A Ringside Affair: Boxing’s Last Golden Age
by James Lawton /
2018 / English / EPUB
1.4 MB Download
For nearly three decades--throughout boxing's most engrossing era
from 1977 through 2002--James Lawton was ringside, covering every
significant bout, spending time with the likes of Muhammad Ali,
Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hitman Hearns,
Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, and
many other great fighters.
For nearly three decades--throughout boxing's most engrossing era
from 1977 through 2002--James Lawton was ringside, covering every
significant bout, spending time with the likes of Muhammad Ali,
Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hitman Hearns,
Roberto Duran, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, and
many other great fighters.
Lawton found himself captivated by the sport as he followed it
around the world. From a big fight's initial announcement,
through the fighters' punishing training regimes, the overblown
press conferences and dramatic weigh-ins, up to the bout itself
and its savage fallout--Lawton observed and absorbed it all,
grateful for the remarkable access he was afforded. He witnessed
Ali screaming in pain for his dressing room lights to be turned
out after a fight; he was there to meet Tyson at the prison gates
on his release in 1992; he listened as former champions wept
while struggling to find their new place in the world. As part of
a small, tight-knit group of sportswriters with the privilege of
covering each fight in such intimate detail, Lawton formed
lifelong friendships and found himself forever altered by being
caught up in the whirlwind of a sport at its most spellbinding.
Lawton found himself captivated by the sport as he followed it
around the world. From a big fight's initial announcement,
through the fighters' punishing training regimes, the overblown
press conferences and dramatic weigh-ins, up to the bout itself
and its savage fallout--Lawton observed and absorbed it all,
grateful for the remarkable access he was afforded. He witnessed
Ali screaming in pain for his dressing room lights to be turned
out after a fight; he was there to meet Tyson at the prison gates
on his release in 1992; he listened as former champions wept
while struggling to find their new place in the world. As part of
a small, tight-knit group of sportswriters with the privilege of
covering each fight in such intimate detail, Lawton formed
lifelong friendships and found himself forever altered by being
caught up in the whirlwind of a sport at its most spellbinding.A Ringside Affair
A Ringside Affair brings that brilliant epoch back to
life--and puts it in the perspective it deserves. It salutes the
epic quality of boxing's last years of glory, retraces arguably
the richest inheritance bequeathed to any sport, and speculates
on the possibility that we will never see such fighting again.
brings that brilliant epoch back to
life--and puts it in the perspective it deserves. It salutes the
epic quality of boxing's last years of glory, retraces arguably
the richest inheritance bequeathed to any sport, and speculates
on the possibility that we will never see such fighting again.
It is part celebration, part lament, but perhaps most of all it
is a personal record of some of most enthralling and challenging
days produced by the world's oldest sport.
It is part celebration, part lament, but perhaps most of all it
is a personal record of some of most enthralling and challenging
days produced by the world's oldest sport.