"Every once in a while, a book publisher comes up with a great concept for a series of books that deserve more than superficial recognition. Such a series is The Greatest (fill in the blank) Stories Ever Told, anthologies that should win places on many bedside tables. On the long winter nights that lie ahead, such stories make great reading." -The Lexington County Chronicle "THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD assembles some of the best writing available on the sweet science and illuminates boxing in all its literal and symbolic glory. Each piece in this varied collection connects with the sort of powerful punch one can only expect from the world's greatest writers." -Boxing Digest In THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD, editor Jeff Silverman delivers a knockout collection of not only the best writing ever penned on the subject of "the sweet science," but also stories that relate to the larger human issues the brutal sport has come to embody. Whether the story be about the triumph of a heroic champion, a tragic death in the ring, the shady tactics of fight promoters, or victories against seemingly impossible odds, each story in this varied collection connects powerfully with the reader. THE GREATEST BOXING STORIES EVER TOLD is the perfect gift for fight fans and non-fight fans alike, and with its allstar lineup of "contenders" throwing "haymakers" and "uppercuts" in every round, it stands as the definitive volume of short stories on this enduring pugilistic pastime.

Rocky meets I'm Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in this YA novel about a young female boxer who learns to fight for what she wants. *"A riveting pugilistic must-read." --Kirkus Reviews, starred Gravity "Doomsday" Delgado is good at breaking things. Maybe she learned it from her broken home. But since she started boxing with a legendary coach at a gym in Brooklyn, Gravity is finding her talent for breaking things has an upside. Lately, she's been breaking records, breaking her competitors, and breaking down the walls inside her. Boxing is taking her places, and if she just stays focused, she knows she'll have a shot at the Olympics. Life outside the ring is heating up, too. Suddenly she's flirting (and more) with a cute boxer at her gym--much to her coach's disapproval. Meanwhile, things at home with Gravity's mom are reaching a tipping point, and Gravity has to look out for her little brother, Ty. With Olympic dreams, Gravity will have to decide what is worth fighting for.

Levi just wants to be treated like a typical kid. As a baby, he had a serious disease that caused him respiratory issues. He's fine now, but his mom and overprotective brother still think of him as damaged, and his schoolmates see him as the same class clown he's always been. He feels stuck. So when his dad—divorced from his mom—suggests he take up boxing, he falls in love with the sport. And when he finds out about a school with a killer boxing team and a free-study curriculum, it feels like he's found a ticket to a new Levi. But how can he tell his mom about boxing? And how can he convince his family to set him free?

This book explores five generations of the Barnes family, concentrating on the author's father, Carl F. Barnes, whose nickname was "Carefree"-derived from the fact that for many years he went on drinking sprees that were sometimes frightening and sometimes humorous (at least in hindsight). Who else could show up with a rowboat in the driveway without any recollection of where, or why, he got it-and not have a lake to put it in? Carefree abused alcohol intermittently for thirty years, then suddenly (and unexpectedly) quit drinking for the last thirty years of his life. The author's mother's life is likewise examined: how she coped with Carefree's drinking and with the sorrow of the accidental death of her younger son. The author discusses his difficult relationship with his parents, especially his mother. For many years estranged from his sons, he explains how he and they made peace and became good friends through the efforts of their stepmother. Looking to the future, the author also includes his grandchildren. The story is told in word and picture, there being more than one hundred photos covering the span of a century. Is this an exceptional family? No, not in a political sense or social sense. It is family like many others, one that experienced laughs and tears, stresses and strains, triumphs and tragedies. The family motto was AD ASTRA PER ASPERA, "To the Stars through Hardship."

This second collection of the author's 24 exclusive interviews with boxing insiders features some of the most influential personalities in ring history, including former heavyweight champions Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield and promoters Don King and Kathy Duva. Other interviewees include trainers Ronnie Shields and Virgil Hunter, former HBO blow-by-blow announcer Jim Lampley, and judge Duane Ford, along with some names perhaps unfamiliar to many of the boxing public who work as driving forces behind the sport.

When he died in 1933, James J. "Gentleman Jim" Corbett was honored by two distinguished groups of people: the professional boxing public, who celebrated him as America's greatest boxing champion, and the world of popular theater admirers, who revered him as one of Broadway's top vaudeville headliners. Corbett was uniquely instrumental in making boxing and popular theater both justifiable commercial enterprises, to be enjoyed by all classes of people. He became America's first national sports hero and went on to formulate the theater world's star system. This is the first definitive biography of the man who knocked out heavyweight champion John L. Sullivan, and who also knocked out audiences who flocked to see him in vaudeville and silent pictures. The focus herein is on the real man, the influences on his life, and the social and commercial environment within which he functioned. The author reveals that Corbett was a complex, driven, enigmatic man whose dedicated participation in popular entertainment changed American social values and mores, and at the same time reinvented the notion of a national hero.