Who was Max Baer?

In the 2005 move Cinderella Man, detailing the life of boxer James J. Braddock, the portrayal of Max Baer was "unfair" and not historically accurate. I, however, disagree and feel the portrayal was historically accurate.

It is argued that the film portrays Baer as being brutal in the ring, and he generally was, and a person who behaved inappropriately outside it. Baer was known as somewhat of a clown by the media as he was very fun loving and played to the camera. However, he was also known as a playboy and a partier. In fact in his 1936 fight with Dutch Weimer, it is reported that a light slap to Weimer's ribs ended the bout, causing the crowd to roar its disgust. Someone threw an empty whiskey bottle at Baer. Leaving the ring, he turned to the crowd and shouted, "Well, you paid to get in - suckers." The bout, termed "a fake, fiasco and disgrace" by Premier Mitchell F. Hepburn (who had been in the crowd), resulted in the reorganization of the Ontario Athletic Commission and the appointment of P. J. Mulqueen as Chairman to restore confidence of fans. This surprised seemingly nobody thereby adding to the idea that Baer was not a clean cut fun loving guy, but someone willing to throw a fight and clearly not sorry for doing so.

In a 1930 fight with Tiny Abbott, Baer was disqualified and fined for hitting Abbott while he was being given a count. He was also disqualified in his 1929 fight against Frank Rudzenski. So it seems that this squeaky clean image that some are trying to portray of Baer is more historically inaccurate than what is portrayed in the movie. 

Max Baer is no doubt a great fighter who had a vicious punch, which is clearly demonstrated in the video above.