More than any other sport, boxing has a history of being easy to rig. There are only two athletes and one or both may be induced to accept a bribe; if not the fighters, then the judges or referee might be swayed. In such inviting circumstances, the mob moved into boxing in the 1930s and profited by corrupting a sport ripe for exploitation. In Boxing and the Mob: The Notorious History of the Sweet Science, Jeffrey Sussman tells the story of the coercive and criminal underside of boxing, covering nearly the entire twentieth century. He profiles some of its most infamous characters, such as Owney Madden, Frankie Carbo, and Frank Palermo, and details many of the fixed matches in boxing's storied history. In addition, Sussman examines the influence of the mob on legendary boxers-including Primo Carnera, Sugar Ray Robinson, Max Baer, Carmen Basilio, Sonny Liston, and Jake LaMotta-and whether they caved to the mobsters' threats or refused to throw their fights. Boxing and the Mob is the first book to cover a century of fixed fights, paid-off referees, greedy managers, misused boxers, and the mobsters who controlled it all. True crime and the world of boxing are intertwined with absorbing detail in this notorious piece of American history.

The Techniques and Knowledge Needed to Excel in the Sport of Boxing
The illustrations, explanations, and techniques presented in Boxing Basics provide everything needed to excel in the sport of boxing. Easy to follow explanations and illustrations introduce the reader to the sport by providing information on training equipment, types of boxing gyms, and how to get into fighting shape. The bulk of this boxing text is devoted to providing progressive steps in the learning of the sport of boxing. It begins by presenting the primary elements of boxing and ranges to advanced skills. The Instant Reference Guide is a special feature designed for busy persons. It provides fast-track references to the important points in every chapter. This publication can be used as a how-to reference guide for trainers as well as beginners.
"Some books just show you how to box, others just tell you. Still others do a little of both. With Boxing Basics, Professor Gotay becomes your personal trainer, teaching you step by step how to box. This is the most definitive how to boxing book I have ever seen."
- Randy Gordon, Former Editor-in-Chief of Ring Magazine;
Boxing Analyst for ESPN, USA Network, and the MSG Network;
and Chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission.
Presently the host of Fight Club, the popular Sirius Radio boxing talk show.

California's "Glamour Boy" and world champion boxer was a movie attraction for women and a money-making draw for promoters during the Great Depression. The Prizefighter and the Lady, in 1933, gave movie-goers a boxer who could sing and dance. The film, climaxing with Baer's world title fight against Italian Primo Carnera, was reprised in 1956 in The Harder They Fall, with Humphrey Bogart. Many said the sport would have died in the 1930s were it not for the colorful Max Baer. He was a contender for every heavyweight championship from 1932 to 1941. In 1935, Baer brought back the "million-dollar gate" not seen since the 1920s. His battle with Joe Louis was the highest gate of the decade. The star's radio voice sold razor blades by the thousands and made Gillette into the formidable company forever identified with boxing. Contrary to the depiction of the champion dethroned by James Braddock in the 2005 movie The Cinderella Man, Max was not the villain, and the fight was much more controversial in 1935 than the movie portrayed. This is the first complete biography to cover Max Baer's boxing record (adding 70 new bouts); his early family life; his film, stage, television, and radio careers; and his WW II Army service.

Rocky Graziano, juvenile delinquent, middleweight boxing champion, and comedic actor, was the last great fighter from the golden age of boxing, the era of Joe Louis, Jake LaMotta, and Sugar Ray Robinson. In Rocky Graziano: Fists, Fame, and Fortune, Jeffrey Sussman tells the rags-to-riches story of Tommy Rocco Barbella, who came to be known as Rocky Graziano. Raised by an abusive father, Graziano took to the streets and soon found himself in reformatories and prison cells. Drafted into the U.S. Army, Graziano went AWOL but was eventually caught, tried, and sent to prison for a year. After his release, Rocky went on to have one successful boxing match after another and quickly ascended up the pyramid of professional boxing. In one of the bloodiest battles in the history of the middleweight division, Rocky beat Tony Zale and became the middleweight champion of the world. Rocky retired from boxing after he lost his crown to Sugar Ray Robinson and went on to have a successful acting career in two acclaimed television series. Rich and famous, he was no longer the angry young man he once was. In his post-boxing life, Rocky became known for his good humor, witty remarks, and kindness and generosity to those in need. Rocky Graziano's life is not only inspiring, it is also a story of redemption, of how boxing became the vehicle for saving a young man from a life of anger and crime and leading him into a life of happiness and honesty. The first biography of Graziano in over 60 years, this book will bring his story to a new generation of boxing fans and sports historians.

This absorbing book unravels the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career. It will appeal to those teaching and studying cultural studies, social theory, sports studies, and sociology, as well as to general readers interested in Muhammad Ali.
A probing account of Muhammad Ali's life, which also examines the man's celebrity and his importance in global history.
The first book to unravel the reasons for the enduring respect and reverence that Muhammad Ali commands long after the end of his athletic career.
Traces the key controversies and significant events, from Ali's first announcement of his membership in the Nation of Islam, through his courageous refusal to fight in Vietnam, to his spiritual calm in the face of crippling disease.
Offers an original and compelling theory of the celebrity in postmodern society.

With an introduction by Salman Rushdie and an afterword by the author. It was the night of February 25, 1964. A cloud of cigar smoke drifted through the ring lights. Cassius Clay threw punches into the gray floating haze and waited for the bell. When Cassius Clay burst onto the sports scene in the 1950s, he broke the mould. He changed the world of sports and went on to change the world itself: from his early fights as Cassius Clay, the young, wiry man from Louisville, unwilling to play the noble and grateful warrior in a white world, to becoming Muhammad Ali, the voice of black America and the most recognized face on the planet. King of the World is the story of an incredible rise to power, a book of battles fought inside the ring and out. With grace and power, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Remnick tells of a transcendent athlete and entertainer, a rapper before rap was born. Ali was a mirror of his era, a dynamic figure in the racial and cultural clashes of his time and King of the World is a classic piece of non-fiction and a book worthy of America's most dynamic modern hero.

Christian Giudice tells the story of Duran's extraordinary life both in and out of the ring. He has interviewed the fighter himself, his family and closest friends and scores of his opponents to separate the truth from myth and get to the heart of one of the most intriguing sports stars of modern times.

No city in the world is more associated with boxing than New York. So take a ringside seat on the city's greatest ever fight nights. Join the roaring crowds at iconic venues including Madison Square Garden, the Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds and the Long Island Bowl - in the company of boxing historian Thomas Myler. Soak up the atmosphere and enjoy all the inside stories, including the riot following the Riddick Bowe-Andrew Golota farce, and the human buzzsaw that was Henry Armstrong against Barney Ross. James J Braddock shocked the boxing world to become boxing's 'Cinderella Man' by taming Max Baer, while Tommy Farr upset all predictions by staying 15 rounds with the feared Joe Louis. New York Fight Nights is a wide-ranging, exciting trip through boxing history which enables you to follow Floyd Patterson's historic battle with Ingmar Johansson, to witness Randolph Turpin's tragic downfall against Carl Bobo Olson - and the Harry Greb-Mickey Walker slugfest that continued outside on the sidewalk.

This book constitutes the first full volume dedicated to an academic analysis of the sport of boxing as depicted in British film. Through close textual analysis, production and reception histories and readings that establish social, cultural and political contexts, the book explores the ways in which prizefighters, amateur boxers, managers and supporters (from Regency gentry to East End gangsters) are represented on the British screen. Exploring a complex and controversial sport, it addresses not only the pain-versus-reward dilemma that boxing necessarily engenders, but also the frequently censorious attitude of those in authority, with boxing's social development facilitating a wider study around issues of class, gender and race, latterly contesting the whole notion of 'Britishness'. Varying in scope from Northern circuit comedies to London-based 'ladsploitation' films, from auteur entries by Alfred Hitchcock to programme fillers by E.J. Fancey, the boxing film also serves as a prism through which one can trace major historical shifts in the British film industry.

Boxing On This Day revisits the sport's most magical moments, from title tear-ups, shocks and famous knockouts to bizarre dramas. Here are hundreds of ring highlights, all mixed in with a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable boxing diary - with an entry for every day of the year. It's not just the stunning punches and smart one-liners that makes the history of the fight game so absorbing. Boxing is never far from controversy or hyperbole, surviving fixes and numerous scandals while producing some of sport's most famous names from Dempsey to Louis, from Ali to Tyson, from Lennox Lewis to Floyd Mayweather Jr. As well as recalling heroic, controversial, funny, tragic and surreal events, Boxing On This Day benefits from brilliant research, gathering together many original stories in a concise history of boxing from the 19th century to 2015.

Glyn Rhodes MBE has devoted his life to boxing. Since wandering into the world-famous St Thomas' gym in Sheffield as a directionless teenager, he has spent more than 40 years working inside and outside the ropes. Cognisant of how this hardest of sports both saved and brutalised him, he is now ready to tell his story. Rhodes' reflections offer fresh perspectives on the likes of Naseem Hamed, Johnny Nelson, Herol Graham, Clinton Woods, the British Boxing Board of Control, plus his complicated relationship with the iconic Brendan Ingle. He reveals how boxing lifted him from his childhood on Sheffield council estates to royal appointments and financial security. Yet ultimately, the sport that gave him so much nearly broke him, causing him to seek psychiatric help. As boxing continues to attract both support and condemnation, Rhodes' story shows how the sport's defenders and detractors suffer the same delusion. You cannot truly love or hate boxing, because it is such different things, at different times, to different people.

The world heavyweight championship once transcended boxing and conferred global renown. This book gives detailed coverage to five legendary championship bouts that captivated audiences worldwide. Coaxed out of retirement by the press, former champ James Jeffries challenged black titleholder Jack JohnsonaEURO"universally despised by white audiencesaEURO"in 1910, in hopes of returning the title to the white race. In 1921, dapper World War I hero and light-heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier hoped to upset heavyweight champ Jack Dempsey, widely considered a draft-dodger, in a fight that garnered the first "million dollar gate." In perhaps the most politically charged bout ever, "Brown Bomber" Joe Louis, popular with both the white and black America, faced Nazi Germany's Max SchmelingaEURO"the first ever to win the title by disqualificationaEURO"at a sold-out Yankee stadium in 1936. A relentless brawler, undefeated Rocky Marciano in 1952 sought to bludgeon the title away from the stronger and savvier Joe Walcott, at 38 the oldest heavyweight champ in history. In a monumental clash of two undefeated world champions, Muhammad AliaEURO"on the comeback trail after his title was stripped from him for refusing to be drafted during the Vietnam WaraEURO"squared off with titleholder Joe Frazier in 1971.

Randy Gordon has spent over 40 years in the world of professional boxing, as a broadcaster, ring announcer, New York State's athletic commissioner, editor of The Ring magazine, and host of SiriusXM Radio's At the Fights. No one else has ever seen the sport from so many different angles and from such lofty seats. In Glove Affair: My Lifelong Journey in the World of Professional Boxing, Gordon recounts never-before-heard stories of the boxing industry and offers insights into some of its most famous figures, including Hall-of-Famers Bert Sugar, Alexis Arguello, Bob Arum, and Mike Tyson. With the perspective only an insider can offer, Gordon also reflects on his times with Muhammad Ali-including the champ's mind-dazzling magic tricks and his thoughts on the "Thrilla' in Manila"-and provides a glimpse into the boxing commissioner's office with stories of a wild and fiery hearing and a commission employee's betrayal of the agency. From his days as a wheelchair bound, severely injured boy in 1959 to the most-widely-listened-to boxing talk show host on the radio, Gordon recalls his life story with passion, humor, and love. More than just another book on the Sweet Science, Glove Affair is a journey through the world of boxing through the eyes of a man who has seen it all.

Drink, drugs, depression, sex scandals, financial meltdowns and serious health issues are just some of the fights British boxers have faced once they've quit the ring. A Champion's Last Fight examines just why and exactly how some of Britain's greatest boxers have self-destructed in retirement. It tells the stories of former world champions who have struggled in life away from the spotlights and the glare that comes with boxing success; delving into the post-boxing lives and tribulations of Benny Lynch, Randolph Turpin, Freddie Mills, Ken Buchanan, John Conteh, Alan Minter, Charlie Magri, Frank Bruno, Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank, Naseem Hamed, Scott Harrison, Herbie Hide, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. With interviews and new revelations, A Champion's Last Fight is an emotional journey through boxing history that examines the struggles many former champions experience after hanging up the gloves - and asks what, if anything, can be done to help the nation's boxing greats adjust to life away from the ring?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Winner of the 2018 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing Winner of The Times Sports Biography of the Year The definitive biography of an American icon, from a best-selling author with unique access to Ali's inner circle. "As Muhammad Ali's life was an epic of a life so Ali: A Life is an epic of a biography . . . for pages in succession its narrative reads like a novel--a suspenseful novel with a cast of vivid characters." -- Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times Book Review Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Clay in racially segregated Louisville, Kentucky, the son of a sign painter and a housekeeper. He went on to become a heavyweight boxer with a dazzling mix of power and speed, a warrior for racial pride, a comedian, a preacher, a poet, a draft resister, an actor, and a lover. Millions hated him when he changed his religion, changed his name, and refused to fight in the Vietnam War. He fought his way back, winning hearts, but at great cost. Jonathan Eig, hailed by Ken Burns as one of America's master storytellers, sheds important new light on Ali's politics, religion, personal life, and neurological condition through unprecedented access to all the key people in Ali's life, more than 500 interviews and thousands of pages of previously unreleased FBI and Justice Department files and audiotaped interviews from the 1960s. Ali: A Life is a story about America, about race, about a brutal sport, and about a courageous man who shook up the world.

THE PHENOMENAL MEMOIR OF A NATIONAL TREASURE After Kellie Harrington won gold at the Tokyo Olympics, the Irish public recognized her as not merely a sporting hero, but a deeply inspirational human being. Now, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely journey to the top, and of the many obstacles and setbacks she overcame along the way. Growing up in Dublin's north inner city, Kellie was in danger of going down the wrong path in life before she discovered boxing. The local boxing club was all-male and initially wouldn't let her join, but she persisted. She was not an overnight success. For years she struggled in international competition. At times she felt unsupported by the national boxing set-up. More than once she considered giving up the sport. But some spark of ambition and love for boxing kept her going, and gradually she made herself world class. Writing with Roddy Doyle, the award-winning author of The Commitments, Kellie tells the story of her unlikely rise to greatness and her continuing dedication to living a normal life - which has involved remaining an amateur boxer and keeping the job she loves, at a Dublin psychiatric hospital. She shares exceptionally vivid and revealing details about being a woman in a historically male sport, and about how she manages her body and her mind. It is a vastly inspiring look inside the life and psychology of a woman who is both brilliantly ordinary and utterly exceptional.

The knock-out Sunday Times bestseller from BBC Sport Personality of the Year nominee, the People's Champion and Gypsy King: Tyson Fury ________________________________________ PICK YOURSELF UP OFF THE CANVAS. TRANSFORM YOUR BODY AND MIND. MAKE YOUR COMEBACK. ________________________________________ 'Tyson's story ranks as one of the greatest comebacks ever. Not just in sport.' Telegraph 'Full of tips on getting physically and mentally fitter ... a great antidote to battling lockdown blues.' Evening Standard From weighing twenty-eight stone and fighting a deep depression, to his amazing return to heavyweight champion of the world, Tyson opens up and share his inspiring advice and tips on diet, exercise regime, and his incredible journey back to a healthier body and mind. Frank, accessible and inspiring, The Furious Method is a feel-good and motivating tonic, full of inspirational advice for readers on how we can all improve our physical and mental health. And how we can all create a champion mind-set. Whatever your starting point or past set-backs, Tyson will show you how you can make your own comeback and start living your life to the fullest - fighting fit, mentally restored, and stronger than ever. ________________________________________ 'King of the ring ... king of how to make a regime work for you. [Passes] on the message without preaching, without lecturing' Chris Evans 'It's a very positive book, it's got some incredible things in here ... [this] book will help so many people' Roman Kemp 'A number of very useful tips ... A great example to anyone' Phillip Schofield 'It's a very open, honest book ... I think the advice in it is great.' Susanna Reid 'It's a great read ... a great book' Piers Morgan 'There's great humour in the book ... This is my favourite interview we've ever done' Holly Willoughby 'Inspirational ... must-have gift for Christmas' Alan Brazil 'The Furious Method is a feel-good and motivating tonic, full of inspirational advice for readers on how we can all improve our physical and mental health.' The Sportsman

THE STORY BEHIND THE WOMAN WHO CHANGED THE FACE OF BOXING FOREVER, OBE NICOLA ADAMS At London 2012, Nicola Adams made history when she became the first woman ever to win an Olympic Gold medal for boxing. In Rio 2016, with the nation cheering her on, she did it all over again. Years of relentless training, fundraising and determination have seen Nicola battle through injury, prejudice and defeat to become one of Britain best-loved athletes and an inspiration to all those who are chasing after a seemingly impossible dream. From a leisure centre in Leeds to the Olympic Stadium in Rio, Nicola with her famous smile has become an LGBTQ+ icon and the poster girl for women in sport. This is her story of grit, talent and the real person behind the smile. Nicola is soon to be a contestant on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in the show's first same-sex pairing. ____________________ WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NICOLA: 'One book every woman or girl should read' Reader Review 'Fascinating to see how Nicola and her family had to fight to get women's boxing recognised' Reader Review 'Nicola tells this story from the heart, very honest, very open' Reader Review 'The positivity, strength, determination of Nicola is uplifting. I really appreciated how she fought for women's rights to do boxing' Reader Review

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AND AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR 'Tyson Fury is an amazing real-life champion' - Sylvester Stallone, star of Rocky 'The People's Champion' - Times 'A boxing phenomenon...the anarchic and enormous sports star may prove to be the last of the boxing greats' - John Sutherland, The Times Son. Father. Husband. Brother. Fighter. Showman. Mental health champion. Told with unflinching honesty and rock-star charisma, Gloves Off by Tyson Fury is the autobiography of a sporting icon, the like of which we may never see again. The undefeated heavyweight champion Tyson Fury looks back on his life and career to understand his remarkable rise, fall, and rise again, which has seen him journey from the brink of suicide to boxing immortality, culminating in his sensational knockout victory against Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium in front of a record-breaking 94,000 fans. Tyson's book reveals surprising and personal new sides to his character: he opens up about his fairy-tale romance with beloved wife Paris, and their down-to-earth life raising six beautiful children. He describes how his Traveller upbringing forged him, and how his fighting family, including dad John and his brothers, have sustained him. In the process, Tyson discusses his mental health and weight battles, his faith and his greatest boxing experiences. He discloses deeply moving new stories: in the weeks before the biggest fight of his career, Tyson was sleeping on a hospital floor in intensive care tending to his baby daughter, Athena, who was born premature and fighting for her life. Funny, frank and never less than entertaining, this is Tyson Fury at his very best, as you have never read before.

Boxing is not just fighting," writes Carlo Rotella. "It is also training and living right and preparing to go the distance in the broadest sense of the phrase, a relentless managing of self that anyone who gets truly old must learn." Rotella's "Cut Time" chronicles his immersion in the fight world, from the brutal classroom of the gym to the spectacle of fight night. An award-winning writer and ringside veteran, Rotella unearths the hidden wisdom in any kind of fight, from barroom brawl to HBO extravaganza. Tracing the consequences of hurt and craft, the two central facts of boxing, Rotella reveals moving resonances between the worlds inside and outside the ropes. The brief, disastrous fistic career of one of his students pinpoints the moment when adulthood arrives; the hard-won insight of a fellow fan shows Rotella how to reckon with a car crash. Mismatches, resilience, pride, pain, and aging - Rotella's lessons from the ring extend far beyond the sport. In "Cut Time", Rotella achieves the near-impossible: he makes the fight world relevant to us, whether we're fans or not.

The undisputed heavyweight champion of boxing books, at a knockout price
""This is not a book. This is a monument on paper, the most megalomaniacal book in the history of civilization, the biggest, heaviest, most radiant thing ever printed - Ali's last victory." -- Der Spiegel," Hamburg"
"Universally acclaimed as the greatest sportsman of the modern era, someone who transformed not just his sport but the cultural status of athletes everywhere, Muhammad Ali still towers over the "sweet science" of boxing, more than three decades after announcing his retirement. Acknowledged as one of the most remarkable personalities of our time and undoubtedly the most popular sporting personality ever, his status as the finest heavyweight champion to grace a ring is beyond all doubt.
To honor this living legend, TASCHEN created an epic book, as powerful and vibrant as the man himself, a phenomenal artefact that reflects the scale of Ali's many achievements: "GREATEST OF ALL TIME- A TRIBUTE TO MUHAMMAD ALI "is a book with the power, courage, depth, creativity and dazzling energy of its extraordinary subject. Containing thousands of images--photography, art and memorabilia--from over 100 photographers and artists, 2 gatefold sequences, original essays as well as the best interviews and writing of the last five decades round off the picture of the Champ, this monumental publication is finally available in an affordable, unlimited edition.
Today, seven years after the publication of GOAT, we are proud to publish this affordable edition at last so that Ali's genius can be shared with the widest possible audience. Smaller in size but not in impact, this new version brings the people's champ to the people.

Has everything been said about Muhammad Ali, once the most famous man in the world? No. There is one special bout that has, over time, been largely overlooked, where both the fight and shenanigans surrounding it have never been fully examined. In early 1970, a fight involving Ali was avoided by just about every city in America - until Atlanta in Georgia decided to take a chance. They proposed an Ali fight with 'Great White Hope' Jerry Quarry. The comparison of Ali's comeback bout with that of 'Great White Hope' Jim Jeffries and his return against Jack Johnson in 1910 was unavoidable. Atlanta, once fertile soil for the racism, was inundated with objections when a prize fight involving Ali, a black Muslim draft evader facing a possible five-year prison sentence, was planned. When the 'Black Mecca' of the South eventually put on the fight it attracted not only Ali's legion of die-hard fans but also every echelon of African American society. They came together to witness the return of their fighting hero, but for some unlucky ringside spectators the party spirit was soon replaced by anger, empty pockets and rumours of deadly retribution. An after-party became the scene of perhaps one of the biggest and most brazen armed robberies in Atlanta's history. Ali's life would be forever linked to the city that reintroduced him to the ring. Twenty-six years later, the same city and same fighter would come together in one of the most memorable moments in sporting history, when Ali lit the Olympic flame in front of the whole world.