Cyber Boxing Zone -- Adam Pollack

Spotlight Iowa City: Attorney by day, boxing fanatic by night

Adam Pollack possesses many titles: boxing trainer, referee, judge, historian, writer and publisher, and head of the USA Judicial Boxing Committee.

Oh yeah, and practicing attorney.

While the former boxer's position as an attorney pays the bills, his passion and love for boxing puts fire in his eyes.

His house? Filled with bookcases double-stacked full of boxing films. Tyson, Holyfield, Chavez, Louis, to name a few.

His wife, Emily Klinefelter, is also a professional boxer.

Pollack has thoroughly analyzed and digested numerous boxing films. His collection dates back to 1894, but his boxing knowledge, interest, commitment, and involvement knows no boundaries.

What started out as boxing in a local club during high school and for recreation during his undergraduate years at the University of California-Santa Barbara has turned into a multitude of boxing endeavors.

His undergrad degree, film studies, has come in handy.

He is one to watch and study a good fight: "I'm a huge film buff."

After he finished his degree in 1995, Pollack moved across the country to attend law school at the University of Iowa. He graduated in 1998 with high distinction. He practiced law in Los Angeles for two years but moved back to the slower pace of Iowa City in 2000.

"The people in Iowa are very friendly," he said. "It has a nice small-town environment. It just suits me."

The 38-year-old Pollack has been the owner of ICOR boxing club in Iowa City since 2000, where he has trained Katy and Emily Klinefelter for 10 years.

Each credited everything she knows about boxing and its history to Pollack's teaching.

"I don't think any other coach would give you as much time and attention," Emily Klinefelter said.

He is a boxing promoter in Iowa City. He has been the head of the USA Judicial Boxing Committee since 2007. He referees and judges amateur boxing in the state of Iowa.

He is a boxing historian, who has written and published four books about heavyweight boxers — his specialty — and has a fifth book coming out titled In the Ring With Marvin Hart published by his own company, Win by KO Publications, no later than October, Pollack said.

"If it's boxing-related, I'm willing to try it," he said.

After studying thousands of fights, he has the ability to understand and read boxers, part of the reason he is such a good teacher of the sport. He can pick up on "little subtle cues" of boxers, their strengths and weaknesses based on their history and style.

To Pollack, a boxer's style is what he or she does in defensive openings, what punches he or she throws, how he or she moves, and what he or she does with the hands, head, and body. He enjoys the poetic beauty of boxing — the analysis of the movements. He tells his boxers to be poker players, even when they're hurt.

"It's just always been a passion for so many years," he said. "It's something I appreciate and I've come to understand it, I enjoy all aspects of the game."

With a full plate offamily, friends, work, and boxing, one might think he gets a little overwhelmed.

"It's not as crazy as it sounds," Pollack said.

Adam J. Pollack is a staff writer for the Cyber Boxing Zone, chair of USA Boxing’s Judicial and Rules and Regulations Committees, a boxing coach, and an attorney living in Iowa City, Iowa.

To order his very detailed books, e-mail info@winbykopublications.com

Also, visit the website www.winbykopublications.com

In The Ring With Marvin Hart
Adam J. Pollack

numerous photographs, footnotes and an index

Description
This is Adam Pollack's 5th book in his heavyweight champion series. It describes in meticulous detail Marvin Hart's bouts.

ON THE WAY - NO LATER THAN OCTOBER

In The Ring With James J. Jeffries
Adam J. Pollack

over 100 photographs, 924 footnotes and an index
688 pp. hardcover 2009

Description
This is Adam Pollack's 4th book in his heavyweight champion series. It describes in meticulous detail James Jeffries' bouts from the 1890s up to 1905 (including round by round accounts as well as pre- and post-fight analysis), his opponents, and his training regimen. It discusses the time's heavyweight scene, including contenders, pre-fight hype and negotiations, political and legal obstacles, and the color line. Chapters also include descriptions and analysis of Corbett-Sharkey II, Fitzsimmons-Ruhlin, Fitz-Sharkey II, and Corbett-McCoy, as well as controversies surrounding several bouts. The book is based on next-day local newspaper accounts, comparing and contrasting their descriptions and analysis in order to provide an authentic view of how heavyweight boxing was perceived at the time. The use of local primary sources gives readers a rare opportunity to relive Jeffries' career as if they were reading about it at the time he was fighting. The book also includes Jeffries' career record.

In The Ring With Bob Fitzsimmons
Adam J. Pollack

63 photographs/sketches, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
463 pp. hardcover (6 x 9) 2007

Description
This is the third book in Adam J. Pollack's series on the heavyweight champions of the gloved era. It is the most thoroughly researched boxing-detailed biography on Bob Fitzsimmons' career ever written.

It reveals new dates, bouts, and facts, shedding fresh light on his experience, skills, and ability. It meticulously describes his bouts and provides multiple viewpoints by local next day newspapers, giving it unparalleled authenticity and accuracy. The exhaustive research provides an encyclopedic wealth of knowledge about Fitzsimmons' boxing career. His bouts are placed into social, legal, racial, and historic contexts, including anti-prize fighting laws and the color line. A complete record of Fitzsimmons' career is included.

In The Ring With James J. Corbett
Adam J. Pollack

51 photographs, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
435 pp. softcover (6 x 9) 2007
(Hardback available)

Description
This is the second book in Adam J. Pollack's series on the heavyweight champions of the gloved era. It is the most thoroughly researched boxing-detailed biography on James J. Corbett's career ever written.

It reveals new dates, bouts, and facts, shedding fresh light on his experience, skills, and ability. It meticulously describes his bouts and provides multiple viewpoints by local next day newspapers, giving it unparalleled authenticity and accuracy. The exhaustive research provides an encyclopedic wealth of knowledge about Corbett's boxing career. His bouts are placed into social, legal, racial, and historic contexts, including anti-prize fighting laws and the color line. A complete record of Corbett's career is included.

John L. Sullivan
The Career of the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion
Adam J. Pollack

41 photographs, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
254pp. softcover (7 x 10) 2006

Description
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.

Review courtesy of Tracy Callis, Historian, International Boxing Research Organization