The boxing kings

Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com www.Ebook777.com Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com T H E B O X I N G K I N G S www.Ebook777.com T H E B O X I N G K I N G S When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring Paul Beston ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD Lanham • Boulder • New York • London Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com Published by Rowman & Littlefield A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rowman.com Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB Copyright © 2017 by Paul Beston All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Beston, Paul, 1966Title: The boxing kings : when American heavyweights ruled the ring / Paul Beston Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index Identifiers: LCCN 2017001989 (print) | LCCN 2017025080 (ebook) | ISBN 9781442272903 (electronic) | ISBN 9781442272897 (cloth : alk paper) Subjects: LCSH: Boxers (Sports)—United States—Biography | African American boxers—Biography | Boxing—United States—History Classification: LCC GV1131 (ebook) | LCC GV1131 B48 2017 (print) | DDC 796.83092 [B]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017001989 ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 Printed in the United States of America www.Ebook777.com For my mother, Edna Mae Beston, and to the memory of my father, Richard F Beston “We have a theory about the heavyweight championship, that somehow each of the great figures to hold the title manages to sum up the spirit of his time All the great ones are not merely the best pugs of their day but demigods larger than life It may all be accidental, but the main currents of their period either shape their personalities or their personalities seem wondrously to reflect their times.” —Budd Schulberg, Sparring with Hemingway: And Other Legends of the Fight Game “If they [heavyweights] become champions, they begin to have inner lives like Hemingway or Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy or Faulkner, Joyce or Melville or Conrad or Lawrence or Proust.” —Norman Mailer, Existential Errands “The boxing ring is the ultimate focus of masculinity in America, the two-fisted testing ground of manhood, and the heavyweight champion, as a symbol, is the real Mr America.” —Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice CONTENTS Acknowledgments ix Introduction: The Lineage xi  1 Progenitor  2 Pariah 27  3  The Million-Dollar Hobo 53  4  The Substitutes 79  5  Black Moses 97  6  The Last White King 125  7  Freudian Floyd, the Swede, and Sonny 149  8  The Butterfly 173  9  The Greatest and a Golden Era 201 10  Bloom in the Shadows 233 11  Kid Dynamite 255 12  End of the Line 283 vii viii Epilogue: A Funeral CONTENTS 309 Notes 315 Bibliography 333 Index 347 About the Author 357 Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’m grateful to Stefan Kanfer for his early support for this project and expert advice and to City Journal’s editor, Brian Anderson, for his support and—at a very late-running function some years back—for more or less suggesting the idea Thanks to Alec Shane at Writers House and to Christen Karniski and Darren Williams at Rowman & Littlefield And thanks to the Manhattan Institute Thanks also to Veronica Delora, David DesRosiers, Loretta Hayes, John and Sylvia Highland, Michele Jacob, Mike Kelleher, Andrew Klavan, Karen Marston, Doug Schoen, Bernadette Serton, Robert Sherwood, Harry Stein, Springs Toledo, and Michael Woods Thanks always to Wlady Pleszczynski I’m deeply indebted to Janice Meyerson for her copyediting and to Matthew Hennessey for giving me invaluable feedback Thanks to my wife, Emma, and daughter, Grace, for their love and support Thanks to my mother, for too many things to list And finally, thanks to my three brothers, Rick, Pete, and Dave—fighters all ix www.Ebook777.com 344 BIBLIOGRAPHY Tosches, Nick The Devil and Sonny Liston New York: Little, Brown, 2000 Tunney, Gene A Man Must Fight Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1932 ——— “My Fights with Jack Dempsey.” 152–68 in The Aspirin Age, edited by Isabel Leighton New York: Simon and Schuster, 1949 Tunney, Jay R The Prizefighter and the Playwright: Gene Tunney and Bernard Shaw Buffalo, N.Y.: Firefly, 2010 Tyson, Mike, with Larry Sloman Undisputed Truth New York: Blue Rider, 2013 Walcott, Jersey Joe, with Lewis Burton “I’ll Lick Joe Louis Again.” Saturday Evening Post, 12 June 1948 and 19 June 1948 Walsh, Kenneth T “The First 100 Days: Franklin Roosevelt Pioneered the 100Day Concept.” U.S News & World Report, 12 Feb 2009 Waltzer, Jim The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of Modern Promotion Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger, 2011 Ward, Geoffrey Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson New York: Knopf, 2004 White, Thomas H “Big Business and Radio (1915–1922).” U.S Early Radio History earlyradiohistory.us/sec017.htm Whitney, Craig R “3-Year Ring Ban Declared Unfair.” New York Times, 15 Sept 1970 “Wild Celebration if Georges Wins.” New York Times, July 1921 “Willard Beaten in Easy Fashion in Toledo Arena.” New York Times, July 1919 “Willard Comes to Town.” New York Times, 30 Apr 1917 Willis, George The Bite Fight: Tyson, Holyfield, and the Night That Changed Boxing Forever Chicago: Triumph, 2013 Wormser, Richard The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow New York: St Martin’s, 2003 Youngblut, Shelly The Quotable ESPN: The Best Stuff Ever Said on ESPN in a Compendium for Every Passionate Sports Fan New York: Hyperion, 1998 Zirin, Dave “An Interview with George Foreman.” Counterpunch, Nov 2003 www.counterpunch.org/2003/11/07/an-interview-with-george-foreman VIDEO YouTube: The overwhelming majority of the fights described in this book are now available, in whole or in part, on YouTube, which has to be the greatest boon to fight fans since the Queensberry rules I have refrained from citing individual bouts, as they can be found easily through the search engine at www.youtube.com A.k.a Cassius Clay Directed by Jim Jacobs Beverly Hills, Calif.: United Artists, 1970 Champions Forever: World Heavyweight Champs Directed by Dimitri Logothetis Ridgewood, N.J.: American Home Entertainment, 1989 B ibliography Kings of the Ring Directed by Jean-Christophe Rosé La Sept/Arte Canal + D.A Big Fights, 1995 Legendary Nights: The Tale of Holmes–Cooney HBO, 2003 Mike Tyson: Beyond the Glory Fox Sports, 2003 Sonny Liston Sports Century ESPN, 2001 Sonny Liston: The Mysterious Life & Death of a Champion HBO Home Video, 1995 The Superfight: Marciano vs Ali Directed by Murry Woroner Mackinac Media, 2005 Thrilla in Manila Directed by John Dower Darlow Smithson Productions, 2008 The Trials of Muhammad Ali Directed by Bill Siegel Chicago: Kartemquin Films, 2013 Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson Directed by Ken Burns Florentine Films, 2005 When We Were Kings Directed by Leon Gast Universal City, Calif.: Polygram Entertainment, 1996 OTHER SOURCES BoxRec.com Cyber Boxing Zone New York Times web archive Newspaperarchive.com Sports Illustrated Vault Time archives at Time.com International Boxing Research Organization I also gained much from Monte Cox’s dogged and insightful work on heavyweight history and from Frank Lotierzo’s terrifically lucid analysis of fights and fighters INDEX Page references for figures are italicized 1920s, 59–60, 72 1950s, 130, 137–38, 152–53, 311 1960s, 170, 195, 202, 227, 254 1970s, 212, 217, 222 1980s, 248, 250, 254, 307 1990s, 305 Ahlquist, Edwin, 155 Ali, Muhammad, xv, 146–48, 174–99, 183, 209–12, 210–211, 215–18, 221, 250–51; comeback attempts, 240–42; comparison to Sugar Ray Robinson, 170; death/ funeral of, 309–13; draft status/ legal difficulties, 191, 196–98, 209; image/persona of, 176–77, 183, 222– 23, 225–29; Liston and, 170–71; name change, 184–85, 188–89; on Patterson/Liston–Patterson fight, 168, 189–90; role in the eclipse of boxing, 312; stature of, 197, 202, 231, 309; training, 175, 212, 229–31 See also Liston–Ali fight “Ali Shuffle,” 193 Ali–Berbick fight, 242 Ali–Bonavena fight, 201 Ali–Chuvalo fight, 192 Ali–Cooper fight, 192 Ali–Folley fight, 195 Ali–Foreman fight, 216–22, 221 Ali–Frazier fight, 201–8, 210 Ali–Frazier rematches, 215–16, 222–26 Ali–Frazier rivalry, 198, 226 Ali–Holmes fight, 239–41 Ali–Inoki fight, 227–28 Ali–Liston rematch, 185–88 Ali–Norton fights, 215, 228 Ali–Patterson fight, 189–90 Ali–Quarry fight, 198 Ali–Spinks fight, 229–30 Ali–Spinks rematch, 230–32 Ali–Terrell fight, 194–95 347 348 All-Time Heavyweight Tournament, 146 American Olympic Committee, 108 Anderson, Dave, 240, 262 antiwar movement, 193–94, 197 See also Vietnam War Arcel, Ray, 248, 270 Arum, Bob, 231 Atlantic City, 268 Atlas, Teddy, 258–59, 263, 291–92, 302 Baer, Buddy, 88, 118–19 Baer, Max, 86–95, 93–95, 94, 101, 173 Baer–Louis fight, 101–2 Baer–Schmeling fight, 86–87 Baldwin, James, 166–67 Baroudi, Sam, 127 Barrow, Munroe and Lillie, 98–99 Barry, Dave, 73–74, 75 Bates, Annie, Battle of the Century See Dempsey– Carpentier fight The Beatles, 178 Belkin, Gary, 177–78 Berbick, Trevor, 241–42, 261–62 Berl, Al, 142 Bernstein, Leonard, 152 Biggs, Tyrell, 264 The Birth of a Nation, 47 Bite Fight See Tyson–Holyfield rematch Black, Julian, 100 Black Muslims See Nation of Islam Black Tuesday See Great Depression Blackburn, Jack, 100, 107, 109, 113, 117, 129 blacks, 27–28, 107, 153; battles for equality, 18, 27, 32–33, 120, 153; integration in sports, 153, 160 See also civil rights/civil rights movement; Nation of Islam; under individual names Bobick, Duane, 234–35 INDEX Bocchicchio, Felix, 130, 136, 139 Bonavena, Oscar, 201 Bonsal, Stephen, 11–12 born-again Christians, 229 See also Foreman, George Bowe, Riddick, 288–91 See also Holyfield–Bowe rematches boxing, xi–xii, 3–5, 212, 217, 233, 304– 5; abolishing/restricting, 25, 30, 37, 44, 85; eclipse of, 311–12; political aspects, 3, 107–8 boxing equipment, 59, 77–78, 274 boxing, financial aspects, 295 See also paydays and “purses”; television broadcasting; under individual fights boxing, historians/history of, 1–3, 51–52, 59 See also boxing match upsets; DeLisa, Mike; International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO); Jacobs, Jim; Silver, Mike boxing, legal aspects, 3, 30, 59, 159 See also gangsters and mobsters boxing match upsets, 93, 154, 182–84, 275, 277 boxing rules: London Prize Ring Rules (1838), 3, 13; neutral corner rule, 67, 73; Queensberry Rules, See also knockdown counts boxing strategies/techniques, 22, 56 See also kangaroo punch; leaping hook; peekaboo style; rabbit punches; Rope-a-Dope; solar-plexus punch boxing venues See under individual fights; under individual names or locations Braddock, James J., 91–96, 94, 108–10 Braddock–Baer fight, 93–96 Braddock–Griffin fight, 92–93 Braddock–Loughran fight, 92 Braddock–Louis fight, 109 Brady, William, 29 Briggs, Shannon, 302–4 Brisbane, Arthur, 11–12, 80 INDEX 349 Broadway Bill Duffy See Duffy, Bill (Broadway) Broughton, Jack, Brown, Drew “Bundini,” 179, 224 Brown, Freddie, 136, 141–42 Brown v Board of Education (1954), 153 Bruno, Frank, 272 Brusso, Noah See Burns, Tommy Bugner, Joe, 222 Burns, Ken, 50–51 Burns, Tommy, 27–28, 33–34 Butler, Ernie, 234 Caesars Palace, 242 Callahan, Tom, 267 Cameron, Lucille, 45 Campbell, Frankie, 88 Cannon, Jimmy, 112, 119, 154; on Ali and Vietnam, 191; on boxing as a sport, 159; on Liston–Patterson fight, 168 Cappuccino, Frank, 269 Carbo, Frankie, 128, 163–64 Carnera, Primo, 83–86, 97–98, 138; exploitation of, 84–85, 90; film role (The Prizefighter and the Lady), 89 Carnera–Baer fight, 89–90 Carnera–Louis fight, 97–98 Carnera–Sharkey fight, 85 Carpentier, Georges, 60–61 Carter administration, 239 Cates, Maxine, 55, 60–61 Cayton, Bill, 258, 260–61, 267, 270 Chambers, John Graham, “The Champion,” (illustration of Sullivan), championship belts, 10, 12, 21, 60, 289 See also heavyweight champions/ titles Chancey, Wade, 125 Charles, Ezzard, 126–27, 140–42, 143 Checkers speech, 137 Chuvalo, George, 191–92 See also Frazier–Chuvalo fight Cincinnati Cobra See Charles, Ezzard Cinderella Man See Braddock, James J civil rights/civil rights movement, 32, 119, 154, 165, 193; Ali and, 205; Johnson and, 51; Liston and, 167, 169; Louis and, 104, 111 See also blacks; King, Martin Luther, Jr Clark, Geraldine, 163 Clay, Cassius See Ali, Muhammad Clay, Cassius Marcellus, Sr., 174 Clay, Odessa, 174, 206 Clayton, Zack, 219 Cleaver, Eldridge, vi, 197 Clinton, Bill, 310 Cockell, Don, 142 Congo See Zaire Conn, Billy, 116–18 conspiracy theories, 164, 181, 187–88; Ali–Liston rematch, 187; Carnera– Sharkey fight, 85; Johnson–Willard fight, 48–49; Liston–Ali fight, 182, 184; Tyson conviction, 280; Tyson– Seldon fight, 295 Cooney, Gerry, 243–44, 328n15 See also Holmes–Cooney fight Cooper, Henry, 192 Corbett, James J., 22–23, 40 See also Jeffries–Corbett fights; Sullivan– Corbett fight Corbett–Fitzsimmons fight, 23 Cornelius, James, 241 Corum, Bill, 102 Cosell, Howard, 147, 211, 231–32 Count Basie, 114 Cream, Arnold Raymond See Walcott, Jersey Joe Crowley, Jim, 79–80 Cukoschay/ Zukauskus, Joseph See Sharkey, Jack Cummings, Jumbo, 241–42 Curley, Jack, 48 350 Daggert, Charley, 137 Daley, Arthur, 141, 184, 189, 193 D’Amato, Cus, 151–52, 154, 163, 258– 60, 263, 312 Dawson, James, 97–98 Deer Lake training compound (Ali), 212, 231 DeForest, Jimmy, 77 Delaney, Samuel J., 154 DeLisa, Mike, 85 Dempsey, Celia, 54 Dempsey, Jack (William Harrison), xv, 53–78, 63, 94; as a boxing model, 260; comparisons to, 67, 131, 144, 270, 293; as a trainer, 101–2, 104 Dempsey–Carpentier fight, 61–62 Dempsey–Firpo fight, 64–67, 78 Dempsey–Gibbons fight, 64 Dempsey–Sharkey fight, 71 Dempsey–Tunney fight, 68–71 Dempsey–Tunney Long Count See Long Count Dempsey–Tunney rematch, 72–76, 75 Dempsey–Willard fight, 56–59, 77–78 Dershowitz, Alan, 280 Donovan, Arthur, 85–86, 90, 98, 114 Donovan, Mike, 16 Douglas, James “Buster,” 272–73, 276– 78, 277 See also Tyson–Douglas fight DuBois, W E B., 32–33 Duffy, Bill (Broadway), 84 Dugent, Duke, 203 Dundee, Angelo, 175–76, 219, 240–41 Durán, Roberto, 302 Durham, Yancey “Yank,” 203–6 Duryea, Etta, 45 dust storms, 91 economic conditions, 248 See also Great Depression; paydays and “purses” Edgren, Bob, 59 INDEX eight-count, 144 Eisenhower, Dwight D., 137 Ellis, Jimmy, 196–97, 204 Ellis, Steve, 180–81, 183 enswells, 274 Esquire (magazine) covers, 170, 197 Felix, Barney, 182 Ferguson, Jesse, 261 fight films, xiii–xiv, 23, 29, 34, 76; ban on interstate sales, 44; Dempsey– Willard fight, 57–59 See also “Super Fight” film (Marciano–Ali) films, 89; The Birth of a Nation, 47; The Great White Hope, 51; The Harder They Fall, 90; Olympia, 108; The Prizefighter and the Lady, 89; Rocky movies, 244; Unforgivable Blackness, 50 See also fight films Firpo, Luis “Ángel,” 64–67, 78 Fitzsimmons, Bob, 23–24, 30 Fitzsimmons, Rose, 30 fixes/fixed fights See conspiracy theories Fleischer, Nat, 52, 59, 77, 186–87 Florio, Dan, 157 Flynn, Fireman (Jim), 55–56 Folley, Zora, 195 Foreman, George, 213–14, 216–18, 228–29, 293–94; Briggs and, 302–3; regaining of heavyweight title, 291–92; retirement, community work, and religion, 284–85 See also Holyfield–Foreman fight Fox, Richard Kyle, 5–6, 12 Frazier, Joe, 196–98, 203–5, 208–9, 222–25, 310; Jumbo Cummings fight, 241–42; retirement, 228 See also Ali–Frazier fight; Ali–Frazier rematches Frazier, Marvis, 261 Frazier, Rubin, 203 Frazier–Chuvalo fight, 204 INDEX 351 Frazier–Foreman fight, 213–15 Freedom Rides, 165 Fruit of Islam See Nation of Islam Fuller, Vince, 280 Futch, Eddie, 123, 205, 223–25, 248 Gallico, Paul, 102 gangsters and mobsters, 84, 128, 162– 63, 187–88, 254 See also boxing: legal aspects George Foreman grill, 299 Germany, 80, 87, 115 See also Hitler, Adolf; Nazis/Nazism Gibbons, Tommy, 64 Gillett, James, 37 Givens, Robin, 267, 270 Goebbels, Joseph, 106 Goldman, Charley, 125–26, 131–32, 136 Goldstein, Ruby, 122, 133, 156 Gorgeous George, 176 Gould, Joe, 92–93, 108–9 The Grand Tour (Sullivan), 6–7 Grant, Ulysses S., 10 Great Depression, 78, 83 Great White Hope See Jeffries, James J The Great White Hope, 51 Greb, Harry, 68 Green, Mitch “Blood,” 261 Green, Richard, 241 Griffin, John “Corn,” 92 Gross, Milton, 191 Halpern, Mitch, 298 Hamas, Steve, 104 The Harder They Fall, 90 Hart, Marvin, 30–31, 33 HBO See Home Box Office (HBO) heavyweight champions/titles, 20–21, 199, 232, 311; regaining of, 158, 291–92, 295; significance of, xi–xii, xvi, 24–25, 52; symbolic aspects, 27–28, 34 See also under individual names Heeney, Tom, 76 Heinz, W C., 96 Hitler, Adolf, 87, 105–8, 110–12 Hoffer, Richard, 293 Hoffman, Ancil, 88 Hollywood, 60 Holmes, Flossie, 234 Holmes, John Henry, 234 Holmes, Larry, 233–36, 239, 247–48, 249, 287–88, 328n15; Snipes and, 243; training, 234–35 See also Ali– Holmes fight; Tyson–Holmes fight Holmes–Cooney fight, 243–47, 249 Holmes–Shavers fight, 237–39 Holmes–Spinks fights, 252–53 Holmes–Weaver fight, 237–38 Holyfield, Evander, 272, 277–78, 283– 84, 290–91, 296 See also Tyson– Holyfield fight/rivalry Holyfield–Bowe fight, 288–89 Holyfield–Bowe rematches, 290–91, 294 Holyfield–Douglas fight, 278 Holyfield–Foreman fight, 285–87 Holyfield–Holmes fight, 288 Holyfield–Lewis fights, 304 Homansky, Flip, 301 Home Box Office (HBO), 237, 263, 274–75 See also Lampley, Jim; Merchant, Larry Horne, Lena, 106–7 Hughes, Langston, 104, 106 Hull, Chuck See Ali–Spinks fight IBC See International Boxing Club (IBC) immigrants/immigration, 2–3, 84 Ingo’s Bingo (Johansson), 155 Inoki, Antonio See Ali–Inoki fight International Boxing Club (IBC), 123, 128, 151, 159 352 International Boxing Federation (IBF), 251–52 International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO), 123 interracial sex, 47 See also Johnson, Jack Italian Americans, 138 See also Marciano, Rocky Izenberg, Jerry, 268 Jack Dempsey’s Restaurant, 77 Jackson, Peter, 18 Jacobs, Jim, 258–62, 267 Jacobs, Joe, 81 Jacobs, Mike, 100–101, 108, 116, 120, 123 Jefferson, Martha, 134 Jeffries, James J., 24, 27–31, 43 Jeffries–Corbett fights, 29–30 Jeffries–Fitzsimmons fights, 23–24, 30 Jeffries–Johnson fight, 27–29, 33–34, 37–44, 43 See also Johnson, Jack; Rickard, George Lewis (Tex) Johansson, Ingemar, 154–59 Johnson, Jack, xiv–xv, 31–35, 43, 44–46, 50–52 Johnson–Burns fight, 33–34 Johnson–Ketchel fight, 35–36 Johnson–Moran fight, 46 Johnson–Willard fight, 47–50, 49 Johnston, Jimmy, 92, 100 Jones, Mike, 244 Joseph, Eddie, 117 kangaroo punch, 153 Katz, George, 164 Katz, Michael, 248 Kearns, Jack, 55–57, 64, 67, 77 Kessler, Harry, 144, 193–94 Ketchel, Stanley See Johnson–Ketchel fight Kid Blackie See Dempsey, Jack (William Harrison) INDEX Kieran, John, 83, 89, 116 Killion, John See Kilrain, Jake Kilrain, Jake, 12–18, 22 Kindred, Dave, 227 King, Don, 235, 240, 263, 275–76; Ali– Foreman fight and, 216–17; Tyson and, 267, 270, 295, 306 King, Martin Luther, Jr., 104, 153; on Ali, 197; civil rights activism and, 119, 165, 168–69 Klitschko, Vitali, 311 Klitschko, Wladimir, 311 knockdown counts, 186–87; eightcount/standing eight, 144; long count, 139, 275 See also Long count; various fight entries Knox-Porter resolution, 62 Kram, Mark, 226 Krause, Harry, 190 Ku Klux Klan, 47 Lampley, Jim, 273–74 Lane, Mills, 246–47, 261–62, 301 Las Vegas, 242, 268 Lasky, Art, 93 Lauder, Polly, 76 leaping hook, 153 Leonard, Sugar Ray, 250 Lewis, Butch, 268–69 Lewis, Lennox, 289, 304–5 Lewiston, Maine, 185–86 Liebling, A J., 137, 160 Lindbergh, Charles, 72 Lindsay, Vachel, 17–18 Lipsyte, Robert, 189–91 Liston, Charles “Sonny,” 150, 161–70, 166, 187–88; civil rights and, 167, 169; criminal record/prison time, 162–63; death of, 188; Muhammad Ali and, 170–71 See also Ali–Liston rematch Liston, Helen, 162 Liston, Tobe, 161–62 INDEX 353 Liston–Ali fight, 173, 177–84 Liston–Patterson fight, 165–68 Liston–Patterson rematch, 169–70 London, Jack, 28, 34 London Prize Ring Rules (1838), 3, 13 Long Count, 74–76, 187 Loughran, Tommy, 92 Louis, Joe, xv, 97–118, 103; abandonment of retirement, 127– 28; army service/patriotism, 118–21, 121; as a boxing promoter, 123–24; finances/unpaid taxes and, 120, 124, 134; later years and death, 134; on Marciano’s death, 147; Patterson and, 157; stature of, 110–11, 122–24 Louis–Baer fight, 101–2 Louis–Charles fight, 127–28 Louis–Conn fight, 116–18 Louis–Conn rematch, 120, 122 Louis–Marciano fight, 130–33 Louis–Schmeling fight, 105–7 Louis–Schmeling rematch, 111–16, 115 Louis–Walcott fights, 122–23 Louisville Sponsoring Group (LSG), 175 Lundgren, Birgit, 155 Lyle, Ron, 222, 228 lynchings, 47, 104 Machen, Eddie, 154 Madden, Owney, 84 Madison Square Garden, 5, 304 Madison Square Garden Bowl, 81–82, 95 Mailer, Norman, vi, 205, 217 Majeski, Don, 188 Malcolm X, 180, 184–85 Mann Act, 45 Marchegiano, Pierino, 131 Marchegiano, Rocco See Marciano, Rocky Marciano, Rocky, xiii–xv, 125–26, 131, 134–48, 143 See also Louis– Marciano fight Marciano–Charles fights, 140–42, 143 Marciano–Moore fight, 143–44 Margolick, David, 321n28 Martin, Joseph (Joe), 174, 220 Masters, Edgar Lee, 24 Mathis, Buster, 203–4 Mathis, Buster, Jr., 295 Maxim, Joey, 152 McCall, Oliver, 293, 295 McCarthy, Clem, 113–14 McCormick, Jim, 21 McDonough, Francis, 186–87 McIntosh, Hugh D., 33 McKernan, John Leo See Kearns, Jack McKinney, Jack, 164 McKinney, Thurston, 99 McNamee, Graham, 72–73 McNeeley, Peter, 294 Mercante, Arthur, 206–8, 215 Mercer, Ray, 287–88 Merchant, Larry, 202, 269, 273–75, 307, 312 Meryan, Octavio, 274–76 Mildenberger, Karl, 192 Miller, James, 290 Mitchell, Charley, 5–6, 15, 22 See also Sullivan–Mitchell fights Mobutu, Joseph, 216–17 Monday Night Football, 211–12 Moore, Archie, 142–44, 152 Moorer, Michael, 291–93 Moorer–Foreman fight, 291–92 Moorer–Holyfield fight, 291, 304 Moran, Frank, 46 Muhammad, Elijah, 180, 196–97, 226 Muhammad, Herbert, 240–41 Muhammad, Wallace, 226–27 Muldoon, William, 13, 15, 83 Murray, Jim, 186 Nation of Islam, 180, 191, 212–13, 226–27 See also Malcolm X; Muhammad, Elijah 354 National Police Gazette See Police Gazette (periodical) Nazis/Nazism, 87, 105, 108, 115 See also Hitler, Adolf neutral corner rule, 67, 73 Newman, “Rock,” 288–90 New Orleans, 13–14, 19–20, 230–31 newspapers, 28, 38, 41 See also under individual journalists Nixon, Richard, 137 Norris, James D (Jim), 123, 128, 159 Norton, Ken, 215–16, 230 Norton–Holmes fight, 236–37 Norton–Young fight, 229 Oates, Joyce Carol, 261, 264, 275, 302 O’Brien, Hugh, 10 Olympic Club, 19–20 Ondra, Anny, 105–6 Owens, Jesse, 108 Pacheco, Ferdie, 114 Padilla, Carlos, 224 Palermo, Frank “Blinky,” 163–64 Patterson, Annabelle, 149 Patterson, Floyd, 149–59, 165–69, 166; activism and, 165, 169; loss to Joey Maxim, 152; on Muhammad Ali, 189–90 See also Ali–Patterson fight; Liston–Patterson fight; Liston– Patterson rematch Patterson–Johansson fight, 155–56 Patterson–Johansson rematches, 157–61 Patterson–Moore fight, 153–54 Patterson, Thomas, 149 paydays and “purses”: Ali–Frazier fight, 201; Braddock–Louis fight, 109; Holmes–Cooney fight, 244; Johnson– Jeffries fight, 37; Johnson–Willard fight, 47; Tyson–Spinks fight, 267 Pearl, David, 238 Pecord, Ollie, 57–58 peekaboo style, 151, 153, 259 Pep, Willie, 145 INDEX Perez, Tony, 198, 216 Plimpton, George, 217 Police Gazette (periodical), 5–6 Powers, Jimmy, 119 Presley, Elvis, 152–53 The Prizefighter and the Lady, 89 Prohibition, 59–60 Quarry, Jerry, 196, 198, 243 Queensberry Rules, rabbit punches, 62 race relations, 42, 44, 111, 244–45, 247 See also civil rights/civil rights movement; interracial sex radio broadcasting, 61, 72, 82, 104, 112, 146, 156 Rahman, Hasim, 305 Randolph, A Philip, 119 Rappaport, Dennis, 244 reach (boxer’s wingspan) advantage, 131 Rector, Enoch J., 23 Regan, Bill, 160 Reno, Nevada, 27, 37 Rich, Charles W., 14 Richburg fight See Sullivan–Kilrain fight Rickard, George Lewis (Tex), 36–41, 59–62, 64–65, 67–69, 72; death of, 78; on Dempsey, 54 Riefenstahl, Leni, 108, 110 The Ring (periodical), 59, 197, 239 Roaring Twenties See 1920s Robbins, Alexander, 179 Robinson, Jackie, 122 Robinson, Sugar Ray, 179, 197 Rocky movies, 222, 244 Rooney, Kevin, 259, 269–70, 272 Roosevelt, Eleanor, 112, 150–51 Roosevelt, Franklin D., 111, 118 Roosevelt, Theodore, 30, 44 Root, Jack, 30–31 Rope-a-Dope, 219–20 Roper, Ruth, 267, 270 INDEX 355 Roxborough, John, 99–100 Ruddock, Donovan “Razor,” 279 Rumble in the Jungle, 216–20 Ruth, Babe, 67, 70, 72 Ryan, Paddy, 4–5 Schaaf, Ernie, 85 Schmeling, Max, 79–81, 87, 104–8, 110–15, 321n28 Schmeling–Louis fight, 105–7 Schmeling–Louis rematch, 111–16, 115 Schreiber, Belle, 45 Schulberg, Budd, vi, 144–45, 205 See, Leon, 83–84 Seldon, Bruce, 295 Shakur, Tupac, 295 Sharkey, Jack, 71, 79–83, 85–86 Sharkey, Tom, 29 Sharkey–Schmeling fight, 79–80 Sharkey–Schmeling rematch, 81–82 Shaver, Bud, 111 Shavers, Earnie, 235 See also Holmes– Shavers fight Shelby, Montana, 64 Sherman Antitrust Act, 159 Shilstone, Mackie, 252 Shrake, Bud, 167 Sikora, Frank, 139 Silver, Mike, 85 Simon, Abe, 118–19 Smith, James “Bonecrusher,” 263 Smith, Red, 133, 139, 147, 191 Smith, Will, 312 Snipes, Renaldo, 243 Snowell, Aaron, 273–74 solar-plexus punch, 23 Spinks, Leon, 229–31 Spinks, Michael, 252–53, 260, 264–65 See also Holmes–Spinks fights; Tyson–Spinks fight Spofford Juvenile Center, 256 sports decorum/traditions, 173–74 See also the weigh-in Sports Illustrated, 144, 220, 244, 256 sports industry, 242–43 Stallone, Sylvester, 222, 244 Steele, Richard, 279 Steward, Emanuel, 290 Stewart, Bobby, 258 Sullivan, John L., xvi, 1–11, 9, 41–42; alcoholism, 8, 13; championship belt, xvi, 10, 21; death, 22; loss of championship title/retirement, 21–22; refusal to fight blacks, 18; theatrical career, 19 Sullivan–Corbett fight, 19–21 Sullivan–Kilrain fight, 12–18 Sullivan–Mitchell fights, 8, 11–12 Summer Olympics (Berlin, 1936), 108 “Super Fight” film (Marciano–Ali), 146–47 the Suzy Q (Marciano), 132, 135–36 Sweden, 154–56 Talese, Gay, 164–66, 168 Taylor, Estelle, 67 telegraph, 17, 38 television broadcasting, 120, 243; decline of boxing coverage, 159; elevation of other sports, 311; financial effects, 128–29, 155, 167, 180 See also Cosell, Howard; Home Box Office (HBO); Monday Night Football Terrell, Ernie, 194 Thomas, Pinklon, 264 Thompson, William “Big Bill,” 72 Thrilla in Manila See Ali–Frazier rematches Thyrolar medication, 240–41 Till, Emmett, 153 Tillis, James “Quick,” 261 Tillman, Henry, 259 Toledo, Ohio, 53–54, 77–78 Torres, José, 163 Trotter, Marva, 101, 105 Trump, Donald, 265, 268 Tubbs, Tony See Tyson–Tubbs fight 356 Tucker, Tony, 263 Tunney, Gene, 67–77, 168 See also Dempsey–Tunney fight; Dempsey– Tunney rematch Tunney, John, 76 Turner, Monica, 297 Tyson, Lorna Mae, 255–56 Tyson, Michael Gerard “Mike,” xi–xii, xv, 255–65, 257, 276, 277; affinity for Liston, 299; family life, 267, 270, 300; King (Don) and, 267, 270, 306; persona, 278–81, 283, 293, 305–7; rape verdict and prison time, 280, 292; return to boxing, 294–95; role in the eclipse of boxing, 312; Shakur and, 295; stature/transformation of, 266, 312–13 Tyson–Berbick fight, 261–62 Tyson–Douglas fight, 273–76, 277 Tyson–Holmes fight, 265–66 Tyson–Holyfield fight/rivalry, 279, 296–98 Tyson–Holyfield rematch, 300–302, 303 Tyson–Lewis fight, 306–7 Tyson–Ruddock fights, 279 Tyson–Seldon fight, 295 Tyson–Spinks fight, 267–70, 271 Tyson–Tubbs fight, 266–67 Unforgivable Blackness, 50 U.S Bicentennial, 227 U.S Supreme Court, 159 Valan, Harold, 237–38 Van Every, Edward, 104 Vietnam War, 193, 197, 227 Vitale, John, 162 Wacko Twins, 244 Walcott, Jersey Joe, 122–23, 126, 129– 30, 139–40, 186 Walcott–Charles fights, 126, 128–29, 135 Walcott–Marciano fight, 135–37 Walcott–Marciano rematch, 139 INDEX Walters, Barbara, 270 Washington, Booker T., 32, 38 Washington, Desiree, 279–80 WBA See World Boxing Association (WBA) WBC See World Boxing Council (WBC) Weaver, Mike, 237–39 the weigh-in, 173–74 Weill, Al, 125, 128, 131–32, 145 Weimar café society, 79–81 Wepner, Chuck, 222 white ethnics, 84 See also Italian Americans White Hopes, 37–38, 56, 244 See also Great White Hope white supremacy, 18, 28, 44 Wilder, Deontay, 331n3 Wilkins, Roy, 114 Willard, Jess, 46, 49, 53–59 See also Dempsey–Willard fight; Johnson– Willard fight Williams, “Big Cat,” 161, 192–93 Williams, Carl “The Truth,” 272 Williams, Clubber, 5–6 Wills, Harry, 62, 64 Wilson, Tug, Wiltwyck [school], 150–51 Wirtz, Arthur, 128, 159 Witherspoon, Tim, 250 World Boxing Association (WBA), 194–96, 236–37, 276 World Boxing Council (WBC), 229–30, 235–36, 250–51, 276, 289, 295 World War I, 56, 62 World War II, 118 See also Nazis/ Nazism Woroner, Murray, 146 Wright, Richard, 104 Young, Jimmy, 228 Zaire, 216–17 Zouski, Steve, 284 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul Beston is managing editor of City Journal, published by the Manhattan Institute His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, City Journal, Real Clear Sports, The American Spectator, The American Conservative, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Journal of Books, and The Millions, as well as on the boxing website The Sweet Science 357 Free ebooks ==> www.Ebook777.com www.Ebook777.com ... onto the tops of the cars, and the police couldn’t get them down, even whacking their legs with nightsticks or firing their rifles into the air Finally, around 2:30 a.m., the train set off with the. .. Pictorial History of Boxing or Dempsey I’d become drawn to boxing the sport was all over television back then—and to boxers These were the waning days of Muhammad Ali, who was by then the most recognized... are the sum of our youthful passions, I’ll never escape the boxing brand No use trying to so, anyway As Joe Louis said: You can run, but you can’t hide The Boxing Kings tells the story of the