From Amazon ~ Muhammad Ali has been written about ad nauseum but here we have a fresh approach: examine Ali the boxer through the eyes of his opponents. From the champs (Foreman), to the contenders (George Chuvalo), to the hopelessly overmatched (Jean-Pierre Coopman), the lives of Ali's opponents were profoundly shaped by facing (and, usually, getting pummeled by) an international icon. While Ali transcended boxing, his opponents didn't, and most of these fighters spent their lives getting beat up in the ring and out of it. That makes for fascinating reading, but for those who care more about Ali than, say, Earnie Shavers, the book is also chock-full of anecdotes and opinions about Ali as seen by his opponents. From each fighter's story, a different Ali emerges. To Frazier, Ali is a cruel bully. To Chuck Wepner, Ali is Apollo Creed to Wepner's Rocky Balboa. To Joe Bugner, Ali is just a brilliant businessman who knew how to put butts in seats. Between the perspectives on Ali and the witty, elegant retelling of 15 fighters' lives, this is a must for boxing fans.Gord read this book last month and thought I would enjoy it ... and I did.
I had only heard of about five of the fifteen boxers but it was still interesting to read their stories ... where they came from and where they are now. Some knew going in they would get beat and did it for the paycheque.
This is without no doubt interesting.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, his daughter(s) are regular customers at my Son's Best Buy shop in SW Michigan.
What they buy is of course private matters;)
btw. Sorry for still beeing a bad reader and commenter. It's nothing to do with your blog, but time to spear blogging.
I think there is a documentary on the CBC about this - where Ali's opponents talk about their fights with him. It looks very interesting.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally it's on Sunday night ... looking forward to it.
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