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This splendid new
book contains a collection of fifteen career
sketches of outstanding black fighters of the past, a number
of whom went on to win titles, and several who would have
but never got the chance.
The fighters discussed are -- Tom Molineaux, George Godfrey
(Old Chocolate), Peter Jackon, George Dixon, Bobby Dobbs,
Joe Gans, Dave Holly, Joe Walcott, "The Dixie Kid" (Aaron
Brown), Jack Blackburn, Sam Langford, Jack Johnson, Thomas
"Speedball" Hayden and Battling Siki. What a magnificent
collection of fighters and articles !
The following description is on the amazon and McFarland
websites --
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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. |
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The lives of these men
are discussed along with circumstances under which they
lived and competed, special happenings that they
experienced, their overall ring careers and particular
fights - along with the conditions that surrounded these
contests. Events are placed in their proper historical
perspective with the result that much more than the usual
biographical sketches about great boxers is presented. Much research
obviously went into the writing of the essays and they
definitely accomplish their goals of informing the reader
about these men.
The book, itself, is a beautiful piece of work due to the
fighter selections, the format/layout and general
organization, the many rare photos, the physical size of the
book, the number of pages, etc. An excellent job of editing
was done too by Aycock and Scott. Without a doubt, readers will come away with a better
knowledge of the life styles, socio-economic circumstances
and physical skills of these pugilists.
This book
includes endnotes for each chapter,
nice photo images, an Appendix: The Great Fights, Round-By-Round
(synopses of five famous bouts),
a bibliography,
brief biographical
sketches of the contributors (the writers of contained
articles - Tony Triem, Douglas Cavanaugh, Clay Moyle, Kevin Smith, etc.)
and
an index.
Colleen Aycock's father was a
professional fighter during the Depression. She lives in
Albuquerque, New Mexico. She is a contributor to other
publications on the history of boxing. Mark Scott, a
novelist and former Golden Gloves boxer, lives in Austin,
Texas. He is a contributor to other publications on the
history of boxing.
To order this
book, visit the websites
amazon and
McFarland
The McFarland Order Line is 800-253-2187
From McFarland --
302 pages,
hardcover (7 x 10), $45.00
110 photos, appendix, bibliography, index
Print ISBN :
978-0-7864-4991-0
EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-6188-2 |
