Download or read book A Cuban Boxer s Journey written by Brin-Jonathan Butler and published by Picador. This book was released on 2014-06-03 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE STORY OF CUBAN BOXER AND POLITICAL PARIAH GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX'S HARROWING DECISION TO DEFECT IN HOPES OF REAPING THE REWARDS OF THE AMERICAN DREAM "What is one million dollars compared to the love of eight million Cubans?" This was the question posed by legendary boxer Teofilo Stevenson in the 1970s, crowned by many as the Muhammad Ali of Cuba, in response to an offer of five million dollars to leave his island to fight Ali. But not all Cubans have come to the same conclusion, let alone with such apparent ease. Guillermo Rigondeaux, two-time Olympic champion and heir to Stevenson's throne, sacrificed everything he had in his home country—his wife, his son, his government-subsidized car and house, as well as universal reverence among his fellow citizens—to try to make it in the mecca of big-money boxing, the United States of America. But has the chance to make good in America been worth the loss of his national identity and the love of his countrymen? And to what extent has he been corrupted by the promise of untold riches? In A Cuban Boxer's Journey, author, filmmaker, and journalist Brin-Jonathan Butler chronicles the fascinating and tumultuous career of Rigondeaux—moody, driven, and almost mythically talented––as he attempts to capture the elusive and often punishing American dream. See how this athlete's most daunting challenge becomes how he can survive the complex forces outside of the ring.
Download or read book In the Red Corner written by John Duncan and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2001 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Duncan, sports correspondent with the "Guardian, needs a change: he leaves his job and moves to Havana to arrange a fight between Mike Tyson and Cuban Olympic champion Felix Savon, the world's two greatest living heavyweights. However, professional boxing is illegal in Cuba since it was banned by Castro in 1961, and Felix Savon had already turned down the $25 million purse offered by Don King to fight Tyson. So John Duncan spent a year negotiating with Cuban bureaucracy in an attempt to pull off the impossible and arrange a professional fight in the last bastion of Communism, where money doesn't buy everything. Duncan's account of his year in the maelstrom of Havana's heat and bureaucracy is intercut with portraits of Cuba's most famous boxing legends, including Teofilo Stevenson, Benny 'Kid' Paret, Black Bill, Kid Gavilan, Angel Espinosa and Kid Chocolate. This book is a reflection on the noble and often dirty art of boxing, both past and present.
Download or read book The Domino Diaries written by Brin-Jonathan Butler and published by Picador. This book was released on 2015-06-09 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A powerful and lively work of immersive journalism, Brin-Jonathan Butler's The Domino Diaries tells the story of his time chasing the American dream through Cuba. Whether he's hustling his way into Mike Tyson's mansion for an interview, betting his life savings on a boxing match, becoming romantically entangled with one of Fidel Castro's granddaughters, or simply manufacturing press credentials to go where he wants-Brin-Jonathan Butler has always been the "act first, ask permission later" kind of journalist. This book is the culmination of Butler's decade spent in the trenches of Havana, trying to understand a culture perplexing to Westerners: one whose elite athletes regularly forgo multimillion-dollar opportunities to stay in Cuba and box for their country, while living in penury. Butler's fascination with this distinctly Cuban idealism sets him off on a remarkable journey, training with, befriending, and interviewing the champion boxers that Cuba seems to produce more than any other country. In the process, though, Butler gets to know the landscape of the exhilaratingly warm Cuban culture-and starts to question where he feels most at home. In the tradition of Michael Lewis and John Jeremiah Sullivan, Butler is a keen and humane storyteller, and the perfect guide for this riotous tour through the streets of Havana.
Download or read book Boxing for Cuba written by Guillermo Vicente Vidal and published by Fulcrum Publishing. This book was released on 2017-09-18 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1961, fearing the communist rule of Fidel Castro, Guillermo Vicente Vidal's family sent him to America through Operation Peter Pan. He arrived in Colorado and was sent to an orphanage with his brothers, and his family reunited four years later. Fifty years later, he served as Denver's mayor. This is his story of overcoming incredible odds.
Download or read book In the Red Corner written by John Duncan and published by Random House (UK). This book was released on 1999-11-01 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professional boxing has been illegal in Cuba since 1961, so it was no surprise that Felix Savon, Cuba's double Olympic heavyweight champion, had to turn down the $25 million purse offered by Don King to fight Mike Tyson. John Duncan wanted to make the fight happen and so he quit his then job as sports writer for the "Guardian and left for Cuba. His plan was to cut a deal with Cuban boxing authorities to make this fight happen. His account of the year spent in the maelstrom of Havana's heat and bureaucracy is intercut with often poignant portraits of some of Cuba's most famous boxers.
Download or read book Pitching Around Fidel written by S.L. Price and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2002-02-05 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an artful pastiche of observation, personal narrative, interviews, and investigative reporting, S.L. Price, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, describes sports and athletes in today's Cuba. On his journeys to the island, Price finds a country that celebrates sports like no other and a regime that uses games as both symbol and weapon in its dying revolution. He finds Olympic and world champion boxers, track stars, volleyball and baseball players, but he also finds that with Castro's revolution staggering beneath the weight of a great depression, Cuba's famed sports system is imploding. Athletes are defecting by plane and raft. Superstars bike to games and legends like boxer Teofilo Stevenson are forced to lost themselves in a bottle of rum. Beyond an examination of sports in the hothouse of revolution, Pitching Around Fidel presents a vibrant and realistic portrait of Cuba today, complete with sex-happy tourists, blackouts, Fidel's famous former lover, and a black-power fugitive wanted in the U.S. for murder and hijacking. At once a biting travelogue and a meditation on sports in both America and Cuba, Pitching Around Fidel is a valuable document about a time and place that is close to fading away.
Download or read book Cubans an Epic Journey written by Sam Verdeja and published by Reedy Press LLC. This book was released on 2011 with total page 801 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a collection of more than thirty essays by renowned scholars, historians, journalists, and media professionals that portray the experience of Cubans exiled in the United States and other countries in the last sixty years.
Download or read book Kid Gavilan written by F Daniel Somrack and published by . This book was released on 2020-05-29 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Kid Gavilan: The Cuban Hawk" is the story of the rise and fall of one of the greatest boxing champions of all time. Born Gerardo Gonzalez in 1930, he rose from humble beginnings in Camaguey Cuba to become Kid Gavilan, the Welterweight Champion of the World. During the early days of 1950s television, Gavilan became an instant sensation and TV's first superstar attraction. Easily recognizable in his classy white trunks and shoes, Kid Gavilan thrilled crowds around the world with his flashy style and trademark "Bolo Punch." Throughout his championship reign 1951-'54, the "Keed" was virtually unbeatable in the welterweight class. Gavilan fought the greatest boxers of his era including Sugar Ray Robinson, Ike Williams, Carmen Basilio, Beau Jack, Billy Graham, Carl "Bobo" Olson, Ralph "Tiger" Jones, Chuck Davey and others.During a time when organized crime controlled the fight game, Gavilan had the courage and character to remain true to his sport. At the height of his title reign, mob promoters like Frankie Carbo and Frankie "Blinky" Palermo robbed him of his crown and denied him the opportunity to regain the championship.Retiring to Cuba national hero, Gavilan was thrust into Castro revolution and virtually forgotten as a champion. Returning to the United States in 1968, his greatness was finally recognized when he was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame (1985) and the International Boxing Hall of Fame (1990).
Download or read book Boxing Cuba written by Charles Schumann and published by Hirmer Verlag GmbH. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boxing is the top popular sport in Cuba and part of its cultural identity. The martial arts, often represented as warlike in form, acquire here an unexpected elegance, speed and technical perfection. This publication reflects the Cuban love of sport, from youth work in the back yards of Havana to the preparations for the Olympic Games. At the same time it tells the story of this fascinating world sport. Cuba's pride in its boxers and its sports tradition remains unbroken. Boxing schools and national boxing idols happily granted the photographer Katharina Alt access to their training facilities and private homes in order to record life in and around the sport and the contests. The photos provide an impressive record of the arduous preparations for a fight and continue until the boxers are saved by the gong in the final round. The text by author and journalist Michael Schleicher is divided into twelve rounds and shows how the sport has changed since Antiquity. Motifs, aesthetics and boxing language occur today in art and culture and are thus an omnipresent witness to the fact that "Boxing is life itself", according to Joyce Carol Oates.
Download or read book Latino Boxing in Southern California written by Gene Aguilera and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Southern California, with its burgeoning Latino population, marked the spot as the proving ground for world-class boxers from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Panama, Nicaragua, and El Salvador to showcase their talent with exciting and unforgettable bouts. Latino Boxing in Southern California tells the true, heartfelt stories of Latino and Mexican ring idols who did battle on the West Coast, while exploring the mythical devotion boxing purists and fans have for their boxers. This colorful tribute to the sweet science, Los Angeles-style, keeps the memory alive of when boxing in this town revolved around the beloved Olympic Auditorium, Main St. Gym, and the Forum.
Download or read book The Road to Nowhere written by Tris Dixon and published by . This book was released on 2016-06-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the era of boxing's pay-per-view superstars, Tris Dixon invested in a Greyhound bus pass and spent months tracking down fighters from yesteryear who had vanished from the limelight. Venturing from New York to Las Vegas and from Toronto to Miami, the young writer himself a former amateur boxer sought out coulda-been-contenders and cult heroes from the 1950s to the 2000s. He visited old people's homes, gyms, and prisons, discovering that life after boxing is a cruel place when the ropes are no longer there to keep fighters safe from the world. Dixon meets men who shaped boxing history, fighting the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. He shares their memories and weaves together their tales over the course of a remarkable journey."
Download or read book Hard Leather written by Enrique G. Encinosa and published by . This book was released on 2016-09-07 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is dedicated to all members of the international boxing research organization -ibro- and the editors at boxrec.com- for their brilliant work and selfless dedication at rescuing boxing history from yellowed clippings and dusty archives and to the late hank kaplan, grand guru of boxing archives, outstanding historian, great friend and mentor.
Download or read book Havana Boxing Club written by and published by powerHouse Books. This book was released on 2015-12-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Boxing is one of the most popular sports in Cuba and its fighters are recognized the world over for their skills and finesse. The Cuban national team holds more Olympic medals in the sport than any other country, making the nation a hotbed of emerging global champions. State-sanctioned and promoted since the revolution, amateur boxing's potential for fame and relative wealth makes it a beacon for impoverished youth yearning for a better life. Shot all across the Republic of Cuba,Havana Boxing Clubdocuments amateur boxing schools and the aspiring, determined boys studying the sweet science. Compiled over the course of eight years, French photographer Thierry Le Goues spent countless hours in the complex network of training facilities that abound in the island nation, developing relationships with the coaches and their young progeny, following the rise and fall of countless talents and wannabes. The resulting images are of young fighters struggling, sweating, and fighting to overcome anything thrown in their way--inside the ring and out. Le Goues' luscious tritone black and white photographs depict rigorous training camps, boxing rings erected in the streets of small villages in the Cuban countryside, the lows of these young boxers struggling with abject poverty and crushing defeat, and the ultimate highs of rising up victorious over all obstacles and challengers. The pure instinct to survive against overwhelming odds and to realize their dreams of boxing on the national team is both startling and beautiful.Havana Boxing Clubcaptures the sport's arresting beauty and unrelenting brutality.
Download or read book On Boxing written by Joyce Carol Oates and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A reissue of bestselling, award-winning author Joyce Carol Oates' classic collection of essays on boxing.
Download or read book Punches Prayers written by Ricky Ray Taylor and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2018-11-07 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Punches and Prayers is a colorful memoir of a tired & worn amateur boxer from the Gulf Coast who, amidst stepping foot in nearly every state in America, ended up establishing a career, falling in love and finally embracing Jesus in the greatest city in the world. The Ten Commandments of a Boxing Gym 1. Honor Thy Coach. Do not curse at, disobey, disrespect, aggravate, back talk, slap box with, or shadow box with the trainer. 2. Never Forget Your Mouthpiece. Always be ready to box. 3. Put Your Stuff Up.Do not leave wraps, gloves, shoes, mouthpiece, cups, headgear, or anything else on the floor for someone else to pick up. Do it yourself. 4. No Profane Outbursts. Nobody cares how you feel. Keep it to yourself. 5. Compose Yourself as a Champion at All Times. No lying on the floor, hugging the heavy bags, running around the gym, or pursuing any other end which does not constitute the means of becoming a champion. 6. No Food in the Boxing Ring. The boxing ring is for fighting, not eating. 7. Do Not Offer Unsolicited Advice to Another Trainer's Fighter. Ask the trainer if it is okay to speak with his/her fighter beforehand. 8. Know the Difference Between Sparring and Fighting. Sparring: looking to improve. Fighting: going in for the kill. 9. Be Mindful of Your Surroundings. Do not jump rope by the bags. Refrain from doing floor exercises where people are working. Leave the ring if fighters need to spar. 10. Follow Gym Etiquette Change clothes in the dressing room. Place wet gear where it belongs. Do not encroach into someone's space. Report broken/downed bags or accessories. No fighting/sparring outside of the ring.
Download or read book Road to Nowhere written by Tris Dixon and published by . This book was released on 2016-06-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A trip across America to track down the great fighters from yesteryear who vanished from the limelight, and hear their incredible stories In the era of boxing's pay-per-view superstars, Tris Dixon invested in a Greyhound bus pass and spent several months traversing America on a shoestring budget, tracking down fighters from yesteryear who had vanished from the limelight. Venturing from New York to Las Vegas and from Toronto to Miami, the young writer--himself a former amateur boxer--sought out coulda-been-contenders and cult heroes from the 1950s to the 2000s, all now faded from popular memory. He visited old people's homes, gyms, and too many prisons, discovering that life after boxing can be a cruel place when the ropes are no longer in place to keep fighters safe from the outside world. Dixon meets men who shaped boxing history, fighting the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. He shares their memories and weaves together their forgotten tales over the course of a remarkable American journey.
Download or read book Muhammad Ali Boxing Champ Role Model written by Thomas S. Owens and published by ABDO. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Legendary Athletes introduces readers to the people who have made significant impacts both athletically and socially. Muhammad Ali: Boxing Champ & Role Model highlights Muhammad Ali's childhood and rise to fame. Career highlights, battles along the way, and humanitarian contributions are also discussed. The boxing champ's lasting legacy is told through informative sidebars, captivating photos, and engaging text. SportsZone is an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.
