Joe Louis vs Max Baer

Joe Louis established himself as the outstanding challenger for the world heavyweight championship by knocking out former champion Max Baer in the fourth round at Yankee Stadium, New York, on September 24, 1935. Louis weighed 198lb and Baer 210lb for a scheduled 15-round contest refereed by Arthur Donovan. The official record gives the finish as 3:09 of the fourth round, although contemporary reports differed slightly on the exact time. Paid attendance was 84,831, with approximately 11,000 additional passes issued, bringing the crowd in the stadium to roughly 95,000. Gate receipts were $932,944. Louis received $217,337 and Baer $181,114.

The match had been one of the most heavily anticipated heavyweight contests of the decade. Baer had lost the championship to James J. Braddock only three months earlier but remained one of the hardest punchers in the division. Louis, still only 21, had risen with remarkable speed since turning professional the previous year. He had already stopped former champion Primo Carnera in six rounds and King Levinsky in one, and his punching accuracy and composure had begun to distinguish him from the usual young heavyweight prospect. Baer nevertheless represented a different examination. He was larger, experienced in major contests and capable of ending a fight with one right hand. Jack Dempsey was among those assisting in Baer’s corner.

Louis took the initiative from the opening bell. Baer attempted to work behind his long left and looked for the looping right which had brought him so many victories, but Louis’s punches travelled the shorter distance. The younger man jabbed accurately and followed with compact combinations, catching Baer before the former champion could complete many of his wider swings. Baer did have some success midway through the first, landing heavily to the head during one exchange, but Louis answered immediately and remained the more precise fighter. By the end of the round, Baer had already been forced to absorb several sharp punches to the face.

The second round followed much the same pattern, although Baer made his most determined effort near the end. Louis continued to beat him to the punch with the jab and short right hand, while Baer tried to create room for his heavier swings. Late in the round, Baer drove Louis towards the ropes and let both hands go in one of his strongest attacks of the contest. A looping right landed, and Baer continued punching after the bell before Donovan intervened. Louis returned to his corner apparently unaffected. The exchange gave Baer’s supporters some encouragement, but it had also demonstrated the difference between the two men’s methods. Baer required room and time to generate his punches. Louis delivered his from balance and at much shorter range.

The third settled the direction of the fight. Louis began landing with increasing frequency as Baer’s defence deteriorated. A hard right put Baer down for the first knockdown of his professional career. He remained on the canvas until the count of nine before rising, his legs plainly uncertain. Louis went after him immediately, keeping his punches straight and refusing to become wild in pursuit of the finish. Another heavy attack drove Baer backwards, and a left hook sent him down for the second time. The bell intervened while Baer was still on the floor, saving him from further punishment. Contemporary accounts noted that he had taken a severe beating during the round and required the interval to clear his head.

Baer came out for the fourth with little of his earlier confidence. Louis did not rush him immediately, but once he began attacking the former champion again, he could not keep him away. Louis worked his way into range behind the left and then opened with both hands. Near the end of the round, he drove Baer backwards with a succession of punches and landed another hard right. Baer sank to one knee. He remained there while Donovan counted, blinking and badly marked, and made no serious attempt to regain his feet before the count of ten. Jack Dempsey could be heard urging him to rise from the corner, but Baer stayed down. It was the first knockout defeat of his career.

There was some confusion afterwards over the timing of the final round. BoxRec records the knockout at 3:09, while some contemporary reports placed it slightly earlier, and later examinations of the timekeeping suggested that the round itself had been allowed to run beyond the normal three minutes. There had also been an unusually long interval after the third. None of this altered the result. Baer himself dismissed any suggestion that the timekeeping had deprived him of a chance to recover, acknowledging that he had been thoroughly beaten.

The manner of the victory was more significant than the speed of it. Baer had entered as a former champion with a reputation for exceptional power and durability, yet Louis had outpunched him at every range. His blows were shorter, straighter and more accurately placed, and he maintained balance throughout the exchanges. Baer’s wider swings repeatedly left openings which Louis exploited without wasting movement. By the third round the difference in speed and precision had become too great for the older man to overcome.

The victory left Louis as the leading contender for Braddock’s heavyweight championship and confirmed that his rapid rise had been justified. He had disposed of Carnera, Levinsky and now Baer within three months, with each performance more convincing than the last. The contest was later named The Ring’s Fight of the Year for 1935, although it had been competitive only in brief passages. Baer had entered Yankee Stadium as the most dangerous opponent Louis had yet faced. Four rounds later, he had become further evidence that Louis was already operating at a level beyond the rest of the division.

It’s rare for a heavyweight fight with no world title at stake to pull a crowd as this one did, but I think the reason was simple: punch power. Everybody knew either man was capable of ending it with one shot. Baer was the former champion and still one of the most dangerous punchers in boxing, while Louis was the new sensation who looked like he was going to be the next great heavyweight.

What stands out is the difference in technique. Baer could hit ridiculously hard, but his punches were wide and looping. Louis was the complete opposite. Everything was short, straight and economical. He didn’t waste movement, didn’t load up unnecessarily and stayed balanced after punching. That’s why he kept beating Baer to the target.

Once Louis hurt him properly, the difference became brutal. Baer had never been stopped before, but Louis put him down repeatedly and finished him in four rounds.

For me, this was the fight that told everybody Louis wasn’t just another exciting prospect. He had gone through Primo Carnera and King Levinsky already, but Baer was a former world champion who could genuinely knock your head off.

Louis didn’t just beat him. He made one of the most feared punchers in heavyweight boxing look slow and crude. That was some statement.