David,
Max Baer was an Amurrican, with the nick-name of the 'Livermore Larupper' and you don't get any more Amurrican than that. He lost the World Heavyweight Title to Jim Braddock and it was all there in the movie 'The Cinderella Man.'
I think you had him confused with Max Schmelling, who once defeated Joe Louis but got knocked to Kingdom Come in their return fight.
Bob