I love to read and my interests are catholic to a fault. I prefer that which is literary, whether it qualifies as literature or not?
Boxing.com is the most sophisticated, intelligent and mature boxing website out there today. Its articles are not just about two men slugging it out. Intelligent insights abound. References to current events, politics, film, and the art world are interwoven throughout many articles. These enlightened connections make this site a treasure trove of sports writing?so states Mike Silver, one of the staff?s writers.
Robert Mladinich, another writer on the site, states that Boxing.com offers the most creative and unique slant of any other website. ?It doesn?t simply reprint press releases or kowtow to a company line. Instead of churning out predictable stories, real journalism is offered here.?
As a writer and a reader of this site, I delight in reading articles that weave in unexpected literary allusions, hint at psychological ambiguities, and surprise me with unforeseen connections to film, literature, music, and the visual arts.
?I call Boxing.com the ?New Yorker? for boxing fans,? declares Mladinich, nailing it down.
In addition, the thoughtful art direction of Robert Ecksel, the editor-in-chief, provides the tasty icing on the cake. Each article is adorned with a supporting photo that adds intrigue, enhances dimension, or lends gravity?with whimsy, irony, or urgency.
Boxing.com is a boxing buffet offering readers an assortment of delectable dishes. Here are the secret ingredients: the historical tidbits of Norman Marcus, Brian D?Ambrosio and Mike Silver. These three writers breathe life into the shadows of the past; the amazing harvest of stories?the width, breadth and humor?of Clarence George; the British and European perspective of Mohummad Humza Elahi and young Ted Spoon; the feminine slant, and unique interviews spiced with unexpected questions, of Jill Diamond; the precision of thought and facility of words served up by Adam Berlin; the unique blend of fact and fiction, (?faction?), of George Thomas Clark; the stentorian voice of powerful Ted Sares; the youthful eyes and exuberant passion offered by Johnathan Iverson, Jarrett Zook, and Jose Corpas; the insightful book reviews of talented Gordon Marino; the flavorful focus-on-Philly fare by Dr. Richard Mendel; the absolutely delicious boxing lists of Matt McGrain; the captivating boxing vignettes, perfectly packaged time-capsules, by Jeffrey Sussman; the warmth and compassion of Big Bob Mladinich ? ?The John Steinbeck of Boxing? ? who finds forgotten fighters, digs them out of obscurity, and shines the ring lights upon them once more.
My apologies to those I have not cited, because of limited space.
Finally, the articles and photographs assembled on this site will, at some point, be anthologized. Robert Ecksel has created a journalistic forum, liberated from tradition, which welcomes honesty and originality. Ecksel is our modern-day Nat Fleischer. And if not Fleischer, then certainly Malcolm ?Flash? Gordon. I?m sure he would eschew both titles. Nevertheless, his quiet leadership and sound integrity continues to leave a footprint on the American landscape.
1. Adam Berlin
MFA in Fiction Writing from Brooklyn College
Author of four novels, including the award-winning boxing novel Both Members of the Club and the post-9/11 novel The Number of Missing
Favorite Book: The Sun Also Rises
There are a few books I re-read every few years because they stay surprising. I may know the plots, but the characters show me different angles with each new read. Ernest Hemingway?s first novel is the ultimate unrequited love story. While it may have been written ninety years ago, Jake and Brett?s complicated relationship in a damaged world could just as easily be set in post-9/11 New York City. Jake?s final line ?Isn?t it pretty to think so? is perhaps the saddest, most honest line in literature. And the novel?s first line mentions boxing. This two-punch combination is one of many reasons I read The Sun Also Rises again and again.
2. Cheekay Brandon
I?m an academic geneticist and mathematician in my day life. As a scientist, I?ve always appreciated the technical aspects to boxing?the match of wits, the clash of styles, the cognitive genius routinely on display. I?ve been writing for Boxing.com for over two years, and have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I don?t yet have any books in print, but am working on a few book-related projects and have a data blog in the works.
My love of writing grew out of my love of reading. I?m more of a ?depth over breadth? type of reader, and so I have sacrificed volume for in depth examination of topics of interest. For example, I?m really interested in World War 1 right now, and am reading several texts that offer different perspectives and angles. I?m also a very big fan of African American history and literature, science fiction and poetry.
In boxing, I?ve enjoyed reading about the characters, personalities and social histories that define the boxing world. I?ve read many boxing books, but a recent one that I truly enjoyed was Micky Ward?s recent autobiography (A Warrior?s Heart). How much I enjoyed it was a bit of a surprise, as we had all seen the film ?The Fighter?, and knew the story of Micky Ward. The biography was, however, far more candid and insightful than I would have predicted. Ward has this wondrous perspective on the world, that?s almost Gump-like: profound in its simplicity, and yet not simple at all. His perspective on abuse, family, and race were particularly enlightening.
As far as fiction, I?d have to go with Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I like stories within stories, and Ellison?s novel is layered both within the text, and outside of it. Ellison wasn?t part of the literary elite at the time that he wrote the novel, and so its genius just kind of erupted from the middle of nowhere.
For non-fiction, I can cite several, but would say that I was recently intrigued by Steven Pinker?s Better Angels of Our Nature. The book examines the decline in violence in the human species through time. My interest in it is actually relevant to my boxing work, as my study of boxing has made me broadly interested in violence. It is beautifully written, and puts forward some very well-argued, provocative ideas. More than that, however, the book demonstrates an innovative data-driven approach to understanding historical trends, and serves as a jumping off point for further reading and examination.
3. Jay Bulger
I went to Fordham University in the Bronx, where I competed in several NYC Golden Gloves as a middleweight. I then worked for boxing promoter, Cedric Kushner. Cedric was one of the greatest humans I have ever come across. RIP.
I?ve since written for magazines like Rolling Stone and GQ, and directed films such as BEWARE OF MR. BAKER about Ginger Baker?the greatest drummer, ever.
My favorite book is Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown.
The story follows Brown from his impoverished childhood in Harlem in the ?40s through the ?60s in Greenwich Village. Brown is the worst kid in town. He drifts in and out of reform schools, becomes a heroin kingpin, adapts to whatever life throws at him. As the city changes, so does he. He starts playing the piano, he embraces beat culture.
Nobody seems to make it out of Harlem alive; but Brown is cunning and indomitable. Resilient and brilliant. If Brown had boxed, he would have been champion of the world. Browns story is that of survival, by all means necessary. I won?t blow the ending. All that I will say is that it lives up to its title: Manchild in the Promised Land.
4. George Thomas Clark
o Background/Education/Training
I was raised in a pleasant neighborhood near the American River in Sacramento and fortunate to have some memorable cultural opportunities early on, the two most exciting of which were attending the closed circuit telecast of the first Floyd Patterson-Sonny Liston fight in venerable Memorial Auditorium, which, I think, is still designated as an air raid shelter since the structure?s brick exterior and concrete interior shield a deep basement. The second highlight was attending a Louis Armstrong concert in the early 1960s. In the lobby before the show he walked right by our family.
I was educated in public schools but after high school rarely attended college classes, for which I?d enrolled, because I was either losing battles to hangovers or studying books I deemed, and still deem, more important than those assigned by the teachers (I think most prefer to be called Professor). I do wish, however, that I could?ve finished at least one college class a semester and graduated a tad sooner than 21 years after receiving my high school diploma.
o Accomplishments/Experiences
I have taught English as a Second Language for adults for 23 years, 1991 to the present, and always had large and enthusiastic classes who demonstrate learning on a variety of state- and district-mandated tests. The students want to be in class, are eager to learn, and every day show their appreciation for my efforts as well as those of the other teachers at the school.
Though more money comes in from teaching than typing, I still consider myself primarily a writer. I was a correspondent for the Sacramento Bee 1977-81 and had 600 articles published, most about prep sports but I also had the opportunity to interview and write about Archie Moore and Emanuel Steward. Expanded and updated versions of those articles appeared on Boxing.com.
I?m also the author of several books, one of which ? Death in the Ring ? our moderator, Peter Wood, wrote about quite generously, and with considerable eloquence, on Amazon.com.
I spent 20 years researching and writing a biographical novel, Hitler Here, ignored a number of nay-saying agents, and published the book myself in 2002 and have since revised it a four times. Reader reviews on Amazon have been excellent. At the 2004 Frankfurt Book Fair, booksellers representing me sold Hitler Here to a foreign publisher in India and another in the Czech Republic. The Czech version, Tady Hitler, a major translation effort of 200,000 words, is still in print, the Indian version is not. In 2012 a Polish publisher emailed to ask if the Polish rights were still available ? I assured him they were ? and he paid me half of the modest advance and assured me the balance would come in January 2014, when the translation would be complete. This gentleman subsequently left the firm and his successors, despite my claims of having a legal friend in Warsaw, have responded with neither check nor excuse.
I have also published a short story collection, The Bold Investor, that on Goodreads has received 37 reviews and ratings for an average of just under four stars of five. My other two published books are Obama on Edge and Echoes from Saddam Hussein, both quite political in nature and, as with all my books and most articles, written from the point of view of the people involved. About this fusion of history and fiction, Peter Wood writes on Amazon: ?It?s a dangerous literary game of ?faction? that Clark plays, but he plays it well and we buy into his portrayals, speculations, and flights of fancy??
o Proudest moments
I?m proud every time I finish an article or book, so good feelings are usually in the present. But I do still occasionally think about that wintry 1970 night I scored 41 points in a high school basketball game. There was no three-point line in those days or the total would?ve been about 50.
o Name your favorite book
1) Favorite Boxing Book ? The Sweet Science by A.J. Liebling 2) Favorite Book of fiction ? The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway 3) Favorite Book of non-fiction ? American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 by William Manchester
5. Jose Corpas
My published works: New York City?s Greatest Boxers. And coming this year ? Black Ink: The Tragic Life of Panama Al Brown
Favorite Book? ? It might be Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff.
But I do have favorite writers: Boxing writer ? Bert Randolph Sugar. (I grew up reading him.)
Non-fiction writer ? Pete Hamill
Fiction writers ? I like Stephen King?s imagination and Garcia Marquez?s skill. And Junot Diaz is a vivid writer.
6. Brian D?Ambrosio
I grew up in Yonkers, New York, around the grit and mustiness of boxing gyms and I?ve always been intrigued by the psychology of it. I?ve maintained an affection and affinity for boxers and I find their tales to be uniquely compelling and disturbing. My first gigs in journalism were working the fight beat in upstate New York and I?ve flirted with boxing as a participant over the years. Boxing encompasses the very worst and the very best of human nature and its beautiful brutality is a marvelous contradiction for a writer. It conjures up so many sharply antagonistic feelings. Boxing begins in illusion and ends in real blood and tears. That?s what makes it so rich. My first boxing biography book just came out last month: Warrior in the Ring: The Life of Marvin Camel, Native American World Champion Boxer. When I moved to Montana in 2000, I wondered about the whereabouts of Marvin Camel. I carried the idea in my head for 12 years before calling and visiting with Marvin in person. Half of the book is based on firsthand interviews and the other half is based on archival material and interviews with friends and opponents. At 65, he?s robust. He?s vigorously healthy. He has all of his mental faculties in place. He?s jolly. He?s not embittered. He?s a kind, classy man, who fought in a new division with limited exposure. When you contrast that with some of the men that Marvin fought, most of them are dead or incarcerated or homeless. I just heard a story that young Joe Louis, who was Marvin?s last fight, is in bad shape. He?s kind of wandering the streets of Chicago penniless. Marvin fought Matthew Saad Muhammad twice and Matthew was one of the great fighters of all time. His decline is well-documented. He just died recently. To see Marvin again at the recent WBC Convention in Las Vegas, cheerful and proud, was a thrill. Anyhow, I?m hooked and I?m working on Boxing?s Last Villain, The Life of Livingstone Bramble, which should raise interest. Here?s the thing: Bramble mentioned the fact that he wasn?t too happy with the media for making him out to be some kind of quack. He registered this objection the day after he?d sparred two rounds with a pair of chickens, shadowboxed one round with a newly purchased Burmese python named Turtle and spent one round punching soap bubbles blown from a red pipe by his latest trainer. Bramble sold an image, and he?s lived with it ever since. A compelling storyline, for sure. Only in boxing, right?
As far as my favorites, I loved Nick Tosches? book, The Devil and Sonny Liston ? loved the incisive, caustic, no-holds-barred style. And, of course, Christian Giudice nailed it with Roberto Duran ? The Life and Legend of the Hands of Stone.
7. Jill Diamond
I am a Reichean Therapist, Hypnotherapist and a college dropout. My background is primarily in Music and Entertainment. I studied with Sanford Gold, Elliot Lawrence and Mitch Miller, and with many other fine musicians I worked with on the road. As a music producer, my schooling was with Billy Davis, who also produced my material. My love of boxing was inherited from my late husband, Don, whose dad, Clyde ??the Texas Tornado? Chastain, was an accomplished boxer, whom, prior to the establishment of mandatories, never had a championship fight. I started boxing after my husband?s death, and it became my Prozac. I never enjoyed boxing prior to that, and learned to love it from the doing; from the inside out. As a woman, it bothered me that people cheered when a person hit the canvas. Years later, I learned, that they were cheering for the man standing, and the courage of the one falling. It will always be a spiritual conflict I enjoy exploring. I hope never to be completely comfortable with the joy I feel when I enter the arena as a spectator, or as a Fight Supervisor.
o Accomplishments/Experiences:
I am the Chair of WBC World Boxing Cares, a Fight Supervisor, and I have Chaired the NABF and WBC Woman?s Championship Committees. I have received various awards for my philanthropic work associated with sports. I have multiple Emmys for Music Production and Writing, and ran the P&G, and Cap City Music departments. I also headed the TV/Movie Department for Anatomical Travel, a company that worked with Discovery Networks producing books and shows on Lifescience, including, Conception to Birth, an Oprah book choice. After and during, I developed campaigns for hospitals and non profits relating to health awareness, including Katie Couric?s Colon Cancer DVD, worked with and preformed for Motown, worked as a side person and singer in various bands, and starred on Broadway. Right now, I am on the Mental Health Task Force in Washington with Rep. Grace Napolitano and Rep Ron Barber.
o Published works:
I have written for Television, Boxing.com, Sweet Science, Seconds Out, and I am currently the Gatekeeper for iChannel Media?s combat App, an APP that features sports and philanthropy. I had a play produced in NY, Snowballs in Hell, by ASPA and I run the webs for the NABF and other boxing organizations. I have also published one book, Leftovers and one novella, Stan.
o Proudest moments:
I have three: Loving the right man. Walking in and out of hospitals and youth centers feeling that I, my athletes and the WBC, have made a difference. Helping to remove the stigma associated with Mental Illness.
o Name your favorite book:
I am a junkie for anything that is nonfiction and has to do with neuroplasticity. Also, as a lifelong vegetarian, anything that relates to nutrition. As for fiction ? give me a good story, any story, I don?t care if it?s true as long as it?s interesting!
8. Robert Ecksel
I love to read and my interests are catholic to a fault. I prefer that which is literary, whether it qualifies as literature or not. My favorite boxing books are On Boxing by Joyce Carol Oates, a slim but precious volume which is part autobiography, part history, and part Philosophy of Boxing; Norman Mailer?s The Fight, which reminds me of what?s possible within the confines of a singular, restrictive genre; and Budd Schulberg?s masterfully cinematic The Harder They Fall, which remains as fresh, and as true, as it was on the day it was first published. Mike Silver?s The Arc of Boxing: The Rise and Decline of the Sweet Science deserves a nod of recognition. While not as literary as the books preceding it, it?s hard to imagine a boxing book as polemical or as cogently argued.
When it comes to fiction, I like big books with big themes. The first is Herman Melville?s Moby-Dick. Ostensibly about whaling, a compelling subject in and of itself, Melville also shines a light on hubris, frailty, obsession, delusion, vengeance, and the fine line that separates humanity from savagery. It?s also proto-modernism at its best. Don DeLillo?s Underworld is dazzling. At 800-plus pages, it concerns the second half of the 20th century in America and anticipates, by mixing high and low culture with personal, political, and historical inevitabilities, the collapse of civilization and the end of life as we knew it. The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil is a comic novel, a modern novel, a novel of ideas, and a satire. The author is erudite and philosophical and his protagonist, a prototypical man without qualities, straddles fin de si?cle Europe as the rational gave way to the sentimental, which in turn gave way to the enduring horrors of the Second World War. Lastly, Fyodor Dostoevsky?s em>Crime and Punishment has lost none of its power. Masterful storytelling by a masterful stylist, it?s a probing examination of faith and nihilism, downfall and redemption. The last time I reread it, about five years ago, I was actually crying at the end. No more needs to be said.
9. Pete Ehrmann
I shrink from self-promotion, but never from promoting my favorite books. Years ago in The Ring magazine I listed my choices for the 10 best boxing novels ever written. At the top, in order, were The Professional, by W.C. Heinz; The Big Man, by William McIlvanney; and Budd Schulberg?s The Harder They Fall. Plenty of other good boxing fiction has come down the pike since then, but none good enough to unhorse the Big Three. I?ve read them each more than once, and always have them within easy reach. The same goes, non-fictionally, for Jack Doyle: Fighting for Love, the pluperfect biography of the 1930s Irish heavyweight raconteur by Michael Taub, and Heinz?s Once They Heard the Cheers. I like just about everything by Pete Dexter (especially Spooner) and Richard Russo, and the political/cultural commentaries of H.L. Mencken.
