The Gloves: A Boxing Chronicle

by Robert Anasi

The Golden Gloves tournament is an American institution that takes centre stage in the amateur boxing world - a single-elimination contest in which young hopefuls square off in steamy gyms with the boxing elite looking on.Robert Anasi took up boxing in his 20s to keep in shape, attract women and sharpen his knuckles for the odd bar fight. He thought of entering 'the Gloves', but always put it off. Finally, at the age of 33 - his last year of eligibility - he vowed to fight, even though he was an old man in a sport of teenagers and would have to starve himself all winter to make weight come tournament time. So begins Anasi's obsessive preparation for the Golden Gloves. He finds Milton, a wily and abusive trainer, and joins his Supreme Team: a young black man who used to deal guns in Harlem, a bus driver with five kids and a hard-hitting woman champion who becomes his sparring partner. Meanwhile, he observes the changing world of amateur boxing, in which investment bankers spar with ex-convicts and everyone dreads the fatal blow to the head. With the Supreme Team, he goes to the tournament, the outcome of which, it seems, is rigged - like so much in boxing life today. Robert Anasi tells his story not as a journalist on assignment but as a man in the midst of one of the great adventures of his life. Beautifully written, The Gloves has the feel of a contemporary classic.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2002

Reviews

[Brian D'Souza · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good. A first-person story of boxing at/around the age of 30. The crazy coach, gym rats, and other misfits who come to a boxing gym to fill in the missing pieces of their lives.

Anasi has guts and will ALWAYS have had his fights to look back on.

Well done!

[Troy Vistro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into how boxing can alternatively make you feel supremely self confident then completely useless in a matter of seconds. It's a constant ebb and flow that happens hundreds of times in the short three minutes of each round.

[Bax · Rating 4 out of 5]

Transforms the hackneyed "writer trains for fight" formula into something involving and fresh, mainly because the writer was a boxer before he was a writer.

An involving, illuminating look at the sport at the bottom of the organized competition ladder.

[Dayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before "chronic traumatic encephalopathy" I used to love watching boxers in the ring. And after reading a few books, I came to respect, Mohammed Ali, but I came to love Sugar Ray Robinson.

This book, gave me insight into the lives of boxers.

[John Julius · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and overlooked sports memoir. Anasi and the world he moves in come memorably across. I talk more about the book here: https://youtu.be/GAupGwH4ObY

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just before he ages out of the Golden Gloves, the author decides to make one last try for glory. Unfortunately, the book is more about the not-so-interesting characters he comes across instead of about how, at 33, he prepared to fight. Maybe that's just what I was looking for and that led to my disappointment.

[Jeralee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this a few times. It is really, really good. If you are involved in boxing, you will relate to the authors experiences. The author is also a writer, so the writing style is very good. It does however contain some strong, strong language.

[Todd Pinchevsky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Maybe my favorite boxing book. Firsthand account of journey into love affair with boxing. Not sure that someone whose never put on gloves could relate, but if you have, it’s a great read. And maybe if you haven’t, too.

[RK Byers · Rating 4 out of 5]

good writing, GREAT name-dropping.