{"id":5292,"date":"2018-03-06T12:19:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T18:19:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5292"},"modified":"2023-01-26T16:37:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-26T22:37:36","slug":"the-day-my-dad-met-max-baer-the-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5292","title":{"rendered":"The Day My Dad Met Max Baer, “The Champ”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Date: July 13, 1936<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

Place: James Avey Outdoor Power of Punch-Oklahoma City, OK<\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\n Event: Former Heavyweight Champ of the World Max Baer vs OKC’s Jimmy Merriott- …<\/span>6 Rounds of Boxing<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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Before the fight my Dad went into Max Baer’s dressing area and visited with the ex-champ. My Dad was 17 at the time and was a\u00a0three sport athlete at Classen High School, Oklahoma City. (He would later on graduate and was a two sport\u00a0scholarship athlete for Centenary College in Shreveport, La.)\u00a0\u00a0My Dad told me\u00a0that Mr. Baer, who had lost two big time fights the year before, one to James J. Braddock (the Cinderella Man) for the title, and the other to the up and coming Joe Louis, was back stage smoking up a storm.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

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In his short visit with the former champ,\u00a0\u00a0my father\u00a0told Mr. Baer that one of the reasons he lost his crown was that he (Mr. Baer) smoked too much and that he was not in shape, which for an athlete, did not help him\u00a0in keeping his title. My Dad said the former champ\u00a0Baer did not\u00a0like what my Dad\u00a0<\/span>said to him and to “get out of the god damn way.” \u00a0That story was told to me many times by my Dad and the story never changed.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

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I looked up that date and here is the Daily Oklahoman’s account of the fight in the July 14, 1936\u00a0\u00a0 paper.<\/strong> <\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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