A month later, in December 1934, Jimmy Johnston made the
announcement that Joe Gould expected. He was going to
organize fights among the top heavyweight boxers. Finally, one
man would be chosen to fight the champion, Max Baer, for
the heavyweight title. Johnston had several boxers in mind, but
Braddock wasn't one of them. He didn't think that Braddock was
lucky—he was good. Johnston didn't want the New Jersey boxer to
stop another of his young stars.
But Gould refused to take no for an answer. Again and again he
went to Johnston's office, trying to get a fight for his man.
"How about a fight with Art Lasky?" he tried.
At first Johnston refused. But, after hearing how confident
Lasky's people were, he changed his mind. Braddock's next fight
was going to be with Art Lasky. He was a young fighter from
Minnesota who had won a few fights in the West. He wasn't as fast
as Lewis, but he was big and strong.
•
The Lasky fight started well for Braddock. In the early rounds, his
opponent couldn't get past Braddock's gloves. The boxer from
Minnesota took a lot of punishment and soon his nose was bloody.
Everything changed in the fifth round. Lasky started hitting
Braddock with punch after punch to the body. Fighting with new
44
confidence, he took the next few rounds from the New Jersey
man. In the eleventh round, Braddock found himself back on the
ropes, as Lasky's fists flew at him.
"Art Lasky is ending the story of Jim Braddock's second chance
in boxing," said the radio announcer.
A big punch hit the side of Braddock's head and his
mouthguard flew out. The crowd waited for Braddock to drop.
Instead, he stood there, eye to eye with Lasky. Then he calmly
walked over and picked up his mouthguard.
"I can't believe my eyes," said the announcer. "Braddock just
took