Zora Folley

The heavyweight boxing scene may have enjoyed its most competitive time period in the decades 1960 to 1980. Champions like Patterson, Liston, Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Holmes roamed the landscape. There were also many legitimate contenders who were more than willing to meet each other to earn a title shot. This led to many entertaining and unforgettable wars that shaped the division. The book Gloves Gone By has focused on the boxers of this era and why they were so much a part of its memorable success.

Henry Cooper is best remembered for the night he nearly changed boxing history - 19 July 1963. Fighting an up-and-coming boxer by the name of Cassius Clay, later to become Muhammad Ali, his famous left hook (known as 'Henry's Hammer') sent Clay crashing onto the canvas. Arguable Britain's greatest ever heavyweight fighter, Cooper won 40 of his 55 professional bouts, beating most of the true boxing greats along the way. His story is littered with famous names - Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and, of course, Ali. But Cooper's retirement from the sport did not spell then end of his time in the public eye, as he embarked on a successful media career. Disaster struck in the 1990s, however, when his innocent involvement in a scandal surrouding insuracne giants Lloyds of London led to him having to sell his unique collection of three Lonsdale belts topay his bills. He was knighted in the millennium New Year's honours list for his services to boxing, and his death in May 2011 sparkd a huge outpouring of tributes from the sporting community. This is the biography of an intriguing character, a great fighter and a true sporting legend.

A number of fighters in boxing history have been considered great over the years. However, it must be said that in some cases their respected claims to greatness do not stand up when closely scrutinised. The same cannot be said of Muhammad Ali. Now this man was a true great, no argument. Ali would often state when in his pomp that he was the greatest of all time. Many experts even today agree with that statement. Ali changed the way the general public viewed the sport. He in fact changed boxing, shook it up in a way that it had never been shaken before. Ali was different, he was special, he talked a good fight, making bold statements prior to his fights which he backed up with his outstanding talent. The man was a master in the ring a craftsman who often overcame the odds when in combat. Ali fought the very best fighters available – he dodged no man, a true champion in every sense of the word, he gave every contender their chance. Ali became the first boxer to win the world heavyweight crown on three different occasions. Whenever heavyweight boxing is discussed, the name Muhammad Ali is mentioned – how can it not be when considering his magnificent record? This book covers the many achievements of the fighter and those associated with him during his long career in an interesting way which fight fans will find informative.

This second collection of the author's 24 exclusive interviews with boxing insiders features some of the most influential personalities in ring history, including former heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield and promoters Don King and Kathy Duva. Other interviewees include trainers Ronnie Shields and Virgil Hunter, former HBO blow-by-blow announcer Jim Lampley, and judge Duane Ford, along with some names perhaps unfamiliar to many of the boxing public who work as driving forces behind the sport.

In stunning photos and insightful text, Ali: The Official Portrait of “The Greatest” of All Time offers a definitive look at the man—and the legend—of Muhammad Ali. “Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them--a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.” –Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali was one of the greatest boxing champions of all time. His skills were unparalleled, and his words have never been forgotten. From his birth in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky, to his first Golden Gloves win to his conversion to Islam and his opposition to the Vietnam War, Ali: The Official Portrait of “The Greatest” of All Time is a complete and fascinating exploration of the man whose legendary motto was “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” Every aspect of the fighter’s life is illustrated with beautiful, full-color photos. And Ali's iconic quotes are inserted throughout to show him from every angle, a portrait of a man whose will was stronger than anyone’s.

This biography of the boxer better known as Muhammad Ali, details the early part of his career, when he was still called Cassius Clay. The book focuses on the action inside the ring, but also spotlights the men who fought Cassius Clay: who they were, where they came from, how they got to fight Clay, and what happened to them. As such, it is a pocket history of heavyweight boxing during the 1960's.

Addressing the relationship between masculinity, war, and violence, this book covers these themes broadly and across different disciplines. These analyses are located at different levels: public policies at the macro level; resistance and independence movements at the meso level; and masculine subjectivities, processes of mobilization, and radicalization at the micro level. The ten contributions encompass four recurring themes: violent masculinities and how contemporary societies and regimes cope with traditional violent rituals and extreme violence against women; popular written and visual fiction about war and masculine rationalities; gender relations in social movements of rebellion and national transformation; and masculinity in civil society under conditions of war and post-war. Taking into account different geographical contexts, the book emphasizes the relationship between the local and the global as well as the importance of understanding gender and masculinity in their intersectional interrelations with religion, race, ethnicity, class, and locality. This book was originally published as a special issue of NORMA: International Journal for Masculinity Studies.

Boxing is one of the oldest sports in the world, reaching back to the Ancient Greeks, although it has become popular only in the past century or so. But, in some ways, it is a rather complicated sport since – to avoid unnecessary harm – it has been endowed with rules to keep it clean, referees to see the rules are obeyed, and organizations to regulate the sport. Boxing was once largely amateur, although the professional bouts attracted the most attention, but now it is also an Olympic sport. And, over the years, there has been one champion after another who symbolized what boxing was all about, such Joe Louis, Mohammad Ali and Cassius Clay. Naturally, these champions are the focus of the Historical Dictionary of Boxing as well, and they have the biggest entries in the dictionary section, but they had to fight against someone and there are dozens and dozens of other boxers with smaller entries. More of these boxers come from the United States than elsewhere, but there are others from Europe, Asia and Latin America, and there are also entries on the major boxing countries as well. Plus entries on the rules, on the organizations, and on the technical terminology and jargon you have to know just to follow the bouts. The introduction provides a broad view of boxing’s history while the chronology traces events from 688 B.C. to 2012 A.D. Not all that much has been written on boxing that is not ephemeral, but much of that literature can be found in the bibliography. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the sport of boxing.