Jersey Joe Walcott

Author: James Curl
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786489634
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
Born into extreme poverty in 1914, Jersey Joe Walcott began boxing at the age of 16 to help feed his hungry family. After ten years, without proper training and with little to show for his efforts beyond some frightful beatings, Walcott quit the ring. A chance meeting with a fight promoter who recognized the potential in his iron chin and hard punch turned Walcott's fortunes around, launching one of the greatest comebacks in boxing history. This biography details Walcott's youth, his dismal early career, and his legendary climb to become the heavyweight champion of the world at age 37, at the time the oldest man ever to win the coveted title. Along the way, he battled some of the most feared champions of his day, including Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, and Rocky Marciano. With numerous period photographs and a foreword from Walcott's grandson, this work provides an intimate look at one of the grittiest, most determined boxers of the 20th century.

Ezzard Charles

Author: William Dettloff
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476619476
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Greatness is often overlooked in its own time. For Ezzard Charles--one of boxing's most skilled practitioners, with a record of 93-25-1 (52 KO)--recognition took decades. Named by The Ring magazine as the greatest light heavyweight of all time, Charles was frustrated in his attempts to get a shot at the 175-pound title, and as World Heavyweight Champion (1949-1951) struggled to win the respect of boxing fans captivated by Joe Louis' power and charisma. This first-ever biography of "The Cincinnati Cobra" covers his early life in a small country town and his career in the glamorously dirty business of prizefighting in the 1950s, one of the sport's Golden Ages. Charles' fights with Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott, Rocky Marciano and his three wins over the legendary Archie Moore are detailed.

Joe Louis Vs. Jersey Joe Walcott for the Heavyweight Championship of the World

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Boxing matches
Languages : en
Pages : 48

Book Description

Third Man in the Ring

Author: Ruby Goldstein
Publisher: New York : Funk & Wagnalls
ISBN:
Category : Boxers (Sports)
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Book Description

The Boxing Kings

Author: Paul Beston
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442272902
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 374

Book Description
For much of the twentieth century, boxing was one of America’s most popular sports, and the heavyweight champions were figures known to all. Their exploits were reported regularly in the newspapers—often outside the sports pages—and their fame and wealth dwarfed those of other athletes. Long after their heyday, these icons continue to be synonymous with the “sweet science.” In The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring, Paul Beston profiles these larger-than-life men who held a central place in American culture. Among the figures covered are John L. Sullivan, who made the heavyweight championship a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who became the first black man to claim the title; Jack Dempsey, a sporting symbol of the Roaring Twenties; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; Rocky Marciano, who became an embodiment of the American Dream; Muhammad Ali, who took on the U.S. government and revolutionized professional sports with his showmanship; and Mike Tyson, a hard-punching dynamo who typified the modern celebrity. This gallery of flawed but sympathetic men also includes comics, dandies, bookworms, divas, ex-cons, workingmen, and even a tough-guy-turned-preacher. As the heavyweight title passed from one claimant to another, their stories opened a window into the larger history of the United States. Boxing fans, sports historians, and those interested in U.S. race relations as it intersects with sports will find this book a fascinating exploration into how engrained boxing once was in America’s social and cultural fabric.

The Professional

Author: W.c. Heinz
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 0786748427
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Book Description
Originally published in 1958, The Professional is the story of boxer Eddie Brown's quest for the middleweight championship of the world. But it is so much more. W. C. Heinz not only serves up a realistic depiction of the circus-like atmosphere around boxing with its assorted hangers-on, crooked promoters, and jaded journalists, but he gives us two memorable characters in Eddie Brown and in Brown's crusty trainer, Doc Carroll. They are at the heart of this poignant story as they bond together with their eye on the only prize that matters—the middleweight championship. The Professional is W. C. Heinz at the top of his game—the writer who covered the fights better than anyone else of his era, whose lean sentences, rough-and-ready dialogue, dry wit, and you-are-there style helped lay the foundation for the New Journalism of Jimmy Breslin, Gay Talese, and Tom Wolfe. And all the trademark qualities of W. C. Heinz are on ample display in this novel that Pete Hamill described as "one of the five best sports novels ever written."

Merchantville

Author: Maureen A. McLoone
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738509129
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
One hundred feet above the Delaware River is Merchantville, a spirited community founded in 1874. Many wealthy Philadelphia merchants established residences while others summered in this key South Jersey center for goods and services. In 1926, the building of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge opened the door to a new era of expansion, which continues today, as Merchantville forges ahead on its prosperous path. A sign of Merchantville's past and a crowning jewel of today is the wonderful Victorian architecture seen throughout town. Many historical homes still stand, lovingly restored and maintained by enthusiastic, caring residents. Merchantville includes a look at these great homes, as well as a chronicle of the town's greatest asset, its people. Boxing champion Jersey Joe Walcott, born in 1914 in Merchantville, trained right in the center of town; Jane Eayre Fryer wrote the Mary Frances series for young girls (1911-1918); and Wallis Warfield Simpson, later the Duchess of Windsor, visited Merchantville c. 1900. But everyday life and everyday residents are what make any study of history vital, and they are what make Merchantville so outstanding.

Ali vs. Inoki

Author: Josh Gross
Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1942952198
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
Named one of the "40 Best Books of 2016" by The New York Post "Inoki can use his bare fists. He can use karate. This is serious. There's $10 million involved. I wouldn't pull a fraud on the public. This is real. There's no plan. The blood. The holds. The pain. Everything is going to be real. I'm not here in this time of my life to come out with some phony action. I want you to know this is real." —Muhammad Ali, June 14, 1976, The Tonight Show On June 26, 1976, Muhammad Ali fought in a mixed-rules contest against iconic pro wrestling champion Antonio Inoki for the so-called "martial arts championship of the world." Broadcast from Tokyo to a potential audience of 1.4 billion in 34 countries, the spectacle foreshadowed and, in many ways, led to the rise of mixed martial arts as a major sport. The unique contest was controversial and panned by wrestling and boxing supporters alike, but the real action was behind the scenes. Egos, competing interests, and a general sense of apprehension over what would happen in the ring led to hodgepodge rules thrown together at the last minute. Bizarre plans to "save" Ali if the fight got out of hand were even concocted. In Ali vs. Inoki, author Josh Gross gets inside Ali's head leading up to the match by resurrecting pre-fight interviews. Gross also introduces us to Inoki, the most famous face in Japan who was instrumental in shaping modern mixed martial arts.

Joe Louis

Author: Richard Bak
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780306808791
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Book Description
When Joe Louis (1914–1981) knocked out the German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938 in two minutes and four seconds, the entire nation—black and white—celebrated the "fight of the century" as a victory of the United States against the ominous tide of Nazism. Never had an African-American received such universal praise across racial lines. Heavyweight champion for a record twelve years from 1937 to 1949, Louis opened the doors for such future black athletes as Jackie Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali.Joe Louis depicts the prizefighter's life, and the times in which he lived, from his childhood in a sharecropper's cabin in Alabama and his formative years in Detroit, to his legendary career, his service in the Army, his stint as a professional wrestler after retiring from boxing in 1951, and his professional demise as an official greeter for a Las Vegas casino. Along the way, Richard Bak compassionately, yet evenhandedly, details Louis's private vices: incessant womanizing, reckless spending habits, massive debts to the IRS, and drug abuse. Filled with over one hundred photographs, including twenty-two in color, Joe Louis is the most comprehensive portrait yet written of one of the greatest African-American heroes who used his fists figuratively—and literally—to fight racism.

How to Box

Author: Joe Louis
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 66

Book Description
Published in 1948, "How to Box" was the first instructional book developed and written by one of the greatest fighters of his time, Joe Louis. The nuts and bolts of Louis' brilliant engineering are here in this book. Legend has it that before beginning the fighter-trainer relationship that would help define him, Louis worked with one Holman Williams who is credited by some with supplying Louis with perhaps the most precious gift he ever received-his jab. But Williams is also said to have taught Louis the rudiments of the defense and was supposedly the first man to encourage Louis to punch in combination. "Boxing is built upon punching and footwork," says How to Box. "If the stance is too narrow for balance, move the right foot a few inches to the right to widen the stance; if too wide, glide the right foot forwards a few inches. Don't lock the left leg but keep it straight."Freddie Roach described Joe Louis as the "best textbook fighter of all time." Here we see the first great foundation of that inch-perfect style. Louis hardly ever made small adjustments with his left foot. His left jab is always perched over that lead foot, ready to be thrown. A boxing training manual intent on conveying the art of boxing, physical fitness knowledge, and the power of the sport to the general public. A great historical reference and a valuable addition to any library concerned with the history of boxing and martial arts.