Boxing has always been a brutal sport but it once had its heyday on the American landscape, right up there with baseball and horse racing. In the 1950s and ‘60s the Friday night fights were a staple on national television. There was one champion in each weight divisionand popular champions such as Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhammad Ali became household words.
Times have changed over the last 50 years. There is now an alphabet soup of world governing bodies so convoluted that one may find at least three champions in any one weight class. Every noteworthy fight is on pay-per-view.
The casual fan hasn’t even heard of 99 percent of the boxers.
Worse than that is the sheer violence that has turned people off.
One former champion bit the ear off the reigning champion during a bout.
And death in the ring, while rare, has been known to happen.
One exception to the dark side of the sport is the Olympic Games. The Olympics are usually considered a less violent form of boxing because participants wear head gear and fights only lasted three rounds. The one downside is that decisions are still subjective, with politics and nationalism often playing a role in a judge’s decision.
The United States usually has one or two boxers that win gold medals each Olympiad but rarely puts together a dominating team.
One exception occurred in 1976 when, out of the blue, the U.S. squad shocked the world and won five gold medals. The most charismatic boxer of all was Sugar Ray Leonard, the gold medalist in the light welterweight division.
Leonard captured the country’s imagination because of his exuberance, catchy nickname, and his dominance of a powerful Cuban in his gold medal bout. He also wonplaudits for his plans to retire and become the first member of his family to attend college. How could anyone not be swayed by such a story?
Of course, like most storybook tales, Leonard did not quit and attend college. The lure of money and theability to get his family out of poverty overwhelmed his educational dreams. He turned pro and eventually won five world titles.
He also retired four times, originally because of a detached retina, but kept coming back because he missed the limelight. He recently published his autobiography and it is stunning in that it that his public image was a far cry from his private reality. The book also exposes the seamy side of boxing and everything that goes with it. Leonard is clearly no angel but he at least deserves credit for giving a no-holds-barred description of his life and profession.
For those who followed his career Leonard’s tome provides an illuminating insight into the physical and mental preparation for every one of his important bouts. It’s all there including the Olympics, the two fights with Roberto Duran, his brutal encounter with Thomas Hearns, and his epic comeback against Marvin Hagler.
What is also there is his being sexually assaulted in his youth, his fathering his first son in high school, his constant cheating on his wife, and his battle with drugs and alcohol. As stated earlier, Leonard is no saint but he isn’t atypical either. Many topflight athletes give in to the temptations of success and money.
I would recommend “The Big Fight” to anyone who has followed Leonard’s career, has an interest in boxing, or is curious how success can spoil successful athletes. In pulling no punches Leonard shows that life at the top is not all peaches and cream. His book provides a good object lesson in appreciating what you have rather than envying those who seem to have it all.
DAVID KENT is the librarian at the Cooperstown Village Library.
Book Notes
November 4, 2011
Book Notes: ‘The Big Fight’ a worthy read
- Book Notes
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- Memoir reflects on 'roller-coaster life and career' Apparently, the third time wasn't the charm. The way Reynolds described him, the third husband was worse than the first two combined and that's saying a lot. Eddie Fisher literally walked away from Reynolds and their two infant children to chase a sex goddess. At least he got his just desserts when Elizabeth Taylor tossed him aside for Richard Burton.
- 'Who's on Worst?' reveals the ugly in baseball The Baseball Hall of Fame celebrates the greatest players, managers and owners from our national pastime. Any of us who have watched Major League baseball have inevitably seen some of these immortals practicing their craft. But we have also likely witnessed a sample of their opposite brethren, players who shouldn't have been in the Major Leagues. Has there ever been a definitive source that "celebrates" the non-accomplishments of the worst that Major League baseball has to offer?
- Book takes readers on path for equal rights One of the most troubling aspects of our history is race relations. It takes a long time to achieve true equality in a society when the heritage of one ethnic group is slavery and Jim Crow laws. Even today African Americans are more likely to be stereotyped as athletes than doctors, lawyers or entrepreneurs. The path to a "color-blind" nation is still a work in progress.
- Piazza wasn't considered much of a prospect for the majors It's probably going to be a quiet few days in Cooperstown when Hall of Fame weekend rolls around this summer. The baseball writers did not elect anybody this year despite some heavyweight candidates. The problem was that at least three of the poster boys for the steroids era, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, were on the ballot for the first time. The writers were clearly making a statement when nobody got elected.
- Who would have thought e-books would be so popular? When I was in library school 25 years ago, a future concept was presented that seemed absurd at the time. It was the notion you could read books on a small computerized device about the size of a pocketbook.
- 2012 was a year of great films, future favorites The year 2012 was a blockbuster year for great films. Several of the movies up for Best Picture would have been runaway favorites almost any other time. They will make for easy pickings for the library when they become available on DVD.
- Blockbusters are not the only movies worth watching Hollywood makes enough movies that there are always a few that you don't hear about until they are on DVD. Sometimes they are simply horrible films that end their theater run quickly, but often they are "diamonds in the rough" that made their mark at film festivals.
- Mickey Mantle biography shows the good and the ugly It has become obvious in recent days that bestowing "hero" status on athletes is a misplaced priority.
- Book looks at 50 years of James Bond movies When I was in elementary school, James Bond was all the rage. For some reason I didn't see any of the early films with Sean Connery playing the infamous 007 British spy, but my siblings and several friends certainly did.
- Two thumbs up for the film 'Arbitrage" Arbitrage is a word that 99.99 percent of us probably never heard of until the movie with that title appeared. I looked it up on Wikipedia and discovered why nobody had heard of it. It refers to Wall Street financiers and has a meaning so convoluted that I couldn't figure it out.
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