A.J. Liebling's classic New Yorker pieces on the "sweet science of bruising" bring vividly to life the boxing world as it once was. The Sweet Science depicts the great events of boxing's American heyday: Sugar Ray Robinson's dramatic comeback, Rocky Marciano's rise to prominence, Joe Louis's unfortunate decline. Liebling never fails to find the human story behind the fight, and he evokes the atmosphere in the arena as distinctly as he does the goings-on in the ring--a combination that prompted Sports Illustrated to name The Sweet Science the best American sports book of all time.

This book is a generous presentation of all of the figures and events of what most consider to be the greatest era in boxing history. The first chapter compares the seventies to all of the other eras from Jack Johnson (1908-1915) up to the present day Klitcko brothers. Through an established set of criteria, the contention is proven that the seventies stands above all other eras. Chapter two covers the tumultuous 1960s and the circumstances that led to the blossoming of unprecedented competition. The remaining ten chapters cover the years 1970 through to 1979, reliving the rivalries, animosities and stories of an era that produced such household names as Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton and Holmes. It was a time when even those with no interest in sports knew the names of these legends.

Born to former slaves in St. Croix in 1860, Peter Jackson made his name in the boxing ring with his smooth, fast style and a dangerous "one-two" combination. After emigrating to Australia, Jackson became that country's national heavyweight champion in 1886 before moving on to the United States and claiming the title of Colored Champion of the World in 1888. For the next ten years, Jackson remained undefeated by all opponents in America and Europe until finally losing to Jim Jeffries in 1898. Although he never received a shot at the heavyweight title--reigning heavyweight champion John Sullivan refused to defend his title against a black man--Jackson remains one of the greatest fighters in the history of the heavyweight division. This first biography of Jackson since 1919 chronicles the boxer's life in and out of the ring, providing a vivid portrait of a true legend in the sport.]

Beginning in the late 1970s, "Gentleman" Gerry Cooney's professional boxing career was marked by exhilarating fights, exciting wins, and a powerful left hook. In 1982, Cooney landed a lucrative match against world heavyweight champion Larry Holmes on one of the biggest stages in championship boxing. Yet Cooney's bouts in the ring were nothing compared to the inner turmoil that he dealt with and eventually overcame. Gentleman Gerry: A Contender in the Ring, a Champion in Recovery chronicles the career of a boxing legend, the challenges and triumphs of a trauma survivor, and an alcoholic's journey to sustained recovery. Gerry Cooney and John Grady provide a detailed account of how the former contender went from an abused childhood to becoming a two-time Golden Gloves champion. More than just a biography, this book explores the challenges of surviving difficult moments and overcoming obstacles such as alcohol addiction. The authors also provide historical perspectives of the era and behind-the-scenes insight into the world of professional boxing. Complete with photographs from esteemed sports photographer Joe DiMaggio and stories directly from Cooney himself, this book offers an unprecedented look into Cooney's life and the lessons he learned. Fans of boxing, as well as sports enthusiasts and others recovering from addiction, will find Gentleman Gerry a must-read.

The Olympic Club was established in New Orleans in mid-1883 as a gentlemen's athletic club catering to the city's expanding immigrant population in the Third District, known then as the Faubourg Washington, just downriver from the Faubourg Marigny. Between 1883 and 1893 the club's membership grew from twenty-three to nearly eleven hundred gentlemen engaging in a wide variety of athletic and leisure-time pursuits ranging from target-shooting and gymnastics to billiards and boxing. Members included city councilmen and other politicians, bartenders and businessmen, attorneys, physicians, and represented a diverse cross-section of New Orleans society. By 1889, boxing was the single most popular sport in the city and professional boxing was prominently offered by the athletic clubs across New Orleans. At that time in New Orleans, as indeed throughout the United States, there were prohibitions against boxing and prizefighting. But in 1889 a revised city ordinance and an equally nebulous state statute were frequently tested by the Olympic Club to allow boxing events sponsored by chartered athletic clubs. Thus began a transformative process at the Olympic Club that propelled the club and New Orleans into the spotlight as the epicenter of boxing in America. In a brief four-year span between 1890 and 1894 the Olympic Club's massive 10,000 seat arena was the venue for six world championship title fights and seven national or regional title bouts. The most famous of these events was the Fistic Carnival-an event in 1892 that featured three successive world championship title matches over three successive days, culminating in the heavyweight championship fight between John L. Sullivan and James J. Corbett. However, increased competition, legal challenges, and a dramatic shift in the moral standards in New Orleans saw prizefighting fall into a precipitous decline, hastened by several deaths in the ring, most notably that of Andy Bowen, the "Louisiana Tornado." By early 1896 the club went into liquidation, experienced a brief revival in 1987, only to end in a fiery inferno that reduced the country's most popular prizefighting venue of the 19th century to a pile of rubble and ashes. The Olympic Club of New Orleans provides an in-depth chronicle of boxing in New Orleans during the latter half of the nineteenth century, interspersed with brief vignettes of New Orleans' history that helped shape the prevailing attitudes influencing the rise and fall of perhaps the most famous boxing venue of its day-the Olympic Club.

Now in paperback! "From the first page to the last, Klein's prose retains its powers of enchantment and illumination. It is one of the best boxing books ever penned." -Boston Globe "[A] muscular, relentlessly detailed book." -Wall Street Journal "I can lick any son-of-a-bitch in the world." So boasted John L. Sullivan, the first modern heavyweight boxing champion of the world, a man who was the gold standard of American sport for more than a decade, and the first athlete to earn more than a million dollars. He had a big ego, big mouth, and bigger appetites. His womanizing, drunken escapades, and chronic police-blotter presence were godsends to a burgeoning newspaper industry. The larger-than-life boxer embodied the American Dream for late nineteenth-century immigrants as he rose from Boston's Irish working class to become the most recognizable man in the nation. In the process, the "Boston Strong Boy" transformed boxing from outlawed bare-knuckle fighting into the gloved spectacle we know today. Strong Boy tells the story of America's first sports superstar, a self-made man who personified the power and excesses of the Gilded Age. Everywhere John L. Sullivan went, his fists backed up his bravado. Sullivan's epic brawls, such as his 75-round bout against Jake Kilrain, and his cross-country barnstorming tour in which he literally challenged all of America to a fight are recounted in vivid detail, as are his battles outside the ring with a troubled marriage, wild weight and fitness fluctuations, and raging alcoholism. Strong Boy gives readers ringside seats to the colorful tale of one of the country's first Irish-American heroes and the birth of the American sports media and the country's celebrity obsession with athletes.

This insightful study offers a fresh perspective on the life and career of champion boxer Joe Louis. The remarkable success and global popularity of the "Brown Bomber" made him a lightning rod for debate over the role and rights of African Americans in the United States. Historian Marcy S. Sacks traces both Louis's career and the criticism and commentary his fame elicited to reveal the power of sports and popular culture in shaping American social attitudes. Supported by key contemporary documents, Joe Louis: Sports and Race in Twentieth-Century America is both a succinct introduction to a larger-than-life figure and an essential case study of the intersection of popular culture and race in the mid-century United States.

As soon as heavyweight boxer Joe Louis became a public figure in the 1930s, journalists and other social commentators began speculating about the significance of an African American man garnering popularity in a racially segregated society. Both during his lifetime and afterward, Louis noteriety extended beyond the world of sports to American popular culture. Many falsely heralded the boxer 's popularity as a sign that American racism was in sharp decline, Louis heroic status, however, did not fully reflect the complicated racial dynamics either within the sports world or in America, in general.

In Joe Louis: Sports and Race in the Twentieth Century, Marcy Sacks gives an account of the life of a man famous both for his sports career and for his race. With excerpts from newspaper clippings, radio broadcasts, poetry, and interviews, Sacks contextualizes Louis life and the legacy he left behind.

On bended knee, he leaned over the stricken boxer and counted him out. When he waved the fight over, there was exactly one second to go in the dramatic and brutal world championship bout and Víctor Galíndez had retained his title. But the referee, his shirt stained with the champion’s blood, had cemented his reputation as a cool professional, one destined to become an esteemed figure in world boxing.

South Africa’s own Stanley Christodoulou has officiated an unprecedented 242 world title fights over five decades, some of them among the most iconic in boxing history, and became his nation’s very first inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He rose from humble beginnings, learning his trade in the South African townships of the 1960s, and went on to lead his national boxing board as it sought to shed the racial restrictions of the apartheid era. It was a contribution to his country’s sporting landscape that saw him recognised by the president of the ‘new’ South Africa, Nelson Mandela.

The Life and Times of Stanley Christodoulou is Stanley’s memoir in boxing. It takes the reader to a privileged position, inside the ropes with champions and into the company of boxing legends.

Muhammad Ali was not only a champion athlete, but a cultural icon. While his skill as a boxer made him famous, his strong personality and his identity as a black man in a country in the midst of the struggle for civil rights made him an enduring symbol. From his youth in segregated Louisville, Kentucky, to his victory in the 1960 Olympics, to the controversy that surrounded his conversion to Islam and refusal of the draft during the Vietnam War, Ali's life was closely linked to the major social and political struggles of the 1960s and 70s. The story of his struggles, failures, and triumphs sheds light on issues of race, class, religion, dissent, and the role of sports in American society that affected all Americans. In this lively, concise biography, Barbara L. Tischler introduces students to Ali's life in social and political context, and explores his enduring significance as a symbol of resistance. Muhammad Ali: A Many of Many Voices offers the perfect introduction to this extraordinary American and his times.

When boxing writer Doveed Linder tried to make contact with HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant in hopes of securing an interview, his attempts failed. But one morning, Linder was at a gym wearing a boxing related t-shirt. Someone walked past him who was also wearing a boxing t-shirt. They started talking and it turned out to be Larry Merchant's son-in-law, who offered to set up the interview with Merchant over lunch. Linder did the interview with Merchant, eventually finding himself writing Ringside: Interviews with 24 Fighters and Boxing Insiders, a collection of in depth interviews with various boxers, trainers, promoters, officials, and other boxing figures, who tell their story. Ringside: Interviews with 24 Fighters and Boxing Insiders is an exploration of the sport from top to bottom, as it profiles well accomplished champions and Hall of Fame inductees, as well as those who have labored behind the scenes. A number of synchronistic occurrences similar to the meeting of Larry Merchant's son-in-law led to some of the interviews in this book, notably the interview with Exum Speight, a retired boxer with a record of 9-39-2, who was arrested for a 1987 murder one year after his interview was conducted.

Genius is seldom recognized in its own time. In the case of Ezzard Charles it took several decades but late really is better than never. Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life traces Charles' early life in a small country town all the way to his fights with Jersey Joe Walcott, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano and more during the wild, glamorous and wonderfully dirty business of boxing in the 1950s, one of the sport's last Golden Ages. Readers will learn about Charles' frustrated attempts to get a shot at the 175-pound world title; his three wins over the legendary Archie Moore; and his futile struggle to win the respect of boxing fans spoiled by Louis' power and charisma. This is the book today's sports' fans have been waiting for - the one that answers their questions about the man The Ring magazine called the greatest light heavyweight who ever lived. For reasons no one can quite explain, there has never been a biography of one of modern prizefighting's most revered and skilled practitioners - until now. Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life is a long overdue addition to the vast collection of good literature covering the fight game.

This book is an interdisciplinary cultural examination of twenty-first century boxing as a professional sport, a bodily labor, a lucrative business, a popular entertainment, and an instrument of ideology. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews conducted with Latino boxers, women boxers, and boxing insiders in Texas, it discusses boxing from the vantage point of the sundry players, who are involved with it: the labor force, promoters, handlers, ringside officials, medical professionals, media, and the audiences. The various parties have multiple stakes in the sport. For some, boxing is about physical empowerment; others are in it for the money; some deploy it for ideological purposes; yet others use it to claim their 15-minutes of fame, and frequently the various interests overlap. In this book, Benita Heiskanen makes a broader connection between boxing and the spatial organization of racialized, class-based, and gendered bodies within particular urban geographies. Journeying actual sites where the sport is organized, such as the barrio, boxing gym, and competition venues, she maps the ways in which boxing insiders negotiate a variety of conflicting agendas at local, regional, and national scales. Beyond the United States, the worker-athletes conduct their labor within global socioeconomic conditions, business networks, and legal principles. Through this sporting context, Heiskanen's discussion discloses some complex socio-historical, cultural, and political power relations between urban margins and centers, with ramifications far beyond boxing. This book will be of interest to readers in Sport Studies, Cultural Studies, Cultural Geography, Gender Studies, Critical Race Theory, Labor Studies, and American Studies.

This book is an interdisciplinary cultural examination of twenty-first century boxing as a professional sport, a bodily labor, a lucrative business, a popular entertainment, and an instrument of ideology. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and interviews conducted with Latino boxers, women boxers, and boxing insiders in Texas, it discusses boxing from the vantage point of the sundry players, who are involved with it: the labor force, promoters, handlers, ringside officials, medical professionals, media, and the audiences. The various parties have multiple stakes in the sport. For some, boxing is about physical empowerment; others are in it for the money; some deploy it for ideological purposes; yet others use it to claim their 15-minutes of fame, and frequently the various interests overlap.

In this book, Benita Heiskanen makes a broader connection between boxing and the spatial organization of racialized, class-based, and gendered bodies within particular urban geographies. Journeying actual sites where the sport is organized, such as the barrio, boxing gym, and competition venues, she maps the ways in which boxing insiders negotiate a variety of conflicting agendas at local, regional, and national scales. Beyond the United States, the worker-athletes conduct their labor within global socioeconomic conditions, business networks, and legal principles. Through this sporting context, Heiskanen's discussion discloses some complex socio-historical, cultural, and political power relations between urban margins and centers, with ramifications far beyond boxing. This book will be of interest to readers in Sport Studies, Cultural Studies, Cultural Geography, Gender Studies, Critical Race Theory, Labor Studies, and American Studies.

"Every once in a while, a book publisher comes up with a great concept for a series of books that deserve more than superficial recognition. Such a series is The Greatest (fill in the blank) Stories Ever Told, anthologies that should win places on many bedside tables. On the long winter nights that lie ahead, such stories make great reading." -The Lexington County Chronicle "THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD assembles some of the best writing available on the sweet science and illuminates boxing in all its literal and symbolic glory. Each piece in this varied collection connects with the sort of powerful punch one can only expect from the world's greatest writers." -Boxing Digest In THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD, editor Jeff Silverman delivers a knockout collection of not only the best writing ever penned on the subject of "the sweet science," but also stories that relate to the larger human issues the brutal sport has come to embody. Whether the story be about the triumph of a heroic champion, a tragic death in the ring, the shady tactics of fight promoters, or victories against seemingly impossible odds, each story in this varied collection connects powerfully with the reader. THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD is the perfect gift for fight fans and non-fight fans alike, and with its allstar lineup of "contenders" throwing "haymakers" and "uppercuts" in every round, it stands as the definitive volume of short stories on this enduring pugilistic pastime.

This collection of award-winning boxing journalist Mike Silver's best articles from the past 40 years features a colorful mix of hard-hitting exposes and light-hearted stories that include legendary boxers such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Oscar De La Hoya, and more. The boxing world has witnessed some spectacular and iconic moments, from the "Thrilla in Manila" to the last encounter between Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta. In The Night the Referee Hit Back: Memorable Moments from the World of Boxing, award-winning boxing journalist Mike Silver looks back at some of boxing's most legendary fights, talks with Hall of Famers Archie Moore, Carlos Ortiz, Emile Griffith and Curtis Cokes, and analyzes the changes that have taken place in boxing since the Golden Age. This collection, drawn from the author's best articles from the past 40 years, are a colorful mix of hard-hitting exposes, interviews, and light-hearted stories featuring boxers such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Joe Frazier, Oscar De La Hoya, and Muhammad Ali. Mike Silver captures the essence, charisma, tragedy, and romance of boxing like no one else. Featuring numerous historical and iconic photographs, The Night the Referee Hit Back is a fascinating and valuable collection for boxing fans and sports historians alike.

This guide to the finer points of boxing provides the wisdom needed to make the transition from enthusiastic beginner to proficient pugilist. The ABCs of ring generalship, offensive and defensive ring movements, feints, and draws and fakes are examined and explained along with clinching techniques, head-hunting, body work, and counter-punching chains. Strategies for boxing against tall and short opponents as well as for a variety of fighting styles such as charger, speed-demon, stick-and-move, and slugger and brawler are discussed in detail. Specific drills focus on sophisticated ring stratagems such as throwing complex combinations, cutting off the ring, fighting off the ropes, generating power, and cornering an opponent are included.

’n Epiese reis in ’n klein seiljag van Frankryk tot aan die Namakwalandse kus gedurende die Tweede Wêreldoorlog, sabotasiepogings en planne om Eerste Minister Jan Smuts in ’n sluipmoord om die lewe te bring . . . In die vroeë 1940’s is die Suid-Afrikaanse publiek aangegryp deur die uitdagende optrede van die Olimpiese bokser en swaargewigkampioen Robey Leibbrandt. Hy was dodelik gekant teen Suid-Afrika se deelname aan die oorlog.

Sy ekstremisme, opvlieënd-heid en onverdraagsaamheid was tipies van ’n politieke fanatikus. Leibbrandt het ’n aanhanger van Nasionaal-Sosialisme geword toe hy in 1936 vir Suid-Afrika in Berlyn aan die Olimpiese Spele gaan deelneem het. Hy was besig met opleiding in Europa toe die oorlog uitbreek. Die Duitse militêre intelligensiediens het hom kort daarna gewerf om sabotasieopleiding te ontvang. Die Duitsers het Leibbrandt teruggestuur na Suid-Afrika as deel van Operasie Weissdorn. Sy missie? Om die militante deel van die Afrikaner-opposisie te werf en met hulle hulp skeeps- en haweinstallasies, asook nywerhede, te vernietig, en om oproer in die Uniemagte te stook.

Dit was nie lank nie of die polisie was op Leibbrandt se spoor en hy is ná een van die grootste polisiesoektogte in hegtenis geneem. Sy hoogverraadsaak in 1943 en 1944 het hoofopskrifte gehaal. Dié biografie werp nuwe lig op hierdie enigmatiese historiese figuur en wat sy fanatisme aangevuur het.

A tribute to the life and words of 3 times World Heavyweight Champion boxer, Muhammad Ali. I Am The GreatestA" is a 48 page book of quotations attributed to one of the greatest sportsmen and biggest personalities of modern times, Muhammad Ali. From the moment he won the Gold medal at the 1960 Olympics, to beating Sonny Liston and becoming World Heavyweight Champion, through the epic fights with Joe Frazier, George Foreman and many more besides, Ali was never short of something to say. Often witty, sometimes profound, his hugely outspoken words carried as much punch as his actions in the ring.

This book neither argues for or against the continuation of boxing, but lays out the literature and the body of scientific knowledge that are necessary to provide a meaningful background for the ensuing debate. It provides a comprehensive resource for those who are involved in regulating boxing and those who participate directly, as well as for the medical and scientific communities. Includes carefully quoted case histories and research as well as an extensive body of medical literature on boxing injuries to demonstrate that brain damage is a natural consequence of boxing.
* Presents in-depth analysis of the phenomenon of "punch drunkness"
* Includes detailed case histories of the clinical and pathomorphological findings uncovered by current medical research
* Extensively reviews medical literature

Blood, Brawn, Brains and Broken Noses explores the evolution of pugilism, better known as boxing, from its origins in Ancient Greece and Rome to the present day. In England, pugilism became a popular form of entertainment, leading to a golden age, which the book covers in detail along with the careers of five champion pugilists. But the sport hit a major hitch when bare-knuckle pugilism clashed with Victorian morals, and it was superseded by gloved boxing. Afterwards, bare-knuckle boxing went underground and was practised clandestinely and seen only by a select few. The book examines the thoughts of ancient philosophers to explain why pugilism became part of British culture. Nineteenth-century philosophies such as Social Darwinism, Muscular Christianity and Rational Recreation are also explored along with how Rational Recreation influences boxing today. What are the sociological factors that motivate people to take up boxing? And how can the sport prevent societal ills? Blood, Brawn, Brains and Broken Noses holds the answers.

Be sure to check out IRON AMBITION: My Life with Cus D'Amato by Mike Tyson "Raw, powerful and disturbing-a head-spinning take on Mr. Tyson's life."-Wall Street Journal Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon-Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most ferocious boxers of all time-and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior. Yet-even after hitting rock bottom-the man who once admitted being addicted "to everything" fought his way back, achieving triumphant success as an actor and newfound happiness and stability as a father and husband. Brutal, honest, raw, and often hilarious, Undisputed Truth is the singular journey of an inspiring American original.