Counterpunch : Ali, Tyson, the Brown Bomber, and other stories of the boxing ring

305 Pages·2014·1.42 MB·English

by  Berkow

Counterpunch
Ali, Tyson,
The Brown Bomber,
& Other Stories
of the Boxing Ring
Ira Berkow
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also by ira berkow:
Autumns in the Garden
Summers at Shea
Summers in the Bronx
The Corporal Was a Pitcher
Full Swing
The Minority Quarterback
Court Vision
To the Hoop
The Gospel According to Casey (with Jim Kaplan)
How to Talk Jewish (with Jackie Mason)
Hank Greenberg: Hall of Fame Slugger (juvenile)
Hank Greenberg: The Story of My Life (editor)
Pitchers Do Get Lonely
The Man Who Robbed the Pierre
Red: A Biography of Red Smith
Carew (with Rod Carew)
The DuSable Panthers
Maxwell Street
Beyond the Dream
Rockin’ Steady (with Walt Frazier)
Oscar Robertson: The Golden Year
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COUNTERPUNCH
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Copyright © 2014 by Ira Berkow
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher, Triumph Books LLC, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago,
Illinois 60610.
All columns and feature stories prior to 1981 are reissued with permission
of Newspaper Enterprise Association. All columns and feature stories after
1981 are reissued with permission of The New York Times Co. “Barney
Ross: Up from Maxwell Street” first appeared in Maxwell Street: Survival
in a Bazaar (1977).
This book is available in quantity at special discounts for your group or
organization. For further information, contact:
Triumph Books LLC
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
[phone]
www.triumphbooks.com
Printed in U.S.A.
ISBN: 978-1-60078-973-1
Design by Prologue Publishing Services, LLC
Page production by Patricia Frey
Cover photo: Joe Louis, in defense of his world heavyweight boxing title,
knocking out Tami Mauriello in 2:09 of the first round in Yankee Stadium,
September 18, 1946. (AP Images)
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For Bob Downey, who suggested
this book, and
Neil Korf, who encouraged it
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C
ONTENTS
FOREWORD BY JEREMY SCHAAP ................................................................xi
INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................xv
I. MUHAMMAD ALI, THE ONE AND ONLY
Age Hasn’t Cooled the Fire Inside Ali ...............................................3
The Ali Shuffle Is Not Lost! ............................................................11
“I’m Bigger Now Than I Ever Been” ...............................................14
Ali’s Ringside Seat ...........................................................................17
Stingin’ and Floatin’ Come Harder Now ........................................19
II. SMOKIN’ JOE FRAZIER
Joe Frazier, Who “Don’t Know How to Go Easy”..........................25
Frazier-Ali Transcends Sport ...........................................................28
Joe Frazier at Dawn .........................................................................30
Of Mailer, Taylor, and Frazier ........................................................32
III. THE BROWN BOMBER
Joe Louis: Black King ......................................................................37
Joe Louis Was There Earlier ............................................................40
Joe Louis Stages Valiant Comeback ................................................42
Louis Had Style In and Out of the Ring: An Appreciation .............44
IV. IRON MIKE
Tyson Rules the Planet ....................................................................49
The Ring of Fear .............................................................................52
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The Second-Baddest Dude ...............................................................55
The “Animal” in Mike Tyson ..........................................................58
After Three Years in Prison, Tyson Gains His Freedom .................61
Boxing’s Beautiful Black Eye ...........................................................66
Tyson, in Training, Is a Man on an Island ......................................69
V. THE MANASSA MAULER
Peachy Caveman ..............................................................................75
The Toughest Man in the World .....................................................78
VI. A POTPOURRI OF HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPS
Jack Johnson Is a Dandy and Still “Leads” a Full Life ....................83
Ezzard Charles: “A Credit to Boxing” ............................................85
Sonny Liston Draws Some Laughs ..................................................88
Floyd Patterson: No Requiem for This Heavyweight ......................90
“Here Comes George”: That Is, Foreman .......................................92
Buster Douglas on the Comeback Trail ...........................................95
For Holmes, the Bell Tolls ...............................................................98
Hasim Rahman Works His Way Up to Anonymity ......................101
Lennox Lewis Says This Is All for McCall ....................................107
Riddick Bowe Goes Marching Back Home ...................................110
Holyfield in His Palace ..................................................................113
VII. CONTENDERS AND PRETENDERS AMONG THE LARGEST LADS
An Old King (Levinsky) of Wepnerdom ........................................121
Cookie Wallace: Up ‘n’ Comer ......................................................124
Carmine Vingo: Rocky Marciano’s Victim ...................................127
Bulletproof Boxer Is Healthy Again ..............................................130
Andrew Golota: Aiming for the Belt .............................................133
French Boxer Won His Biggest Fight in Auschwitz .......................137
VIII. THE LIGHT-HEAVYWEIGHTS: A MIXED BAG
Archie Moore: A Very Merry Mongoose ......................................141
Roy Jones Jr. Doesn’t Meet His Match .........................................144
Success Story Is Rewritten in Mystery ..........................................147
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IX. IN THE MIDST OF THE MIDDLE
The LaMotta Nuptials ..................................................................155
Jake LaMotta: Philosopher-Bouncer .............................................158
Rocky Graziano: The Brawler as Artist ........................................161
Leave Your Worry on the Doorstep ..............................................164
Emile Griffith in That “Sinful Business” ......................................167
Justice Delayed Is Bitter Justice for Hurricane Carter ...................170
Hagler KOs Hearns at 2:01 of Round 3 ........................................174
Leonard Beats Hagler for Title on a Split Decision .......................177
No Hoosegow for JoJo ..................................................................179
Sugar Ray Leonard Can’t Stay Away from the Ring .....................182
The End of the Road for Sugar ......................................................185
The Greatness that Was Sugar Ray Robinson ...............................188
Gypsy Joe Can Be Champ, If… .....................................................190
Dick Tiger Is Fighting on Two Fronts ............................................192
Marcel Cerdan and Edith Piaf: In Memory of a Special Love .......194
X. LIGHTER BUT STILL PACKING A PUNCH
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sr.: The Ring and the Cell ...................199
Sandy Saddler Stays on Top of the World ......................................202
The Riddle of Kid Chocolate .........................................................204
Salvador Sanchez Accepts Award with Gusto ...............................207
Argüello Gets Another Shot ..........................................................210
Tracy Harris’ Debut ......................................................................213
Saoul Mamby: Behind the Old Boxer’s Dark Shades ....................217
American Dream Goes Down for the Count .................................220
Charlie Nash: Toughest Olympian ................................................224
Tommy Hearns Answers Yet Another Bell ....................................227
An Afternoon in Gleason’s Gym ...................................................231
The Twin Temples of Boxing .........................................................234
Barney Ross: Up from Maxwell Street ..........................................237
XI. A FAMILY AFFAIR
Rocky Marciano Jr. and the Son of Kid Gavilan...........................249
Marcel Cerdan Jr. and the Shadow ...............................................252
The Fighting Frazier Clan .............................................................254
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