Craig Bierko is both hilarious and terrifying. Cinderella Man’s Max Baer has killed two men in the ring and he’s proud of it. But the real Max Baer was nothing like Bierko’s Max Baer at all.
In Professional boxing classics you will see a lot of great fights during boxing’s golden years during the 1960s and 1970s. When some of the greatest champions of all time fought against each other. And when Muhamad Ali showed the world that he was the greatest of them all.
In the upcoming months I will be adding more fights to this list of all time classic professional boxing matches. So stay tuned to the Jack Corbett Video Channel.
Was Joe Louis the best Heavy Weight Champion of all time or was it Muhammed Ali? or Jack Dempsey, Foreman, Marciano, Liston?
Joe Louis vs Schemling in their first fight in 1936
You be the judge because we are showing the videos of the finest heavyweight champions of all time. Here’s some of my thoughts though.
Joe Louis’s style was beautiful.
With his hands held high where they should be, Louis was the epitome of economy as he stalked his opponents. His punches were short and to the point. Accurate and lethal, he delivered them on que with what his mind was calculating. Although obviously fast, Louis seemed more methodical than quick. Joe Louis was confident and businesslike with none of the bravado of a Muhammed Ali. A master finisher, Joe Louis took his opponents out with punches that seemed effortless.
The six foot one 197-pound Joe Louis won the heavyweight title from James Braddock.
This put him on the small side compared to most modern heavyweight champions.
From 1937 to 1948 Louis successfully defended his title 25 times. Of those, only three of his opponents went the distance. Out of 68 professional fights, he lost only three times, while scoring 54 knockouts for an average 80 percent Knockout ratio . As impressive as these numbers are, they are still just numbers. To get the full measure of Louis as heavyweight champion and how he stacks up against other great champions, you must watch him fight. Thanks to You Dailey Motion, we can bring those memorable fights back in time.
Let’s start off with Joe Louis winning the Heavyweight title from James Braddock. Who has been brought back to life in the movie “Cinderella Man”.
Joe Louis vs James Braddock 6-22-1936
Comparison between Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis
In some ways Dempsey and Louis were similar heavy weight champions. Both could easily take an opponent out with a punch measuring no more than six inches. Both men were among the very heaviest punchers the heavyweight division had ever seen. But whereas Louis was a methodical and patient fighter who would masterfully set his opponent up, Dempsey was pure aggression incarnate. His savagery was palpable.
Both men were small by modern day heavyweight standards. Louis weighed only 200 pounds when he beat James Braddock for the world championship. And weighed just 205 for most of his career. While Dempsey weighed just 187 pounds when he took the world title away from Jess Willard. At 245 pounds Willard was a six-foot six giant standing five inches over Dempsey. While Louis and Dempsey shared identical heights of six-foot one inch.
But I will make this call. Both men. Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis would have massacred all the modern heavyweights of 2023.
Joe Louis vs Primo Carnera 6-25-1935
Joe Louis vs King Levinsky 8-7-1935
Joe Louis vs Max Baer 9-24-1935
Here you see him against Max Schmeling in in the first of their two all-time classics.
In the first fight (1938), the German, who had been knocked out by Max Baer in an earlier bout, knocks Louis out in the 12th round.
Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling 1 6-19-1936
Joe Louis vs Bob Pastor first fight 1-29-1937
And this is the second classic fight between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling
In the return match held in June, 1938, Louis now Heavy Weight Champion after his knockout victory over James Braddock, easily dispatches Schmeling in just 2 minutes and 4 seconds.
Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling II 6-22-1938
Joe Louis vs Jack Sharkey 8-18-1936
Joe Louis vs Tony Galento 6-28-1939
Joe Louis vs Tommy Farr 8-30-1939
Joe Louis vs Bob Pastor second fight 9-20-1939
Joe Louis vs Arturo Godoy first fight 2-9-1940
Joe Louis vs Arturo Godoy II 6-20-1940
Joe Louis vs Buddy Baer i 5-23-1941
One of Joe Louis’s most memorable heavyweight championship fights was against the Light Heavyweight champion, Billy Conn.
Louis weighed 199 pounds to the brash Irishman’s 169. The fight went 12 rounds with Conn well ahead of Louis on points. Instead of coasting to what might have been one of the most outstanding boxing upsets of all time, the audacious Irishman threw all caution to the wind and went for the knockout. It was a very unwise decision and Louis turned the tables by knocking Conn senseless with a perfectly timed right uppercut followed by a left hook.
Max BaerCinderella Man villain was totally the opposite of Steve Bierko’s portrayal of Baer as a villainous man killer. The following videos show some of Max Baers fights, plus a few that show the enormous appeal of the man.
In real life Max Baer was a handsome showoff, who loved to make people laugh. His clownish behavior no doubt caused him to fall short of the boxer he might have been. When he died, his last words were, “Oh God, here I go.” Over 1500 people attended his funeral. Among his pall bearers were Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis
At heart Max Baer was a handsome fun oving comedian with the charisma of a movie star.
Which is exactly what he became out of the ring, performing in nearly 20 movies. There are over a dozen videos of Max Baer here. Some of you might ask, “Why would I put so many boxing videos out there, especially of Max Baer?
Perhaps it’s because I was once a boxer myself.
I never went even to the Golden Gloves, but I fought enough both in and out of the ring to feel the exhilaration of victory and accomplishment. Perhaps it’s because all my life I’ve viewed boxing as the greatest sport ever. Which it is.
There’s nothing else quite like it. It pits not only one man against another, but the fighter against himself. The fighter must be able to overcome fatigue that courses throughout his entire body. He must be in complete control of his mind at all times, especially when his mind keeps telling him to quit. The prize fighter must train his body relentlessly so that he is totally fit. He must be willing to endure both fear and pain. And he must be able to fight all out for ten and sometimes even fifteen rounds. He has to be both strong and fast.
In the videos to come, you will see what happens to very large men
who are not gifted with speed or skill in the videos to come starting with the one on this page where Max Baer destroys Primo Carnera for the heavyweight championship. Later you will see what happened to the six foot seven 245-pound Jess Willard when he lost the world championship to a hungry 187-pound Jack Dempsey. You will also see the fight in which Billy Conn, a slender Light Heavyweight at 175 pounds nearly defeated the 200-pound Joe Louis, one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. It is my intention on this site not only to put together in one place a large assortment of some of the memorable fights ever. But to provide a sense of the great champions themselves both in and out of the ring. It is nothing less than to bring these great boxers back to life here in the Fun House.
This first video is of Max Baer, a man who could have become the most memorable fighter ever, if only he had taken his fighting more seriously.
Covered here is the real story behind Killer Baer, the man who was vilified in the movie, “Cinderella Man”. In the movie, Baer is portrayed as a heartless fighter who’s killed two men in the ring. As you will see in the video, Baer, actually did inflict enough punishment on his opponent to lead to the man’s death the following day. The difference is the real Max Baer was haunted by the accidental killing which likely cost him the single minded drive to destroy his opponents most true champions possess.
The first video of Max Baers fights is his world championship bout against Primo Carnera.
At six foot six and weighing in for his fights as much as 275 pounds Carnera was a giant
in a world when the average male was only five foot six inches tall. Obviously such a giant among men could enjoy enormous appeal as a fighter. So the story goes that Carnera became a creature of organized crime, which carefully nurtured his career. Eventually Carnera became world champion after a History of beating up on unskilled boxers that were reputedly hand picked by the mob. Then there were the more skilled boxers Carnera dispatched who had taken dives for their mobster bosses. Eventually Carnera was forced to fight a high quality fighter. That fighter was Max Baer, and you can see what happens to Carnera when he has to fight a real fighter in the following video.
Max Baer would later star in The Prizefighter and the Lady, a film, that is closely based on the career of Primo Carnera.
Keep in mind that this 1933 film actually preceded the championship fight between Baer and Carnera. One year later in 1934, the Primo Carnera-Max Baer bout is for real, but this time, Baer slaughters the inept Carnera. Which makes it one of the most interesting of Max Baers fights.
Ironically in this film Max Baer plays the actor who’s fighting a real Primo Carnera who’s not playing himself but a made up character based on the mob controlled Primo Carnera.
The film features performances from the real Jack Dempsey as well as Primo Carnera.
Max Baer in the “Prize Fighter and the Lady” also has Jack Dempsey in the movie.
Max Baer training, talking about his chances in his upcoming fight against Braddock and a lot more.
Max Baer training. If you think that boxing in the ring is easy, just try to go a single three-minute round with someone with gloves on. My step grandfather, who taught me how to box, used to train as an amateur fighter on the speed bag and heavy bag then he’d spar a few rounds with a friend, and after that the pair would jog 18 miles from Staunton, Illinois to Litchfield to complete their training session.
This second of Max Baer’s fights is of his match against Max Schmeling in 1933.
Schmeling had been crowned world champion in 1930 after suffering from a low blow from the reigning world champion Jack Sharkey. Sharkey would win the title back from Schmeling in 1932 due to a controversial split decision. Future world champion, Gene Tunney, would claim that Schmeling was the better man and had been robbed.
Above is Mar Baer vs Max Schmelling 6-8-1933
And this is Max Baer telling the press about his chances in his upcoming fight with James Braddock. This is the same fight that’s recently been popularized in the movie, “Cinderella Man“.
Steve Bierko playing the villain, Max Baer, in “Cinderella Man”
So take Max Baer’s measure in these two short film clips and ask yourselves,
“Is this the same Max Baer, we saw Craig Bierko play in Cinderella Man?”
This is a good trailer of for the movie, “Cinderella Man”. Although it has just a few seconds of Steve Bierko’s wonderful performance as Max Baer, I wish it had more. Although I felt Ron Howard’s portrayal of Max Baer was a total injustice to Max Baer, his family and his legacy, I still feel that Bierko was wonderful playing the villain.
From “Cinderella Man”, James Braddock being warned that Max Baer has killed a man in the ring.
Max Baer’s Fights
Max Baer losing his title to James Braddock 6-13-1935
Max Baer was in ten movies. Including The Harder They Fall. It’s 1956, almost twenty years since Baer’s fought Schmeling and Louis. And Baer’s acting alongside Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger, two of the finest actors in the business. I tried to put up a 7 1/2-minute segment of this film after gathering bits and pieces of the original film, putting it into my video editing program and figured since I had only very short clips, I could get around the copyright infringement issues, but this was not to be.
I was immediately flagged by You Tube as in only minutes.
This is a great film to watch, however, as it mirrors both Max Baer’s career and Primo Carnera’s.
But in this film, Max Baer plays the bad guy, who’s killed a man in the ring while the Carnera part is played by Mike Lane. It is Humphrey Bogart’s last film. An older and much more mature Max Baer shows solid acting credentials in this film. Also appearing in the movie is Jersey Joe Walcott, who won the Heavyweight title in 1951.
This set the stage for the much later movie, “Cinderella Man” depicting Max Baer as an arrogant villain.
My interest in Andre Ward started when I first saw him play a small part in the latest Sylvester Stallone movie, “Creed”. There were perhaps a half dozen professional fighters in the movie, but right now Andre Ward is knocking on the door of the Light Heavyweight Championship of the World.
Three talented champion boxers, Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, and Gennady Golovkin, seem destined to bring the Boxing Golden Age back. If they do, the Boxing Golden Age might even have to be redefined.
During the 1960’s and 70’s the Heavy weight division in particular was extremely talented. Sonny Liston,Muhammed Ali,Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, and George Foremen were the creme de la creme in those days with Muhammed Ali becoming the undisputed “Greatest”, beating all of them. Ali was the most charismatic heavy weight champion of all time. He was perhaps the smartest heavy weight champion who ever lived even though he ranked just 376 out of his high school class of 391 and finished with a D- average. He was named the “BBC” and “Sports Illustrated” Sportsman of the Century. So how does one eclipse the Boxing Golden Age when Ali reigned as the king of kings?
Let’s start with the combined records of this hugely talented three some of 92 wins and zero losses.
Now let’s put some Cold War anti Soviet Union rhetoric into this mix.
Andre Ward’s American. Sergey Kovalev is Russian. Gennady Golovkin’s from Kazakhstan. So he’s not Russian. But since Kazakhstan was part of the Soviet Union before 1991, I can easily imagine myself rooting against Golovkin as an evil Soviet bastard fighting for the glory of the Evil Empire. Keep this thought in mind now–evil Soviet bastards fighting for the glory of the Evil Empire as I paint menacing pictures of both Sergei Kovalev and Gennady Golovkin.
If the Russian Light Heavyweight champion looks like an American country boy, there’s good reason for the resemblance.
Kovalev is the reigning light heavyweight champion with a record of 30-29-1 with 27 of those wins by knockout.
He’s a killer in the ring. Kovalev has a one track mind that focuses on the total destruction of his opponent. And he’s not a native English speaker which makes him nothing more than a primitive lout with a devastating punch that can level buildings.
Respectfully, Andre Ward called Gennady Golovkin a pretty boy. Andre meant this as a statement of fact—“Gennady is after all a handsome man”. So it’s hard to believe that Gennady oftentimes sticks his head right in front of his opponent enticing him to give him “his best shot” so that Gennady can get in a punishing counter punch. IT is also hard to believe Golovkin has knocked out his last 20 opponents.
Gennady Golovkin’s even more menacing with a perfect record of 34-0 including 31 knockouts, without even a tie to blemish his record.
Even more depressing is he’s knocked out the last 20 of his opponents which makes him super inhuman. Although he’s fast and has impressive boxing skills, Golovkin’s attitude seems to be “Why bother” as he wades right into his opponents as he heedlessly ignores the punches pounding his face.
Although not renowned for his knockout punch, Andre Ward is a strong boxer, and has recently shown he can throw his weight around quite well on the inside even after moving up from the Super Middleweight class to the Light Heavyweight division.
So who’s the good guy in this bunch? That would be Andre Ward,
a man who used to be the Super Middleweight champion who had his title stripped from him because of inactivity in the ring due to injuries and disputes with his manager. Ward has movie star credentials as evidenced in his role in the latest Sylvester Stallone Rocky movie, “Creed”. His record is 29-0 with just 15 knockouts. But he’s a brilliant ring tactician who simply doesn’t make any mistakes.
Until that layoff that led to the ring stripping him of his title Ward was ranked the second best pound for pound fighter in the world. (Now he’s ranked only number 4 with Golovkin being ranked number 3) They call him SOG–Son of God. He’s articulate, and he’s a total gentleman. He’s the perfect representative for the U.S.A. and everything that’s good in this land of freedom of ours against those louts from the former Soviet Onion (makes my nose wrinkle in disgust even thinking about them).
Until recently, Andre Ward fought as a Super Middleweight (168-175 pound weight class) versus Golovkin who’s the present champion of the Middleweight division (147-160 pounds). If it had not been for Ward’s long layoff, the two would have probably have met in the ring by now. But Ward has recently moved up to the Light Heavyweight class (168-175 pounds). On March 26, 2016 he decisively defeated Sullivan Barrera who had won 17 fights in a row with 12 knockouts. This was an important win for Ward because it showed that he had the right stuff to win in the light heavyweight division, and that the two year layoff had not seriously eroded his impeccable boxing skills. Ward’s spectacular win pleased Russia’s number one ogre, Sergei Kovalev, who was sitting at ring side in the front row cheering Andre Ward on.
Kovalev vs Pascal 1-30-20-16
So what about this ogre status of Sergei Kovalev?
He’s the Russian monster or isn’t he? For one thing, like Ward, Kovalev has a lucrative contract with HBO Sports. And according to the contracts both fighters have with HBO Sports, they are to meet in the ring for the Light Heavyweight championship, probably in November–if Andre Ward should defeat Sullivan Barrera. Which he has.
I love Kovalev’s technique. Kovalev might not be as fast as Ward, but he’s fast. He fires his punches straight out in front of him. And Sergey has a devastating left jab that lands like a sledge hammer. When he gets his opponent in trouble, he goes for the kill, and finishes the job in short order. What’s not to like about this man’s style? He’s the complete fighter. Moreover, he smiles a lot. Kovalev is quite the extrovert.
To get a better sense of this man, I watched several of his interviews on You Tube. He speaks English, to a degree. But he speaks it well enough to make himself clearly understood. He’s not a braggart at all and he isn’t into all this political nonsense of my country is better than yours or “I don’t like Americans”. Kovalev always speaks very respectfully of Andre Ward. But most important of all, Kovalev is obviously very talented at analyzing other fighters, their ring techniques, and their strengths and weaknesses.
I can’t remember a boxing commentator who was more believable than Kovalev.
I liked the man immensely. He’s uncomplicated and he’s so spot on. He reminds me of a lot of many farmer friends of mine–good ole boys, each and every one. It will be very sad to see him lose.
But will Kovalev lose to Andre Ward?
From everything I’m reading on the internet, opinion seems to be evenly divided on the outcome of the upcoming Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward fight. It’s the classic match between the consummate boxer and the powerful puncher. But as the old saying goes, Speed kills, or
as Muhammed Ali put it, “You can’t hit what you can’t see.”
George Foreman was just 24 when he fought an over the hill 32 year old Ali.
Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman
When he entered the ring against Muhammad Ali for the Heavyweight championship of the world, Foreman was 40-0 with 37 KO’s. He had knocked out Joe Frazier in the 2nd round, and Frazier had beaten Ali. Then he knocked out Ken Norton in the 2nd round, and Norton had also defeated Ali.
Ali stood no chance. Yet Ali knocked Foreman out in the 8th round after supposedly withstanding an onslaught of Foreman punches that no other man could have survived. Or so many have thought. Regardless, Ali was able to slip most of Foreman’s heavy punches to his head. He was awfully quick, even though he was on the down slope of his career. It has been said that Muhammed Ali’s jab was even faster than Sugar Ray Robinson’s.
So, if this were true, then I really can’t see why anyone would have rated Sugar Ray Robinson as the greatest fighter (considering all weight classifications) of all time. Comparing the hand speed of a Heavyweight to a Middleweight, if both were equal, one would have to go with the Heavyweight.
We now know just how great Ali was.
What we don’t know is “How great is Andre Ward?”
Or how great is Sergei Kovalev?” There is no doubt that both men have committed themselves to establishing themselves as the greatest boxers to ever live. Kovalev’s attitude resonates with “If Andre is good enough to beat me, all the power to him.”
In the video above Andre Ward talks about his upcoming fight with Kovalev, how good a fighter Golovkin is, and what kind of legacy Andre hopes to achieve. (Could he become Heavyweight Champion of the World). If Andre continues his unbroken record of successes, it is likely that he will once again move up in weight to lead the way to a New Boxing Golden Age
There is huge mutual respect between these two. Andre’s been in one movie already. He’s good on the screen. But if Kovalev continues to win ( this will ultimately have to be at Andre Ward’s expense), I can see him in the movies also. As a Russian version of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Which leads us to the third man, Gennady Golovkin.
In an interview, Andre Ward referred to Golovkin as a “Pretty Boy”. That he is. In fact, the first time I saw him on You Tube, I thought, “This guy is too handsome to really fight well.”
Then you see him in the ring–a model of unrelenting aggression. Oftentimes he will get in close to his opponent to inflict maximum damage. But he’s got his head right in there, absorbing punches, which seem to have little affect on him.
Kovalev’s style is altogether different. Sergei stands out of range from his opponents so that he can jab them at long range. His jack hammer jabs usually weakens them enough for him to close in and finish them off.
Golovkins utter willingness to take a punch belies his handsome visage.
Like Kovalev, Golovkin is very affable inside and outside the ring. But one thing I noticed early on while studying Golovkin. His corner handlers talk to him in English. Which means his corner men are not Russian. An even closer study of the man reveals that his father had been a Russian coal miner while his mother is Korean.
A few years ago, Golovkin moved to Big Bear, CA where he placed his children in American schools. Gennady is learning to our American ways real fast. There are pennants around the ring with the lettering GGG. The lettering is also on Gennady’s belt. His nicknames are Golden G and God of War.
Golovkin wants Andre Ward.
Golovkin’s fought as both a Middleweight and Super Middleweight and has world titles in both divisions. Meanwhile Andre Ward’s recently moved out of the Super Middleweight division into the Light Heavyweight class. It’s only going to take Andre Ward dropping a few pounds or Golovkin gaining a few to fight as a light heavyweight to find out which man’s the better fighter.
But Golovkin must first wait until after Ward has fought Kovalev. In the meantime it looks like Golovkin is Americanizing real fast. I think we Americans will just have to claim him.
But wherever these three champions hail from, each of them is a fantastic fighter, and all three are truly charismatic men. Over the next one to two years the fighting game is going to be very interesting. We might even see a New Boxing Golden Age.
