Joe Maxim, the Light Heavyweight Machine Gun

The man who would later achieve much fame as Joey Maxim was born as Giuseppe Antonio Berardinelli in Cleveland, Ohio on March 28th, 1922. Berardinelli adopted the moniker "Maxim" after the Maxim machine gun, a claim he based on his rapid-fire left jab. Maxim enjoyed a sterling amateur career to win the 1940 Chicago Golden Gloves, Intercity Golden Gloves and then the National Amateur Championship at middleweight. His predecessor as Chicago Golden Gloves and National Champion was none other than his future rival, Ezzard Charles.

Maxim turned pro in January 1941, and following the attack on Pearl Harbor he joined the US Army. Stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Miami Beach, Florida, Maxim served out the war as a military policeman and continued to fight throughout the war. The result was that while many boxers found their career development halted by the war, Joey Maxim kept busy and got sharp. By the end of the war, Maxim had a record of 33-10 and was almost ready for the big time.

Standing a lanky 6'1" and never a big puncher, Joey Maxim had a technically sound, if somewhat mechanical style. He had a good defense that made him hard to hit square-on and plenty of ring smarts. Armed with his able jab and high work rate, he would prove to be a solid match for some of the best fighters of his day.

Maxim's record must be viewed in the context of its day, as it was rare for a fighter of that era to have the same carefully managed career development of a modern top fighter on the way up. Instead, boxers like Maxim learned by doing, which inevitably meant getting a few knocks on the way. In those early days, he lost to solid contenders like Jimmy Bivins and future greats like Ezzard Charles. Also, it was much more normal for boxers to take fights with much bigger men if the pay was right, and so it would be with Maxim's first notable fight when he met future heavyweight champion Jersey Joe Walcott.

Struggling for a Title Shot
In August 1946, outweighed by 12 lbs., Maxim outpointed Jersey Joe Walcott. However, he would not do as well against his bigger rival in future engagements. Walcott and Maxim would fight twice more, meeting in January 1947 and June 1947. Maxim lost both fights on points, but both decisions were very close.

His trilogy with Walcott established a pattern in Joey Maxim's boxing career. He would not only meet with future heavyweight greats and give them what-for, but he would also routinely box heavyweights in general while waiting for his chance at the light heavyweight title.

Joey Maxim fought the big men so often he did not even meet another 175 lbs. contender until he got in the ring with Ezzard Charles in February 1949. Both men had come along way since their first pair of meetings six years before, but Maxim much more so. Fighting the Cincinnati Cobra in his hometown, Maxim greatly improved on his performance and held Charles to a Majority Decision loss. Given that Charles would soon go on to give up seeking the light heavyweight title and win the heavyweight championship instead, it was a huge accomplishment.

In May 1949 Maxim met Gus Lesnevich, a 60-12-5 contender, for the vacant American Light Heavyweight Championship. Maxim carried the bout in a clean points win, which earned him a shot at the world title. In January 1950, he made the trip across the Atlantic to London, where he met World Light Heavyweight Champion Freddie Mills. Mills had won the title four years before by beating Lesnevich, but in the intervening time he had defended against only one serious contender and that was in a rematch against Lesnevich. Maxim was the underdog against the Mills, but he rose to the occasion and knocked out the Englishman. As the story goes, Mills left three teeth in Maxim's left glove. 28 years old, Joey Maxim was the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The Champ
Maxim fought against a string of journeymen until 1951 when Ezzard Charles, now the heavyweight champion, offered Maxim a shot. Charles now outweighed Maxim by 11 lbs. and cleanly outpointed him. Following his defeat to Charles, August 1951 saw Maxim fought betting-favorite 60-5-1 "Irish" Bob Murphy. Once again the underdog, Maxim pulled out a huge win, outpointing Murphy by margins of up to 10-5 on the scorecards. With that big win under his belt, Maxim went right back and challenged Charles again in the December of 1951. Once again, he lost on points. It was the fifth and last time the two boxing legends would meet, and while Charles won all five encounters, they were all competitive and clearly entertaining.

Sugar Ray
In June 1952, Joey Maxim defended his title against the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all-time, Sugar Ray Robinson. For once it was Maxim who was the bigger man, weighing in 16 lbs. heavier than Robinson. That didn't help Maxim much, however, as Robinson pounded out a big lead on the scorecards in the early rounds. Maxim came back in the middle rounds and started scoring points. However, what won the fight for him was the heat. It was a searing night, and under the bright ring lights it was 104 degrees. The referee almost passed out and had to be replaced in the 10th. Robinson, who had to work at a frightful pace to hold back Maxim, succumbed to heat prostration and exhaustion after the 13th Round. Though he had more outlasted the great than outboxed him, but Joey Maxim would go down in history as the only man to ever stop Sugar Ray Robinson.

Decline
The blistering fight took a great deal out of both Maxim and Robinson, and just as with Ali vs. Frazier III, neither man would be quite the same after that. Six months later, Maxim fought another all-time great in Archie "The Old Mongoose" Moore. 139-19-9 at the time, Moore would go down in history as one of the craftiest and most skilled fighters who ever lived. 30 years old and worn around the edges, Maxim dropped a close points loss to Moore.

Although Maxim beat his next opponent, fringe contender Danny Nardico, he was knocked down in the 8th. He then fought against Archie Moore in two back-to-back bouts in June 1953 and January 1954. The 1953 bout was once again close, but in the rubber match Joey Maxim suffered two knockdowns and lost by a big margin. In June 1954, Maxim met a 13-0 young man on his way up named Floyd Patterson. Maxim got a gift decision over the future heavyweight champion, for while he won on points all eleven of the reporters present thought he should have lost. It would prove to be Maxim's last hurrah.

In April 1955, Joey Maxim fought World Middleweight Champion Bobo Olsen. He was knocked down twice and lost on points. Then he fought future light heavyweight champ Willie Pastrano and lost a Unanimous Decision there as well. 1957 saw him fight two back-to-back fights with rising and undefeated heavyweight contender Eddie Machen, losing both. He then had a rematch with Bobo Olsen and lost that too. Maxim lost three more fights in 1958 before announcing his retirement.

Legacy
On the face of it, Joey Maxim with his 82-29-4 with 21 KOs might not seem to be the stuff that legends are made of. He lost more of this noteworthy bouts than he won, but in that it is important to remember the context. This was a man who tangled with a strong Sugar Ray Robinson and came out on top, and the only one who Robinson never defeated in turn. He went 1-1 with Joe Walcott, and gave Ezzard Charles an amazing five hard fights. In an age when there was only one world heavyweight title, Maxim fought plenty of tough journeymen, fringe contenders and good fighters before he ever laid claim to the crown, many of whom were bigger

After boxing, Maxim worked as a stand-up comedian, Las Vegas greeter and restaurant owner. He was inducted in the International Hall of Fame in 1994, and died in 2001.

Sources: boxrec.com; The Ring; ibhof.com/pages/about/inductees/modern/maxim.html