It's 2011 and an elderly man living alone in Massachusetts finds a box while organizing his vast boxing memorabilia collection. The contents take his fading memory back fifty years to a gym he once operated called A Puncher's Chance and its storied past, including World Champion Salvador Jimenez. When a friend happens by, the old man takes the opportunity to retell his story. Over the next several days his surprisingly vivid recollection of the champ enthralls his friend, as he switches from past to present and back again. A tragedy occurs before the surprise ending that really packs a punch. About the Author Edwin Ayala is an aspiring new author who lives in southern Massachusetts with his wife and family. After being stricken with an extremely rare neurological condition, choreoacanthocytosis (or CA), after ten years he was forced to retire in 2008 from UPS after nineteen years of service. At age forty-three, he decided to pursue his dream of becoming an author despite the limitations of CA. The condition is so rare that little information on this disease is available, but here is a brief synopsis: CA has no cure and its cause is not definitively known. Difficult to diagnose, its symptoms include fatigue, loss of speech, loss of weight due to involuntary biting of the cheeks and tongue, difficulty in swallowing, and involuntary muscle movement. To learn more about this progressive disease, visit http: //www.rareconnect.org. Publisher's website: http: //www.sbpra.com/EdwinAyala

Trials to Triumph is the autobiography of Arthur "Flash" Johnson. Journey with him through his physical and spiritual bouts, as he grows from poverty in East Saint Louis to prominence in the Olympic boxing ring. Sit with him as fights Leukemia in the quietness of the hospital room long after the crowds are gone, and be inspired by his faith in God, which brought him from Trials to Triumph time and time again.

Charlie Magri is one of the most popular boxers ever to have stepped into the ring. The exuberance and energy of the former WBC Flyweight Champion earned him a core of dedicated fans and, throughout his career, his determination and his ability to overcome adversity inspired all those who watched him. At last, one of boxing's most deserving legends has decided to tell all about his amazing life in this, his own true story. As a young boy Magri's exceptional promise as a boxer became apparent when he fought for Stepney's Arbour Youth Club. His impressive start as a Junior ABA Champion earned Charlie a reputation and, when he became a fully fledged senior fighter, he experienced what he describes as the best two years of his life. In 1974, he was unbeaten domestically, he won the ABA and then he took home the silver medal in the European Under-21 Championships. These victories cemented his determination to remain a winner. It was only a matter of time before Magri turned professional and, with legendary manager Terry Lawless as his mentor, he went on to become the British Flyweight Champion. Having secured the European crown, Magri set his sights on conquering the world. In March 1983, he entered the ring at Wembley and defeated Eleoncio Mercedes inside seven rounds to become the WBC World Flyweight Champion...and the legend of 'Champagne Charlie' was born. In this exciting and revealing autobiography, Charlie Magri tells of his childhood, growing up on a tough estate in the East End of London. He describes how his height and his name made him stand out from the crowd at school and how, from an early age, he learned to defend himself with his fists. He tells of the early days of his career and how his passion for boxing kept him off the street and out of the local gangs. He speaks of his amazing triumphs and, conversley, his heart-breaking defeats and how he has struggled to come to terms with life after boxing. What shines through his whole story is Charlie's enthusiasm for life, sense of humour nad genuine concern for others. This heart-warming tale of a man's passion for his sport and desire to win is a must read for any boxing fan and will make you laugh and cry in equal measure.

In the second round of a defense of his IBF super featherweight world championship, Tony "The Tiger" Lopez felt the elbow of challenger John Molina slam into his eye. The impact of the accidental shot shattered his orbital bone and jammed Lopez's eyeball back into its socket. Swelling immediately sealed the eye, a problem made worse when, in the next round, Molina opened a cut over Lopez's other eye. The notoriously gritty champ fought seven more rounds that night in Sacramento before losing his title by TKO -- a story typical of those you'll read in "A Puncher's Chance: Amazing Tales from The Ringside Boxing Show." This is the first of a series of books chronicling the strange-but-true lives of some of the greatest boxers and boxing personalities of all time -- yarns spun in their own words during live interviews on The Ringside Boxing Show, a weekly radio program that originates from Monterey, California and streams worldwide. Prepare to be astonished by more than a dozen of the most remarkable and improbable stories ever told about the brutal and astonishing sport known as "The Sweet Science."

Praises for Granville Ampong from Fellow Credentialed Journalists "Granville Ampong has opened a new frontier in "sportswriting." His unique style, backed up by his passion to be good and yet different, separates him from the pack." Ed de la Vega, DDS --Graduate of the University of Southern California School of Dentistry; Restorative, Cosmetic and Sports Dentist. Part-time boxing writer & photo-journalist; Multi-state licensed boxing & MMA cut-man and maker of custom-designed World Mouthguards "Granville Ampong is like a baseball umpire who calls them as he uniquely sees them. If the pitch is down the middle, this writer calls it a strike. If it is high and wide, off the mark, he says so in plain language. Ampong admires the Great Man Pacquiao, yes, but he is no idol worshipper. If you want fluff and rump-kissing, look elsewhere. Ampong serves up his views and observations straight, no chaser. He is always a good, informative read." --- Michael Marley, Esq. from the Law Offices of Michael Marley in New York "Granville Ampong brings an honesty in his writings on Manny Pacquiao, conqueror of the American heartlands. The author has always seen the Filipino hero with a clarity which says as much about the writer, as it does the fighter. It is a chapter in history which in later years will be remembered as ground-breaking. These essays will form a part of that history." --- Gareth A Davies, The Telegraph, London "Granville Ampong's passion and dedication to the sport of boxing are easily recognized in the tone of his work. While the true journalism and pure objectivism that he demonstrates invite both acclaim and criticism, he continues to report the truth, and only the truth, exactly as he sees it." ---Lorne Scoggins, Fort Smith Boxing Examiner and Associate Pastor of Christian Lighthouse Church in Springdale, Arkansas C.S. Granville, also known as Countryman Simeon Granville, was born Simeon Granville Tolo Hayag Vergara Ampong. He is also the book author of "May Your Name Be Sealed" and "Yahweh, the Faithful One," both will be in the circulation soon. A credentialed journalist and a syndicated political columnist in the U. S., he is noted among boxing aficionados, fans and political thinkers for his challenging insights. He writes for The Western Center for Journalism in the U.S. He has also been an active contributor of Examiner.com and other media outlets. Dozens of his best articles are jam-packed with meat and best regarded as reliable sources for broadcast information and for several broadsheets and internet publications. He won first place in the International Speech Contest in 2000 which was held at the Ron Hubbard Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.

Tom Lotta was army lightweight champion 1944-1945. Tom fought 48 times, losing twice on decisions. One of those losses was to Joe Brown who later became the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Tom wrote this book to introduce basic boxing skills that are concise enough and simple enough for youngsters. This book is also the official instruction manual for the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame.

Boxing was popular in the American West long before Las Vegas became its epicenter. However, not everyone in the region was a fan. Counterpunch examines how the sport's meteoric rise in popularity in the West ran concurrently with a growing backlash among Progressive Era social reformers who saw boxing as barbaric. These tensions created a morality war that pitted state officials against city leaders, boxing promoters against social reformers, and fans against religious groups. Historian Meg Frisbee focuses on several legendary heavyweight prizefights of the period and the protests they inspired to explain why western geography, economy, and culture ultimately helped the sport's supporters defeat its detractors. A fascinating look at early American boxing, Counterpunch showcases fighters such as "Gentleman" Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, and Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champ, and it provides an entertaining way to understand both the growth of the American West and the history of this popular-and controversial-sport.

"Lineage Unbroken" is a boxing guide book covering the enitre lineal tracing of heavyweight boxing champions since Archie Moore's first fight in 1956, after his drastic loss to Rocky Marciano that previous year, in what was Marciano's last fight ever, and spanning up through the time to Lennox Lewis' last fight in 2003, when he would become just the third person ever, after both Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano, to retire as the lineal, undisputed haevyweight champion of the world Also included in this book, are the lineage tracings of the Cruiserweight championship division, from its inception in 1979 all the way up through to when that division's first undisputed champion, Evander Holyfield, successfully became undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, thus unyfying that division into the heavyweight one; and also the light-heavyweight championship division, from 1956 through 1985, when that division's undisputed champion, Michael Spinks, successfully became the heavyweight champion of the world, thus absorbing that division into the heavyweight championship one. A half-a-century, 450 glorious fights, and one amazing era, all in one incredible book, beginning with Archie Moore, and ending with Lennox Lewis, this is "Lineage Unbroken: The Complete Lineal Tracing of World Heavyweight Championship Boxing (Post-Marciano Era) 1956 - 2003."

What was Muhammad Ali really like? Award winning photojournalist Michael Gaffney captures a rare insider's view of Ali's world as his personal photographer in 1977-1978. THE CHAMP is a journey with one of the most extraordinary treasures in our lifetime, Muhammad Ali, The Greatest. These stories - poignant, hilarious and authentic - reveal Ali's true courageous heart and go far beyond his glories in the ring. THE CHAMP is a perfect trilogy in the legendary fighter's career: a tough win against Earnie Shavers, a shocking loss of the World Heavyweight Championship to Leon Spinks, and a glorious redemptive comeback victory against Spinks to win the title for an unprecedented third time. THE CHAMP sustains the legacy of Muhammad Ali who continues to inspire millions and make the world a better place. "Congratulations to you, Michael Gaffney. THE CHAMP is one helluva achievement and one helluva book." BERT RANDOLPH SUGAR, Hall of Fame Boxing Historian

In 1923, not long after oil had started gushing from northern Montana fields, real-estate sales in nearby Shelby were declining, dimming the little town's prospects of becoming the "Tulsa of the West." Then the mayor's son dreamed up a marketing ploy: offer to host heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's next fight. What began as a publicity stunt soon spiraled into a civic drama unlike any Montana had ever seen-or ever would again. Shelby's Folly tells this story in full for the first time. Against the background of boom-and-bust Montana history, the folly of Shelby's would-be promoters unfolds in colorful detail. It took months to persuade Dempsey's conniving manager, Jack "Doc" Kearns, to sign a $300,000 contract. With less than two months before the July 4th fight, the town still had no stadium and no accommodations for tens of thousands of expected fans. Jason Kelly describes the promoters' desperate measures and their disastrous results, from the first inkling of the idea to the bitter end of the fifteen-round boxing match. Shelby residents identified with the underdog challenger, Tommy Gibbons, who went toe-to-toe with the champion in an atmosphere crackling with tension. Nerves were so frayed that a holiday firecracker exploding in the arena sent shockwaves of fear through the crowd. A soap opera of financial intrigue and chicanery, Shelby's Folly chronicles how Big Sky ambition and the scheming mind of Doc Kearns collided to produce one of the most preposterous series of events in boxing history. Watch the Shelby's Folly book trailer on YouTube.

The definitive biography of one of the twentieth century's greatest sports figures Joe Louis defended his heavyweight boxing title an astonishing twenty-five times and reigned as world champion for more than eleven years. He got more column inches of newspaper coverage in the 1930s than FDR did. His racially and politically charged defeat of Max Schmeling in 1938 made Louis a national hero. But as important as his record is what he meant to African-Americans: at a time when the boxing ring was the only venue where black and white could meet on equal terms, Louis embodied all their hopes for dignity and equality. Through meticulous research and first-hand interviews, acclaimed historian and biographer Randy Roberts presents Louis, and his impact on sport and country, in a way never before accomplished. Roberts reveals an athlete who carefully managed his public image, and whose relationships with both the black and white communities-including his relationships with mobsters-were far more complex than the simplistic accounts of heroism and victimization that have dominated previous biographies. Richly researched and utterly captivating, this extraordinary biography presents the full range of Joe Louis's power in and out of the boxing ring.

When a homeless alcoholic boxer wakes up in a Tasmanian Neuro-Trauma ward with a fractured skull, doctors inform him he won't be able to box or drink alcohol ever again. Though he's now having seizures and in excruciating pain, that's not an option for this thirsty pugilist. While in hospital, he has no visitors or phone calls because nobody it seems has contacted his family. No one is willing to help him find out who attacked him on the cold dark streets of Hobart, they say he probably fell over drunk, but this old tramp knows different and is determined to find out who the perpetrator was. The Hobo refuses to give in to the prejudice of society's laws and is determined to get well and fight again. After all, he took up boxing to keep off the grog.

Boxing lost a true warrior and gentleman of the ring when the mayor of Managua, Nicaragua, Alexis Argüello, died in 2009. To millions in Nicaragua and around the world, Argüello was an iconic figure, a willing role model, and a shining light in a nation that places its sports figures on pedestals. Beloved Warrior explores the extraordinary rise, fall, and rebirth of this great fighter. With a career that began in 1968 in Managua, Argüello overcame early losses, including a knockout in his debut. He went on to win three world titles, relinquishing them only by moving up in weight class. While boxing until 1995 and reaping luxury and fame, Argüello never forgot his people. Using his skills and power, "El Flaco Explosivo" (The Explosive Thin Man) earned his lofty status as one of the most celebrated Latin American boxers ever. While Argüello's devotion to the sport cannot be challenged, questions about the man still remain. How did he rise from the streets of Managua to become one of the greatest fighters in the world? What happened to him after he fought Aaron Pryor, whom many considered the greatest 140-pounder in history? How was he affected by his time spent fighting against the Sandinistas? And finally, what is the story behind his mysterious death less than eight months after he won Managua's mayoral election? Despite Argüello’s notorious losses to Pryor, his remarkable career as an unforgettable fighter lives on in his fans’ memories. As Christian Giudice illustrates, Argüello’s status as a hero both in and out of the ring will forever remain intact.

Distinction Earned highlights the accomplishments of significant Cape Breton fighters like George "Rockabye" Ross (about who MacDougall has also penned a play), Tyrone Gardiner, Blair Richardson and Francis "Rocky" MacDougall and trainers like Johnny Nemis. Between 1965 and 1967 five national boxing champions in different weight classes were from Cape Breton. Paul MacDougall has collected dozens of interviews from participants, enthusiasts and their heirs, from which has evolved this account of an amazing sporting record. The book's title is taken from a citation of Cape Breton boxers at a Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame investiture.

This early guide to the history of boxing is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. It will prove of great interest to the present day boxer and historian of the sport. Illustrated with black and white drawings. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Peter Maher, a Galway born, and Dublin reared fighter, laid a strong claim on sport's greatest prize, The Heavyweight Championship of the world, in the 1890's. For over ten years he was a top contender and his popularity was such that he was arguably the most famous sportsman in America at the turn of the Twentieth century. This popularity stemmed from his prodigious punching power, good looks and affable, good-natured and easy-going manner.
He mixed with everybody from Presidents like Teddy Roosevelt and William McKinley to Wild West icons Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Judge Roy Bean and a multitude in between. Yet today he is virtually unknown except to the anoraks of the boxing world. This book attempts to address this situation. It traces his career from the amateur days in Dublin, deals with all his big fights in the United States and the famous contest for the World Title against Bob Fitzsimmons in Mexico. It charts his downward spiral until his death in 1940 in Baltimore. The book also contains a records section where the career records of some forty of his opponents are published, some for the first time and most at least revised with corrections and additions. The book also contains many photographs from the period and attempts by the use of contemporaneous newspaper reports to accurately portray the man and his times.

"Knockout: The Boxer and Boxing in American Cinema" is the first book-length study of the Hollywood boxing film, a popular movie entertainment since the 1930s, that includes such classics as "Million Dollar Baby," "Rocky," and "Raging Bull." The boxer stands alongside the cowboy, the gangster, and the detective as a character that shaped America's ideas of manhood. Leger Grindon relates the Hollywood boxing film to the literature of Jack London, Ernest Hemingway, and Clifford Odets; the influence of ring champions, particularly Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali; and controversies surrounding masculinity, race, and sports.

"Knockout" breaks new ground in film genre study by focusing on the fundamental dramatic conflicts uniting both documentary and fictional films with compelling social concerns. The boxing film portrays more than the rise and fall of a champion; it exposes the body in order to reveal the spirit. Not simply a brute, the screen boxer dramatizes conflicts and aspirations central to an American audience's experience. This book features chapters on the conventions of the boxing film, the history of the genre and its relationship to famous ring champions, and self-contained treatments of thirty-two individual films including a chapter devoted to Raging Bull.