In Jersey City, on July 2, 1921, U. S. sport fans witnessed a milestone in prizefight annals: the first million-dollar gate. Last week, on the 19th anniversary of that historic Dempsey-Carpentier battle, Jersey City was the scene of another heavyweight prize fight that will probably go down in history as the wretchedest of the post-Dempsey era.
Grappling for the role of challenger for the world's heavyweight championship were two washed-up fighters: Barkeep Tony Galento, a beer-bibbing ham-&-egger who had never heard of the Marquess of Queensberry, and Madcap Maxie Baer, who had been floundering around in the second division since losing his...