Netherlands Yearbook of International Law: Volume 38 2007 Book

Cinderella man is a book about an underdog in boxing as well as an underdog in life trying to make something of himself in the toughest economic times of the 20th Century. It centers itself around James J. Braddock. Braddock was a very nice man who wanted to take care of his family. One of the few industries of the 1930's where one could make money was boxing. Braddock was a good boxer who at times slacked. Part of his slacking was due to the fact that he suffered from fragile hands that rarely were healthy.

He worked the New Jersey docks when he was not boxing but rarely made enough to support his family doing so. So he decided to take boxing seriously and rattled off a few impressive wins. They set him up with one of the top contenders, Corn Griffin. Braddock surprised the boxing world with an impressive knock out of this top contender. He then rattled off two more victories over opponents the experts thought he should not beat. These victories land him a shot at the heavyweight championship held by Max Baer.

Although Braddock had some impressive wins he was still a huge underdog. The champion, Baer, joked around alot but had tremendous power in his punches. It seems as though he was carrying Braddock at first but once he noticed how serious Braddock was he fought it out with him. Baer relying on his tremendous power could not stop the iron-chinned Braddock and lost a unanimous decision and his heavyweight belt with it.

At this time, Joe Louis was coming up and was viewed as the best heavyweight and next champion. Braddock, however, was the new champion and gained that championship in what was the greatest upset of a heavyweight champion since Boxing began in the 1880’s. That’s why Damon Runyon called Braddock “Cinderella Man.”

As champion Braddock was set to fight Max Schmeling in his first defense. Schmeling earned the title by pulling off an upset himself, by knocking out Joe Louis. Braddock’s manager, who was a real good friend, pulled off a sensational deal setting up Braddock to fight Joe Louis instead of Max Schmeling. He made a sweet deal with the Louis camp. In exchange for Braddock giving Louis the chance Louis, if he wins, would agree to pay a certain percentage of Louis’s purse to Braddock for all of Louis’s title defenses.

Louis beat Braddock and dominated boxing for a decade. Braddock went on to live a comfortable life.