The Greatest Boxing Stories Ever Told

"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.

Are you ready to embark on a thrilling journey through the ropes and into the hearts of fighters, champions, and underdogs? Step into the electrifying world of The Most Incredible Boxing Stories Ever Told and get ready to be knocked out by an adrenaline-pumping literary experience like no other! Boxing's past is rich with remarkable stories, from incredible comebacks and upsets, to fights that captured the entire world's attention. These tales demonstrate powerful lessons about perseverance, courage, and even racial equality. They are incredible examples highlighting the greatest moments in boxing and sports history. Within these pages, you'll find: ● 15 chapters spanning across boxing history that are sure to amaze and inspire you. ● Interesting looks at boxing's most famous names, like Muhammad Ali, Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier, Tyson Fury, Mike Tyson, Manny Pacquiao, and others. ● Detailed descriptions of famous boxing matches that will make you feel like you're ringside watching the events unfold. ● A 'Did you know?' section at the end of every chapter that provides even more facts about boxing's greatest champions. ● An appreciation for boxing's role in world history and its impact on American culture during times of war and injustice. These chapters cover many of the best-known boxing stories, like the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, or the bitter rivalry between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. However, you'll also learn about some lesser-known chapters from boxing history. Learn about Daniel Jacobs' return to the ring after surviving bone cancer, or Billy Miske fighting to his final days to give his family a final Christmas memory. Whether you're a seasoned fight fan or a newcomer to the sport, The Most Incredible Boxing Stories Ever Told is your ringside ticket to the drama, camaraderie, and unforgettable moments that make boxing the stuff of legend. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll cheer for these fighters as they lace up their gloves and face life's toughest challenges. Grab your copy today and step into the world where every punch tells a story!

Boxing has been a part of our history going back centuries. Whether it’s bare knuckle or the pay-per-view fights we see today, it has been a staple in our lives. In Classic Boxing Stories, Paul D. Staudohar has collected work from dozens of writers, telling stories about the sport that has been so important to them. With tales going back 100 years, you will be enthralled in the storytelling and moved by the characters who never quit. Included in this collection are stories from such famous writers as: O. Henry H. C. Winter Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Ring Lardner Jack London P. G. Wodehouse Octavus Roy Cohen And many more! Classic Boxing Stories shows the true grit of this tough and brutal sport. From knockouts to comebacks, these stories will show you why you fell in love with boxing and how this sport has lasted for so long. So tighten your gloves, put in your mouthpiece, and get ready to take on this # 1 contender!

To reach freedom, the most famous escapers of all time have been willing to endure the most horrific conditions—and the direst consequences if caught. The collection of tales in The Greatest Escape Stories Ever Told is gripping as only true life-and-death struggles can be: Papillon fighting through the jungles of Guiana only to commit himself to the open ocean in a sixteen-foot boat rather than face a life in exile; Rocky Gause dodging bullets as he swims through shark-infested waters to escape the Japanese at Bataan, while those around him simply quit; Latude battling against the dreaded Bastille; Baron Trenck—with chains covering almost every inch of his body—digging and digging to free himself from wrongful imprisonment; Andre Devigny, so weak from starvation and poor treatment that he could barely lift himself, shimmying across a rope only yards above a German sentry during World War II on the eve of his execution. These are just a few of the twenty-five bold and ingenious tales of escape included in this collection. The Greatest Escape Stories Ever Told will hold readers captive for years to come!

Throughout history, potters, sculptors, painters, poets, novelists, cartoonists, song-writers, photographers, and filmmakers have recorded and tried to make sense of boxing. From Daniel Mendoza to Mike Tyson, boxers have embodied and enacted our anxieties about race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. In her encyclopedic investigation of the shifting social, political, and cultural resonances of this most visceral of sports, Kasia Boddy throws new light on an elemental struggle for dominance whose weapons are nothing more than fists. Looking afresh at everything from neoclassical sculpture to hip-hop lyrics, Boddy explores the ways in which the history of boxing has intersected with the history of mass media. Boddy pulls no punches, looking to the work of such diverse figures as Henry Fielding and Spike Lee, Charlie Chaplin and Philip Roth, James Joyce and Mae West, Bertolt Brecht and Charles Dickens in an all-encompassing study that tells us just how and why boxing has mattered so much to so many.

Muhammad Ali was perhaps the greatest athlete of the twentieth century. But Ali was never just a boxer; he was a fighter. In Fighting Words, editor Keith McArthur curates the very best writing about Muhammad Ali from his vilification at refusing to go to Vietnam to his re-emergence as a saintly hero at the 1996 Olympics. This collection brings together writing from those who fought against him, those he inspired and from Ali himself. Fighting Words is a must read not just for boxing fans, but for anyone interested in twentieth century America. Featuring writing by: Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, George Chuvalo, James "Quick" Tillis, Ferdie Pacheco, Davis Miller, Victor Bockris, Mike Marqussee, Janaya Khan, Jack Cashill, President Barack Obama and many more!

Easily the most enduring of all sports questions is "Who was/is the best . . . ?" Perhaps in no sport is the question more asked and argued over than in boxing. And in boxing perhaps none is more qualified to answer the question than Bert Randolph Sugar. In Boxing's Greatest Fighters, not only does the former publisher of Ring Magazine tell us who the best fighters were, he lists them in order. Could Sugar Ray Robinson have beaten Muhammad Ali? Could Sugar Ray Leonard have beaten Sonny Liston? The answer, most experts agree, would be "no." But what if, as Bert Sugar has done here, one were to take all the boxers and reduce them in the mind's eye to the same height, the same weight, and the same ring conditions? The answers would be quite different. And while some fans may express outrage that Rocky Marciano barely makes the top twenty, and Marvin Hagler staggers into the top seventy-five, others will nod eagerly when they read that Harry Greb and Benny Leonard were better than just about anybody. So whether you read Boxing's Greatest Fighters cover to cover, pick your favorites at random, or simply browse through the many rare photographs, "at the bell, come out arguing."

A celebration and memorial of the greatest era of heavyweight fighters from 1962 to 1997, as witnessed ringside by an International Boxing Hall of Fame sportswriter. Once upon a time, of all the memories made in ballparks and arenas from California to New York, there was nothing to rival that magic moment that could grab a heavyweight fight crowd by its collective jugular vein and trigger a tsunami of raw emotion before a single punch had even been thrown. That’s the way it was when the heavyweight giants danced in the boxing ring during the golden eras of the greats Ali, Frazier, Holmes, and Spinks, to name a few. There will never again be a heavyweight cycle like the one that began when Sonny Liston stopped Floyd Patterson and ended when Mike Tyson bit a slice out of Evander Holyfield’s ear; when no ersatz drama, smoke, mirrors, and noise followed a fighter’s entry into the ring; when the crowds knew that these men were not actors on a stage but rather giants in a ring with a single purpose—to fight other giants. By the ringside, acclaimed sportswriter Jerry Izenberg watched history as it was being made during those legendary days, witnessing fights like the Thrilla in Manila and the Rumble in the Jungle and preserving them in punchy yet tremendous prose. Delivering both his eyewitness accounts and revelatory back stories of this greatest era of heavyweight boxing, Izenberg invites readers to a place of recollection. Once There Were Giants is his memorial to this extraordinary time, the likes of which we shall never see again.