Download or read book One Punch from the Promised Land written by John Florio and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2013-08-29 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was 1976 when Leon and Michael Spinks first punched their way into America’s living rooms. That year, they became the first brothers to win Olympic gold in the same Games. Shortly thereafter, they became the first brothers to win the heavyweight title: Leon toppled The Greatest, Muhammad Ali; Michael beat the unbeatable Larry Holmes. With a cast of characters that includes Ali, Holmes, Mike Tyson, Gerry Cooney, Dwight Qawi, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and dozens of friends, relatives, and boxing figures, ONE PUNCH FROM THE PROMISED LAND tells the unlikely story of the Spinks brothers. Their rise from the Pruitt-Igoe housing disaster. Their divergent paths of success. And their relationship with America. The book also uncovers stories never before made public: the big paydays, the high living, the backroom deals. It’s not afraid to tackle an issue rarely discussed: Does the heavyweight title deliver on its promise to young men in the inner city? This is the definitive story of Leon and Michael Spinks. And a cross-examination of heavyweight boxing in 20th century America.

Download or read book Jess Willard written by Arly Allen and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2017-06-09 with total page 299 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jess Willard, the "Pottawatomie Giant," won the heavyweight title in 1915 with his defeat of Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion. At 6 feet, 6 inches and 240 pounds, Willard was considered unbeatable in his day. He nonetheless lost to Jack Dempsey in 1919 in one of the most brutally one-sided contests in fistic history. Willard later made an initially successful comeback but was defeated by Luis Firpo in 1923 and retired from the ring. He died in 1968, largely forgotten by the boxing public. Featuring photographs from the Willard family archives, this first full-length biography provides a detailed portrait of one of America's boxing greats.

Download or read book The World Colored Heavyweight Championship 1876 1937 written by Mark Allen Baker and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2020-08-31 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For six decades the World Colored Heavyweight Championship was a useful tool of racial oppression--the existence of the title far more important to the white public than its succession of champions. It took some extraordinary individuals, most notably Jack Johnson, to challenge "the color line" in the ring, although the title and the black fighters who contended for it continued until the reign of Joe Louis a generation later. This history traces the advent and demise of the Championship, the stories of the 28 professional athletes who won it, and the demarcation of the color line both in and out of the ring.

Download or read book World Heavyweight Champions 1865 1965 written by and published by John Keeman. This book was released on 2018-03-08 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the history of heavyweight champions from 1865 to 1965 set in the context of great inventions, social upheavals and historical events.

Download or read book Tommy Burns written by Dan McCaffery and published by Miles Kelly Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I will defend my title against all comers, none barred. By this I mean white, black, Mexican, Indian, or any other nationality. I propose to be the champion of the world not the white, or the Canadian or the American. If I am not the best man in the heavyweight division, I don't want the title." In an era of pervasive racism, Tommy Burns had the courage to embrace bouts with African-Americans, including the great Jack Johnson. When Johnson won, the American South exploded with racial violence and Burns' reputation was widely smeared. But Burns was a terrific fighter who still holds many records after almost a century: he's the only World Heavyweight Champion to have defended his title twice in one night; his eight consecutive knockouts while champ have never been bettered; and at 5'7" he was the shortest titleholder in history. Award-winning journalist Dan McCaffery at last tells Burns' astonishing story: his humble beginnings and hard-won success, as well as his personal tragedies and virtually unmourned death. Here is a heroic Canadian who beat the odds, defied world opinion, and came out swinging.

Download or read book The Boxing Register written by James B. Roberts and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 782 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fully illustrated and researched update to a classic reference guide includes entries for all of the inductees in the Boxing Hall of Fame through 2006, in an official record book that lists key facts and figures while providing numerous action photographs. Original.

Download or read book Undisputed written by Chris Jericho and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2011-02-16 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Entertaining . . .an insightful and funny observer of pro wrestling's universe." -- Publishers Weekly In this insightful, riveting book, Jericho takes us into WWE wrestling arenas around the world as he details his classic rivalries with The Rock, Steve Austin, HHH, Shawn Michaels, and John Cena, along with all the politics and backstage machinations he faced outside the ring. Chris recounts his hilarious escapades of breaking in with the Hollywood elite via doomed auditions, short-lived reality shows, made-for-television movies, and red-carpet interviewing fiascos. Jam packed with CJ's trademark self-effacing humor, one-of-a-kind writing style, and ridiculous random encounters with everyone from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Axl Rose, and Wayne Gretzky to Paul McCartney, and Howard Stern, Undisputed is one of a rare breed-a sequel that might be better than the original.

Download or read book God In My Corner written by George Foreman and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2007-05-20 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everyone needs a second chance, even if your name is George Foreman. "My second chance arrived unexpectedly in a Puerto Rican dressing room after a heavyweight boxing match. What happened to me in that room is so incredibly bizarre, it's unlikely you've ever before read anything like it. Simply stated, I died and went to the other side. The experience impacted me so profoundly that three decades later I can't go a single day without thinking about it." A childhood in grinding poverty. Two heavyweight boxing championships – twenty years apart. A life-changing encounter with God. A new life devoted to ministy. An inspiring comeback and then astounding success as an entrepreneur and trusted product pitchman. For the first time, George Foreman tells the whole story of his remarkable life. With the frankness, warmth, and humor you expect from Foreman, he shares the faith journey that has shaped his life, offering many life lessons along the way. What are the secrets to George Foreman's inspiring success? Why is he always smiling? Why did he name all five of his sons George? There is no one quiet like George Foreman. God in My Corner explains why. More importantly, it will open your eyes to the reality that God is there in your corner, just as He's been there for George all these years.

Download or read book Floyd Patterson written by W. K. Stratton and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2012 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This knockout biography follows boxing legend Floyd Patterson, civil rights activist, national icon, and the youngest man to win the World Heavyweight Champion title, and the first to ever win the title twice.

Download or read book National Wrestling Alliance written by Tim Hornbaker and published by ECW Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After 32 years, Montreal will soon lose its professional baseball team. The former president of the Expos explains how the team went from being one of major league baseball's most promising franchises to becoming a financial pariah, barely escaping extinction at the end of the 2001 season and now facing demise in 2002. This history of the team's troubled existence covers years of gradually declining revenue and attendance, the sale of the team to a consortium of business leaders in 1991, and the league's ongoing debate over eliminating the Expos once and for all.

Download or read book Legends of Pro Wrestling written by Tim Hornbaker and published by Skyhorse Publishing Inc.. This book was released on 2012-07 with total page 569 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Details the lives and careers of the best professional wrestling figures of the last one hundred fifty years, including Bruno Sammartino, The Undertaker, and John Cena.

Download or read book The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Boxing written by Peter Arnold and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Boxing Kings written by Paul Beston and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book John L Sullivan written by Adam J. Pollack and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-02-28 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Essentially the last of the bare-knuckle heavyweight champions, John L. Sullivan was instrumental in the acceptance of gloved fighting. His charisma and popular appeal during this transitional period contributed greatly to making boxing a nationally popular, "legitimate" sport. Sullivan became boxing's first superstar and arguably the first of any sport. From his first match in the late 1870s through his final championship fight in 1892, this biography contains a thoroughly researched, detailed accounting of John L. Sullivan's boxing career. With special attention to the 1880s, the decade during which Sullivan came to prominence, it follows Sullivan's skill development and discusses his opponents and fights in detail, providing various viewpoints of a single event. Beginning with a discussion of early boxing practices, the sport itself is placed within sociological, legal and historical contexts including anti-prize fighting laws and the so-called "color line." A complete record of Sullivan's career is also included.

Download or read book Wrestling with the Devil written by Lex Luger and published by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-08-13 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lex Luger, wrestling megasensation and three-time world heavyweight champion, ruled the ring for years as “The Total Package.” Whether he was making a dramatic entrance from a helicopter, defeating champ Hulk Hogan, or sculpting a near-perfect physique, Lex was on top of his game. Yet backstage, he was wrestling with addictions to sex, drugs, and alcohol—things he clung to even when his mistress died suddenly of a drug overdose and Lex went to jail. There, Lex faced the truth: he was losing the fight for his life. And still awaiting him was his most brutal opponent yet, when the wrestling champ found himself helplessly paralyzed from the neck down. In Wrestling with the Devil, Lex Luger reveals never-before-told stories from his career, his struggle with personal demons, and how, through unexpected faith, grace, and redemption, he overcame all odds to fight the only battle that really matters.

Download or read book Smokin Joe written by Joe Frazier and published by Blackstone Publishing. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When boxing was bold, bright, and glamorous and the fights were the hottest sporting events of the year, Joe Frazier was king as the Heavyweight Champion of the World. From 1970 to 1973 he reigned. With a career record of 32-4-1 with twenty-seven knockouts and an Olympic gold medal, Frazier leaves little question that he was one of the greatest fighters of all time. Well-known, loved, and revered as a gentleman and a fierce competitor in the ring, Joe Frazier speaks his mind in Smokin' Joe-about growing up poor and fighting in the first $2.5 million bout; about the early days of his friendship with Muhammad Ali and how their relationship changed; and about the often corrupt world of boxing and what really went on inside and outside the ring. Personable, good-natured, and funny, Frazier's story is a real delight.

Download or read book History of the Heavyweight Championship of the World written by Rene Villadsen and published by belladonna. This book was released on 2015-04-05 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the proliferation of sanctioning bodies giving rise to multiple titleholders in each weight class it has become increasingly difficult to track the history of the World championships in professional boxing. The purpose of this publication is to give the boxing fan an overview of the history of the heavyweight championship of the World. What you will find here is a brief description of how the championship was passed along from John L. Sullivan to the present champion Wladimir Klitschko. Also included is a list of all deserving holders of the championship, and not least a very comprehensive section with a complete list of all World heavyweight championship fights held under the Queensberry rules, including the ones sanctioned by major organizations like NBA, NYSAC – and later WBC, WBA, IBF & WBO. I hope that this publication will be able to help the casual boxing fan to navigate through professional boxing history.