CINDERELLA MAN: THE GREATEST UNDERDOG STORY IN SPORTS HISTORY

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

Jon Hagadorn

Society & Culture, History

4.4 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 11 June 2023

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

His name was James J. Braddock. In 1929 he was the middleweight contender for boxing champion of the world. He had it all- a wonderful wife, 3 kids, a nice home, and money in the bank- because boxers were the highest paid athletes in those days. The depression hit, his bank failed- and all his money was gone. He lost his house, his boxing skills faded after breaking his right hand in a bout, and he soon found himself working part time at the docks to try to support his wife and kids who were living in a run- down apartment. He finally had to go on welfare. He had a manager named Joe Gould, who never gave up on him, and got him a big fight in 1934- which he won, And then another. Then he took $300 and took it to the county welfare office and paid them back for what he had taken. Then he got the chance of a lifetime- to fight Max Baer for the heavyweight title. Max Baer had killed a man in the ring, and considered Braddock to be a washed up has-been. Max Baer had a surprise in store. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	.
0:31.0	Welcome back everyone to 1,001 Heroes Legends Histories and Mysteries Podcast.
0:37.0	This is your host John Hegedorn and it's great to be with you today.
0:42.0	America loves its underdogs.
0:45.0	In the world of sports there have been many underdogs.
0:49.0	I could think of a few that was Eli Manning and his New York Giants defeating the Patriots in Super Bowl 42.
0:57.0	The Pittsburgh Pirates beating the heavily favored New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series.
1:03.0	Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson in 1990, with Tyson favorite at 42 to 1.
1:09.0	Then there was Joe Namath pulling an upset over the Colts in Super Bowl 3,
1:14.0	and the come from behind Mets winning the 69 World Series.
1:18.0	A new can forget the miracle on ice in the 1980 Olympics when a bunch of amateur college guys
1:24.0	fought their way to the finals and took on the world's best hockey teams from Finland and Russia and won the gold for the US.
1:31.0	In Women's Basketball, Mississippi State beating Yukon in 2017, where Yukon had got 111 games without a loss.
1:40.0	And then just look at last year's Kentucky Derby, where a Chestnut Colt named Rich Strike at 80 to 1 odds,
1:47.0	became only the second horse to win a Kentucky Derby from the 20th post position since 1930.
1:53.0	All the great comeback stories.
1:56.0	And you can talk sea biscuit at all kinds of baseball, hockey, and NFL comebacks.
2:01.0	But in my humble opinion, there was never a more incredible underdog story than boxer James J. Brattick beating the Livermore Butcherboy Max Barr on June 13th, 1935.
2:13.0	If you have a heart, you can't help but love this story.
2:18.0	Today we're heading back in history, along with ringside passes, to what many called the Golden Age of Boxing.
2:24.0	A time when the gloves they wore didn't do much to stop the punching power, and the refs were slower calling the fight over when one of the fighters was in trouble.
2:33.0	Newspapers were king back in those days, the 20s and 30s, and so was radio, and between those two, that was most of the news.
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