Braddock's nickname was extremely apt. In his prime he failed to make the big time and he received a title shot almost by chance very late in his career and after having virtually quit fighting.

When Braddock beat Max Baer to win the title in 1935, he was 29 and had won just 42 of his 82 fights. Of his last 11 bouts he'd won only six.

Braddock, brave and orthodox, knew hard times during the Depression and, after a spell working on the wharves of New York, was forced to stand in the breadline to feed his wife and family. Then he was offered a fight with a promising youngster named Corn Griffin. He gladly accepted the $200 pay and surprised everyone by winning. There followed a points win over leading light-heavyweight John Henry Lewis, followed by another over Art Lasky.

Suddenly, the unlikely Braddock had earned himself a title shot against Baer.

On June 13, 1935, he beat the clowning Baer comfortably on points and was king of the world. By rights Braddock should then have fought Max Schmeling, but he held out for a much bigger money fight against the new sensation, Joe Louis. So keen was promoter Mike Jacobs to sign the Braddock-Louis fight that he offered Braddock 10 percent of his (Jacobs's) earnings on any Louis title fights that he promoted for the next 10 years.

Braddock knocked down Louis, but was gradually overwhelmed and was knocked out in the eighth. He became a respected elder statesman of boxing and one of the sport's success stories. Braddock died in 1974, aged 68. I hope Russell Crowe does him justice.