By Catherine Johnson
Brown Glove Books, 2024
Many Jewish boxing fans have long idolized Max Baer. By reexamining his deadly fight against Frankie Campbell in her wonderful book Then the World Moved On, Catherine Johnson convincingly argues Baer is more deserving of condemnation than idolization.
A son of Italian immigrants, Frankie Campbell first made his name in fistic circles in San Francisco. Something of a crude slugger, he took his fan-friendly style to Los Angeles and eventually became a popular figure among all of California's fight fans. Meanwhile, Max Baer embroiled himself in constant controversy. Ties to the mob and fixed fights defined his early career.
In their fateful fight, Baer first fouled Campbell in the second round after he was knocked down. Referee Toby Irwin failed to clean Baer's gloves and instead watched as he sucker-punched Campbell in the back of the head. In the fifth, Irwin ignored Baer's barrage of unanswered punches as Campbell descended into unconsciousness. Johnson contends this was no accident. Irwin admitted that he let the carnage continue to appease gamblers.
The previously accepted narrative follows that Baer felt extreme guilt over his role in the death of Frankie Campbell as seen by his reluctance to fight all-out against future opponents, and that Baer made a concerted commitment to Campbell's surviving family members. Johnson effectively dismantles those notions. Baer is often given responsibility for the eventually death of Ernie Schaaf, who died six months after Baer beat him mercilessly. The Livermore Larupper pummeled Max Schmeling with no remorse, and later brutalized Primo Carnera to win the heavyweight world championship. In none of these fights did Baer show any reluctance to injure his opponents on account of what he did to Frankie Campbell.
Furthermore, Baer had very little to do with Campbell's family after the tragedy. He boasted of attending Frankie Jr.'s college graduation, but the boy had sadly died in a plane accident months before graduating, so Baer's story was made up. Baer, in fact, didn't even know how many children the Campbell family had, mistakenly claiming they had two sons. Johnson shows that Baer's supposed concern for the Campbell family was a self-serving mirage.
Johnson views Baer's ties to Judaism with skepticism. A genealogist by trade, she does confirm the belief that he had a Jewish grandparent. His sudden identification as a Jew, though, was not merely done to sell tickets to Jewish fans in New York ahead of his fight against Schmeling but because a significant boycott movement had grown in reaction to Schmeling's alleged Nazi ties. Johnson is sensitive to Baer's meaning to Jews, including my grandmother's family. She writes, "By ever wearing the Star of David on his trunks, did Max Baer give hope to Jews during utterly dark days? Absolutely," (pg. 296). But Baer did not truly identify as Jewish in life or in death. A cross decorates his tomb.
To be clear, this book is not a hit job on Baer. Johnson actually idolized the man before delving into the research, even naming her dog after him. Regardless of anybody's sentiment for Baer, the facts are laid out in a way as to make her argument incontrovertible.
More than merely making a case against Max Baer, Then the World Moved On goes into fascinating detail about Frankie Campbell, boxing in California during his era, and much more. There are also many illuminating pictures. Lined with amazing bits of research, Campbell's opponents, managers, and promoters come alive. This book brings readers into the boxing world of that time and place, something only the best boxing books can achieve.
With mountains of research, there are bound to be a few slip ups. These couldn't be more minor. On page 47, it's claimed that Jimmy McLarnin won the lightweight world championship. The two-time welterweight champion beat the reigning lightweight champ three times in nontitle fights, but never won that belt. Similarly trivial, in describing coach George Blake, the author writes, "[H]e had guided Jackie Fields to a [w]elterweight title," (pg. 113). After researching Fields's life the past two years, it'd be a slight to Gig Rooney to give Blake credit for Fields's pro championship. Undeniably, Blake guided Fields to Olympic gold in the featherweight division in 1924, but Blake and Fields had a falling out when Jackie wanted to turn pro after the Olympics and Blake wanted him to wait two years. So Rooney trained and managed Fields through his first welterweight run. A nitpicky critique for sure. More relevant for those who want to use this book as a source, a random sampling of the index shows the pages don't match up in the paperback. These tiny issues don't impact Johnson's argument about Max Baer in the least and hardly detract from the narrative.
Then the World Moved On is such a good book, There are so many interesting anecdotes and stories to more than satisfy a boxing history lover, but it's written so clearly and explained so well that a beginner to the subject wouldn't be lost. Johnson masterfully finds the balance. The Jewish Boxing Blog highly recommends this book.
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