Both fighters started round five like mad animals. Leather gloves flew, and neither man backed away. Suddenly, Braddock hit his opponent with a powerful cross and Lewis was down on one knee. When the fight continued, Lewis wasn't able to protect himself, letting Braddock knock him back on to the ropes.
In the end, the judges gave the fight to Braddock. Some sports reporters said that he had deserved to win. Others said that he had just hit Lewis with a few lucky punches.
As Joe Gould gave Jim his share of the prize money, he said, "Take care of yourself. Our luck has changed—I'm sure of it."
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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.
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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 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.