|
|
Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Combat sports & self-defence > Boxing
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?
Held on June 22, 1938, in Yankee Stadium, the second
Louis-Schmeling fight sparked excitement around the globe. For all
its length-the fight lasted but two minutes-it remains one of the
most memorable events in boxing history and, indeed, one of the
most significant sporting events ever. In this superb account,
Lewis A. Erenberg offers a vivid portrait of Joe Louis, Max
Schmeling, their individual careers, and their two epic fights,
shedding light on what these fighters represented to their nations,
and why their second bout took on such international importance.
Erenberg shows how in the first fight Schmeling shocked everyone
with a dramatic twelfth-round knockout of Louis, becoming a German
national hero and a (unwilling) symbol of Aryan superiority. In
fact, the second fight was seen around the world in symbolic
terms-as a match between Nazism and American democracy. Erenberg
discusses how Louis' dramatic first-round victory was a devastating
blow to Hitler, who turned on Schmeling and, during the war, had
the boxer (then serving as a paratrooper) sent on a series of
dangerous missions. Louis, meanwhile, went from being a hero of his
race-"Our Joe"-to the first black champion embraced by all
Americans, black and white, an important step forward in United
States race relations. Erenberg also describes how, after the war,
the two boxers became symbols of German-American reconciliation.
With Schmeling as a Coca Cola executive, and Louis down on his
luck, the former foes became friends, and when Louis died,
Schmeling helped pay for his funeral. Here then is a stirring and
insightful account of one of the great moments in boxing history, a
confrontation that provided global theater on an epic scale.
When French sociologist Loic Wacquant signed up at a boxing gym in
a black neighborhood of Chicago's South Side, he had never
contemplated getting close to a ring, let alone climbing into it.
Yet for three years he immersed himself among local fighters,
amateur and professional. He learned the Sweet science of bruising,
participating in all phases of the pugilist's strenuous
preparation, from shadow-boxing drills to sparring to fighting in
the Golden Gloves tournament. In this experimental ethnography of
incandescent intensity, the scholar-turned-boxer dissects the
making of prizefighters and supplies a model for a "carnal
sociology" capable of capturing "the taste and ache of action."
Body & Soul marries the analytic rigor of the sociologist with
the stylistic grace of the novelist to offer a compelling portrait
of a bodily craft and of life and labor in the black American
ghetto at century's end, but also a revealing tale of self
transformation and social transcendence. And, by fleshing out
Pierre Bourdieu's signal concept of habitus, it deepens our
theoretical grasp of human practice.
"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.
Abandoned on the streets of Philadelphia at age four, Matthew Saad
Muhammad (1954-2014) survived orphanages, street gangs and prison
to become one of the most exciting prizefighters of boxing's last
Golden Age of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Time and again he
battled back from the brink of defeat to win against the best
fighters of the era. His victory over Marvin Johnson for the WBC
Light Heavyweight Championship was described by one veteran boxing
writer as the only fight he covered where it seemed both fighters
might die. He fought not just for wealth and fame but to discover
his identity--he had no idea who he was, where came from or what
happened to his parents. This book reveals the full story of
"Miracle Matthew" and how he became one of Philadelphia's great
ring legends.
Nothing to lose...When nineteen-year-old Tommy Carter throws away a
promising career as a professional boxer to work for local villain
Davey Abbott, everyone thinks he's made a huge mistake - collecting
debts and working in strip clubs is no life for a young lad just
starting out in life. Everything to gain. A brutal fighter, Tommy
quickly earns a reputation for himself - feared and respected by
everyone - and becomes Davey's trusted right-hand man. But when
Davey is murdered Tommy is shocked to learn that Davey has left his
business empire to him - Tommy's the boss now. No one believes
Tommy will succeed. But there is only one rule Tommy lives
by...always back the underdog. Because Tommy is on the way up. This
book was previously published as Barking Boy. Another gripping
gangland read by Kerry Kaya. Perfect for fans of Kimberley
Chambers, Martina Cole, Heather Atkinson and Caz Finlay.
“Rahaman has, at last, written the definitive biography on his
late brother, which tells the real Ali story.” —Mike Tyson More
words have been written about Muhammad Ali than almost anyone else.
He was, without doubt, the world’s most-loved sportsman. At the
height of his celebrity he was the most famous person in the world.
And yet, until now, the one voice missing belonged to the man who
knew him best—his only sibling, and best friend, Rahaman Ali. No
one was closer to Ali than Rahaman. Born Cassius and Rudolph Arnett
Clay, the two brothers grew up together, lived together, trained
together, travelled together, and fought together in the street and
in the ring. A near-constant fixture in his sibling’s company,
Rahaman saw Ali at both his best and his worst: the relentless
prankster and the jealous older brother, the outspoken advocate,
the husband and father. In My Brother, Muhammad Ali, Rahaman offers
an insider's perspective on the well-known stories as well as
never-before-told tales, painting a rich and intimate portrait of a
proud, relentlessly polarizing, yet often vulnerable man. In this
extraordinary, poignant memoir, Rahaman tells a much bigger and
more personal story than in any other book on Muhammad Ali—that
of two brothers, almost inseparable from birth to death. It is the
final and most important perspective on an iconic figure.
|
|