Gossip Friday: A Real Knockout

From October 1936:

Clark Gable has been offered $50,000 to fight Max Baer, former world’s heavyweight champion. He says he may accept it if he finds he has enough time between pictures to do the necessary training.

The offer was made by Tom Gallery, veteran California fight promoter, just after Gable had knocked out Allen Pomeroy, former intercollegiate champion, in a fistic battle for the Cosmopolitan production, “Cain and Mabel,
… with Marion Davies and Gable co-starred.

Simultaneously, it was revealed that Gable had made application to the state boxing commission for a permit to engage in professional boxing.

Commenting on the offer to meet Baer, Gable said he could not meet the former champion without considerable training.

“While I trained for five weeks for my screen fight with Pomeroy,” the actor stated, “I feel that I am far from being in the condition I should be in for a bout with Baer.”

Gable knocked out Pomeroy in eight seconds after the start of the first round of their fight. The knockout wa quite accidental, coming when Gable forgot to pull one of his punches.

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This is totally MGM’s PR department at work. You think they’d let their cash cow become a professional boxer and get his face knocked in? No way. Just the PR department floating out stories so people will go see Cain and Mabel.