Boxing in Black and White

by Peter Bacho

"Boxing's like an addiction, it just gets in the blood." --Bobby Howard, trainer and ex-middleweight fighter

Punch-by punch accounts of key heavyweight fights involving such champions as Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier, and Muhammad Ali reveal the passion and danger of the ring, as well as the impact of what happens there.

Peter Bacho makes his living as an author and professor of Asian-American literature, but throughout his life he has been a fight fan, a fighter, a trainer, and a student of boxing. It is those personal experiences that frame this book. Then, while taking readers through the action in the most thrilling prize fights of the century, he shows how those bouts defined the racial and social tension of their times.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 1999

Reviews

[Ensiform]

A collection of essays on boxing, mostly the great heavyweight fights (Louis vs. Schmeling, Ali vs. Frazier, Dempsey vs. Tunney, Johnson vs. Jeffries, etc). Superbly written, with a true fan’s admiration for the art and style and bravery of the ring warriors, but a wordsmith’s respect for the facts (the danger of boxing, the clay feet of some boxing idols). A brilliant introduction to the sport’s history, with unflinching analyses of Dempsey, Louis and his era, and Johnson in particular. There’s a richer picture of Dempsey in this brief essay than in all of Roger Kahn’s ridiculous, prolix book A Flame of Pure Fire: Jack Dempsey and the Roaring '20s. Great stuff.