Maxim boxed fairly regularly at exhibitions during the war years while serving as a military police officer at Miami Beach, Florida.

It is somewhat surprising that Maxim had to wait so long for a world title shot, he was 28 and had already fought 87 times as a professional, considering his undoubted ability.

His chance came on January 24, 1950, against British boxer Freddie Mills, who was making his first defense, at London's Earl's Court Exhibition Centre.

The most famous fight of Maxim's career was on June 25, 1952, when he made his second defense of his world light heavyweight crown, against Sugar Ray Robinson at Yankee Stadium.

However, Robinson failed to answer the bell at the start of the 14th, even though he only had to remain on his feet to win the fight and Maxim won by a technical knockout.

By this time the original referee, Ruby Goldstein, had himself been forced to retire from the fight after collapsing into the ropes complaining that he could no longer continue.

During his career he defeated such legendary figures as Jersey Joe Walcott, Jimmy Bivins, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Floyd Patterson.

[1] He appeared in Herschell Gordon Lewis's 1963 nudie-cutie Goldilocks and the Three Bares as himself, playing a nightclub owner.

He was prominently featured on the movie poster, with the blurb: "It's me...Joey Maxim, the former world's light heavyweight champion!