Cinderella Man

After Jim Braddock hurt his right hand, he regularly lost fights. By 1934, his loss percentage was about sixty percent. No one really cared to watch a boxer who lost that much.

With few options, Braddock left boxing and returned to the Hoboken docks. The work - when he could get it - was hard and didn't pay much. There came a time, when the work was insufficient and Jimmy's family was in desperate need, that welfare was the family's only relief. Swallowing his pride, like so many others, Braddock "went on the dole."

Despite all the hardships, Jim Braddock had a great family life. He and Mae, his wife, were in love. They had three healthy children. Jim's survivors have generously made their family pictures available on-line. Let's "meet" the real people featured in the movie Cinderella Man:

• Mae and Jim lived in North Bergen.



• They had three children: James (called Jay), Rose Marie and Howard.



• Jim was more proud of his children than anything else.



• Braddock loved to play with his kids. The boys had boxing gloves, too.



• They also helped out by giving their dad water during the break in a fight.



• Even the baby, Rose Marie, tried on her father's boxing gloves.

There was another person who was practically a member of Braddock's family: Joe Gould, his manager. It is said no one could talk as fast, or as much, as Joe Gould (depicted in the middle of this Fort Slocum photo with Braddock on his left and John Bender on his right) when it came to promoting Jim and his fighting ability. Although others believed Braddock would never fight again, Gould wasn't so sure. He wanted to put a few more dollars in Jim's pockets.

What happened, as the two friends worked together, ultimately led to boxing history.