Buddy Baer

Jacob Henry "Buddy" Baer (June 11, 1915 – July 18, 1986) was an American boxer and later an actor with parts in seventeen films, as well as roles on multiple television series in the 1950s and 1960s.

Baer was born in Denver, Colorado, on June 11, 1915, to father Jacob, a butcher, and mother Dora Bales.

However, a few sources, such as his brother Max, list his birthplace as Omaha, Nebraska.

He moved with his family to California in 1928, living first in Livermore in 1926 and then Hayward, before settling in the early 1930s in Sacramento, where he would later retire.

Both Buddy and his brother Max had a large Jewish following, for they claimed Jewish ancestry on their father's side and frequently wore a Star of David on their boxing trunks.

Neither brother, however, appeared to be observant or openly religious, and their claims of Jewish heritage were questioned by trainer Ray Arcel.

Standing at 6' 6 1⁄2" (1.99 m), Baer fought from 1934 to 1942. Baer's manager during the largest portion of his boxing career was Ancil Hoffman, who also managed Max's career for a period.

In his professional debut, Baer knocked out Tiny Abbott, 1:54 into the first round on September 23, 1934, in Eureka, California.

A boxer of some repute, the towering 6' 8" Abbott had twice faced Baer's brother Max, and though it was Baer's first time in the ring, the more experienced Abbott was nearing the end of his career. Baer had a long winning streak following his debut fight until he met Babe Hunt. On January 10, 1935, Baer was defeated in a four-round bout, losing on points to Hunt at Boston's Rickard Recreation Center. The loss was Baer's first in thirteen straight fights, twelve of which Baer won by knockout. Though Hunt had a bad second round, he came back strongly in the third and fourth to win by unanimous decision.

He completed a technical knockout of Jack O'Dowd at 2:10 into the second round at Detroit's Olympia Stadium on January 4, 1935.

On a ticket that included Joe Louis, the total audience reached 15,853.

The crowd witnessed a performance from Baer, who outweighed his opponent by 29 pounds, less than his typical advantage.

In an odd victory, O'Dowd, who seemed to lack the will to fight, was down five times in the first round, in a few instances without actually being hit.

Though O'Dowd had faced the great Joe Louis the previous year, he showed no desire to mix with Baer and appeared thoroughly outmatched.

Frank Connolly, a former Golden Gloves champion, fell to Baer on March 20, 1935, in a convincing first-round knockout at the Oakland Auditorium before a substantial early-career crowd of 9,500.

The final blow was a right hook that started low and came up with enormous power to knock out Connolly, who weighed 245, only a pound heavier than Baer.

Baer defeated Al Delaney on July 18, 1935, in a four-round knockout at Buffalo's Offerman Stadium.

In a complete victory, Baer had Delaney down five times before the referee counted him out 34 seconds into the fourth round from a right behind the ear.

In the opening round, Baer was knocked to his knees by a strong left, but he recovered, and had his own way for the rest of the match.

On the ticket of the Max Baer-Joe Louis match, he had one of his most lucrative bouts on September 4, 1935, when he lost a six-round wind-up match to Ford Smith in New York before an immense crowd of 90,000 fans at Yankee Stadium.

Baer tried to overpower Smith in the early rounds with his punching ability, but Smith moved, blocked, and weathered the storm.

In later rounds, Baer was less effective with intermittent looping blows that Smith countered with sharp, short punches to the body.

Baer was tired in the last round, and though he had an advantage in reach and weight, he did little damage in his final rally, having lost speed and precision in his blows.

The more experienced Smith took four of the six rounds.

According to one source, his purse for the match, which was the most heavily attended in New York history, was $42,000.

Louis, who won the title match against brother Max, had a purse of $200,000.

At this early stage of his career, Baer suffered a rare loss on April 22, 1936, dropping a six-round decision to Frenchman Andre Lenglet at Oakland's Municipal Auditorium.

Baer looked strong in the first and had a brief rally in the fifth but lost his chance when Lenglet snapped back with a defense.

One reporter, who wrote that Lenglet won each round by a large margin, noted that Baer failed to score with a telling blow throughout the match.

Lenglet scored well with short left jabs to the face, and followups to the midriff and his frequent changes of pace confused Baer's ability to use his strong right.

In an important match on May 24, 1937, Baer outpointed Jack London, later the holder of the Commonwealth Boxing Council's Heavyweight title from 1944 to 1945.

Baer won on points in a ten-round decision at Swansea, England, and though he had a significant advantage in height of nearly eight inches, he had only twenty pounds in weight over the sturdy London boxer.

Two weeks earlier, Baer had defeated Jim Wilde at Harringay Arena in a fourth-round technical knockout.

With dominance and punching power, he had Wilde down three times in the first round and for a count of eight in the third.

After being knocked to the canvas for a count of five in the opening of the fourth, the referee called the match.

British rules required ending a bout after five knockdowns.

He lost to Louis in a rematch for the title the following year but remained solidly ranked among the top heavyweights in the early 1940s.

In 1941, he came extremely close to boxing stardom at Washington's Griffith Stadium, when in the opinion of most ringside officials, Joe Louis gave him a disqualifying late sixth-round hit in a title match that should have made Baer the world heavyweight champion.

In 2003, Baer was chosen for The Ring magazine's list of 100 greatest punchers of all time.

He was the younger brother of boxing heavyweight champion and actor Max Baer, and the uncle of actor Max Baer Jr..