The Meadowlands History Project

North Bergen's "Cinderella Man"

    

    Seventy-five years ago this week North Bergen resident James Braddock won the heavyweight boxing championship of the world with an unthinkable upset of Max Baer in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Braddock’s June 13, 1935, victory stands today as one of the biggest upsets in boxing history.

   Braddock was known as the Cinderella Man for his fairytale-like rise from average amateur fighter and down-on-his-luck docks worker to heavyweight champion.

   Born into an Irish-American family in New York City in 1905, Braddock was raised in West New York, where he developed an interest in boxing. He later moved to North Bergen with his wife, where they would raise three children. Braddock struggled as an amateur fighter to feed his family during the Great Depression and quit boxing for a time to work as a longshoreman. He returned to the ring in a last-ditch effort to improve his family’s fortunes.   

   Known for his powerful right hand, Braddock would hold the heavyweight title for two years and retired from the sport in 1938 at age 32. During World War II he served as a lieutenant on the island of Saipan in the South Pacific. Braddock later worked in construction and as a marine equipment surplus supplier.

    Braddock was inducted into the Ring Boxing Hall of Fame in 1964, the Hudson County Hall of Fame in 1991 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2001. He died in 1974 and is buried in Tenafly.

   James J. Braddock North Hudson Park in North Bergen is named in his  
honor. Braddock’s story would later be chronicled in the 2005 motion picture, “Cinderella Man.”

   For more information on James Braddock, click here.

   Click "Continue Reading ..." below for information about “Cinderella Man,” the movie based on Braddock’s life

North Bergen/Secaucus: Vince Petto, Life by the River

  Lifelong Meadowlands resident Vince Petto spent his childhood hunting, fishing and swimming in the Hackensack River and neary marshes.

   In this audio interview, Petto recounts several colorful tales of boyhood explorations and misadventures.

   Petto, who grew up in North Bergen and now lives along the Hackensack River in Secaucus, also discusses the allure of the river and how it has changed for the better over the years.

    Click "Continue reading ..." to hear Vince's stories.