On June 13, 1935, James J. Braddock (a.k.a. “Cinderella Man”) defeated heavily-favored Max Baer at Madison Square Garden to win the World Heavyweight title. At the time, it was called “the greatest fistic upset since the defeat of John L. Sullivan by Jim Corbett.” It is still considered by many the biggest upset in boxing history. Hand-picked by Baer’s team and viewed as an easy payday, Braddock entered the fight a 10-1 underdog and withstood an early onslaught from the defending champion before wearing him down to earn a shocking 15-round unanimous decision.

Offered here Braddock's 1937 Ogden's Limited Champions of 1936 issue graded a perfect GEM MINT 10 by PSA. Through the end of 2019, it was the only one in existence. Now there are three in the PSA Pop Report out of 67 graded. Just one other athlete in this eclectic tobacco series has ever graded PSA GEM MINT 10 and that was a Jesse Owens card that sold for $4,680 at auction in July 2019.

A working-class boxer from Hell’s Kitchen, Braddock was on the verge of stardom in the late 1920’s, until a tough 15-round loss to Tommy Loughran for the Light Heavyweight title left him with a badly injured right hand and sent his career spiraling downward. A string of ugly losses combined with the economic turmoil of the Great Depression forced Braddock to put his pro boxing career on hold while he worked the docks to support his family. Only when new contenders called on Braddock as their tune-up opponent was he able to string enough victories together to put his name back in the picture and eventually earn his Heavyweight title shot against Baer. Down and out, injured and broke, Braddock never gave up his dream to become Champion. His inspiring story hit the big screen in 2005 with Ron Howard’s biopic, The Cinderella Man.