El campeón de los judíos

Max Baer era gracioso y le encantaba estar frente a las cámaras. Su hijo, en la entrevista, señala que era querido por toda la comunidad de Sacramento. Baer se convirtió en el campeón de los judíos al enfrentar al favorito de Hitler, Max Schmeling. Para saber: la pelea Baer – Schmeling. En vocabulario: damping, underdog, pallbearer y rugged

Bear lost his world title to Cinderella Man, James Braddock, in 1935.

…he should tell the American public that news reports about Jewish persecution in Germany were untrue…

Baer's win would come to "symbolize Jewry's struggle against the Nazis.

Boxer Max Baer, Pt. 2

heavyweight champion - Max Schmeling - hero to the Jewish community – Baer was loved

—And here´s the heavyweight champion. How are you going to walk, Max?

—Probably I´m going to walk like an old pal when he was damping. I´ll show you how.

—In the summer of 1934, Max Baer, boxing´s most flamboyant and charismatic character, knocked down Italian giant Primo Carnera 11 times during their title fight to become the 13^th heavyweight champion of the world. He blended style with substance, quite possibly laying the blueprint for a future heavyweight who would one day proclaim himself the greatest of all time.

—And Ali said “he´s copying me” and then he said “wait a minute. He was before me. Maybe I’m copying him.”

—While a Carnera fight made him a champion Bear´s previous fight made him a hero. A year earlier he fought Max Schmeling, of Germany. Bears´s grandfather was Jewish so Max´s manager, Ansel Hoffman, convinced Bear to wear the Star of David on his trunks. The spitting Bear againt Hitler´s favorite Schmeling.

—My dad wasn´t an orthodox Jew but Ansel Hoffman took this young kid of 23 years old and convinced him that he represented the Jewish people.

—When the underdog Bear knocked out the German favorite at Yankee Stadium in front of 50.000 he became a hero to the Jewish community worldwide, even the US Postal Service issued a Max Baer stamp with the Star of David on it.

—Jack Dempsey paid my dad the best compliment he´s ever been paid. He said that at that time, that night, my dad beat Max Schemiling. He could have beaten any of us.

—He has proved he was a great fighter. A … gentleman in and out the ring and one of the greatest fighters the American public had ever had. My prediction: Max is going to be a champion for a long time to come. 

—Bear lost his world title to Cinderella Man, James Braddock, in 1935 and as his career waned down Bear settled in Land Park where he and his wife Mary raised their 3 children.

—The story going around about the 3 Little Pigs is the first picture taken of the 3 little Bears; papa Bear, mama Bear and little cubby Bear.

—During the 1940s and 50s Bear continued his film career. He hosted a radio show called Time for Max and did some work for a car dealership. All the while entertaining Sacramentans everywhere he went.

—Everybody knew him: “It´s Max”. Everybody waved down at him, you know, drive down in the convertible, with his shirt off, always tanned. He was at the grocery store or going down to the state capital. He´d walk in the state capital with his shirt off. I mean, he was a character.

—Suddenly in November of 1959 the world of boxing, Hollywood and Sacramento lost one of the most colorful characters, when at age 50 Max Baer died of a heart attack.

—When we were driving down following the Hurst, going up St. Mary´s cemetery, there were people lining the streets, waving good-bye and saluting my father. Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey were pallbearers.

—Nearly a half century after his death Max Baer is still contributing to the Sacramentan community: a heart fund in his name has raised millions…

Para saber

On June 8, 1933, Baer fought and defeated (by a technical knockout) German heavyweight and former world champion Max Schmeling at Yankee Stadium. Schmeling was favored to win, and was Adolf Hitler's favorite fighter. The Nazi tabloid Der Stürmer publicly attacked Schmeling for fighting a non-Aryan, as Baer's father was half Jewish, calling it a "racial and cultural disgrace."

Hitler summoned Schmeling for a private meeting in April in which he told Schmeling to contact him for help if he had any problems in the U.S., and requested that during any press interviews he should tell the American public that news reports about Jewish persecution in Germany were untrue. However, a few days after that meeting, Hitler put a national ban on boxing by Jews along with a boycott of all Jewish businesses. When Schmeling arrived in New York, he did as Hitler requested, and denied problems of anti-Semitism existed, adding that many of his neighbors were Jews, as was his manager.

Max Schmeling

Although the Great Depression, then in full force, had lowered the income of most citizens, sixty thousand people attended the fight. NBC radio updated millions nationwide as the match progressed. Baer, who was one-quarter Jewish, wore trunks which displayed the Star of David, a symbol he wore in all his future bouts. When the fight began, he dominated the rugged Schmeling into the tenth round, when Baer knocked him down and the referee stopped the match. Columnist Westbrook Pegler wrote about Schmeling's loss, "That wasn't a defeat, that was a disaster", while journalist David Margolick claimed that Baer's win would come to "symbolize Jewry's struggle against the Nazis."

Vocabulario

Damping: depressed.

Underdog: weaker, the victim.

Pallbearer: One of the persons carrying or attending a coffin at a funeral.

Rugged: robust, strong.

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Esto es parte del archivo: Baer, el campeón de la gente