The heavyweight division is the top prize of all the different weight divisions in boxing. There were many fighters who were short, tall, big, small, great, and not so great. There were some who were better known than kings, presidents, or other leaders. Ronald Curtis will tell you, in a short and concise manner, how they got there and what made these fighters champions.
The heavyweight division is the top prize of all the different weight divisions in boxing. There were many fighters who were short, tall, big, small, great, and not so great. There were some who were better known than kings, presidents, or other leaders. Ronald Curtis will tell you, in a short and concise manner, how they got there and what made these fighters—champions.
The Heavyweight Championship has long been the most valued prize in all of sports. Famous names among the champions include John L. Sullivan, Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Vitali Klitschko and Wladimir Klitschko. A Brief History of the Heavyweights 1881-2010 traces the contests of these champions and other outstanding fighters of this weight class from the early bare knuckle days to the present. The author includes his rankings of the best boxers and bouts of different time periods in history as well as his all-time best rankings. The book is comprised of 308 pages, including numerous photographs, bout-by-bout lists of title contests, and an index. Tracy Callis is a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, the Director of Historical Research for The Cyber Boxing Zone, an internet boxing website, an Elector to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Boxing Hall of Fame - Luxor Hotel Las Vegas. He is also co-author of the books Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage 1876-1976 and Boxing in the Los Angeles Area 1880-2005.
Oscar “Battling” Nelson (1882–1954) was perhaps the toughest professional boxer ever to enter the ring. Although a Hall of Fame inductee, Nelson remains a lesser known great of boxing lore. From the beginning of his career at 14, the Danish immigrant presented himself as a man of integrity who never smoked, drank or took a dive. In the ring and in public, Battling Nelson crafted a Renaissance man image as a lightweight champion, reporter, entertainer, real estate mogul, entrepreneur and ladies’ man. The first ever champion in his weight class to mount a comeback, he strove to break new ground (even if he wasn’t always successful). This book tells the story of a ring legend whose endurance was second to none and whose trilogy with Joe Gans is one of the great rivalries in sports history.
Paints an unvarnished picture of the 24 greats who have ruled the sport's most glamorous division - the Heavyweight Champions of the World. Tells all the inside stories of the great ring bouts, the men who fought those grueling rounds, and the men who made and managed the champs.
A Companion to American Sport History presents a collection of original essays that represent the first comprehensive analysis of scholarship relating to the growing field of American sport history. Presents the first complete analysis of the scholarship relating to the academic history of American sport Features contributions from many of the finest scholars working in the field of American sport history Includes coverage of the chronology of sports from colonial times to the present day, including major sports such as baseball, football, basketball, boxing, golf, motor racing, tennis, and track and field Addresses the relationship of sports to urbanization, technology, gender, race, social class, and genres such as sports biography Awarded 2015 Best Anthology from the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH)
This volume presents fifteen chapters of biography of African American and black champions and challengers of the early prize ring. They range from Tom Molineaux, a slave who won freedom and fame in the ring in the early 1800s; to Joe Gans, the first African American world champion; to the flamboyant Jack Johnson, deemed such a threat to white society that film of his defeat of former champion and "Great White Hope" Jim Jeffries was banned across much of the country. Photographs, period drawings, cartoons, and fight posters enhance the biographies. Round-by-round coverage of select historic fights is included, as is a foreword by Hall-of-Fame boxing announcer Al Bernstein.
