Muhammad Ali: Portrait of a Champion – Book Excerpts

Muhammad Ali: Portrait of a Champion - Book Excerpts

An abstract portrait of legendary boxing champion Muhammad Ali, uniquely composed of memories, anecdotes, interviews, personal encounters, insider stories, artwork, photos, sketches, etc. 220 pages.

BOOK EXCERPTS
Bob Foster (Ali opponent and former Light Heavyweight champion): “I was on the same card at Caesars with Muhammad Ali. He fought Jerry Quarry and I was fighting his brother Mike Quarry (billed as “The Quarry Brothers vs. The Soul Brothers”). Before the fights that night, Ali bet me $1,000 that he could stop Jerry Quarry before I could stop Mike. I said, ‘I’ll take that bet.’ Because I knew Ali couldn’t punch that hard. And Jerry was tough. I ended up winning the bet. I knocked Mike Quarry out with one shot. And Ali paid me too. ‘Cause he knew if he didn’t, I’d have kicked his ass, right there in Caesars Palace!”
　
Mrs. Deanna Dempsey (Wife of former Heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey): “We met Muhammad Ali in San Juan, Puerto Rico after he beat Jean-Pierre Coopman in 1976. He was young and handsome and vital and so full of life. After the fight, as he was coming down the steps from the ring, Ali spotted Jack and he said, ‘Mr. Dempsey, can I call you Jack?’ Jack said, ‘Everybody calls me Jack.’ Then Muhammad said, Oh Jack, you were the greatest!’ And Jack said, ‘But Muhammad, I thought you always said YOU were the greatest?’ Ali said, ‘Jack. When I say I’m the greatest, it’s all bullshit!'”

read more

Floyd Mayweather Sr – ‘There is no way in the world Pacquiao can whoop Floyd’

Floyd Mayweather Sr – ‘There is no way in the world Pacquiao can whoop Floyd’

In an interview with ESNEWS the father and trainer of Floyd Mayweather Jr said that Manny would be one of his sons easiest fights. When giving reasoning for his answer he said ‘look what he did to all of them.’ It’s true that Floyd has 47 good reasons why he is going to win this fight.

When asked to break down the fight Floyd Sr said ‘That’s a question that you already know, without asking me.’ Floyd said to the interviewer that the interviewer knew in his heart Floyd would win.

In this kind of case its obvious that the father and trainer of Floyd Mayweather is going to come down on his sons side, but at the same time this man also knows exactly what his son is capable of, even better than any of us.

read more

Joe Goossen talks Mayweather Pacquiao

Trainer Joe Goossen took time out to talk the huge bout coming up in May. In an interview with ESNEWS he broke down the fight and gave his predictions.

He started out saying that Pacquiao had a ton of options. Many people when imaging this bout think of one aggressor (Pac) and one defender (May). However this doesn’t have to be the case as Manny is far more than a run of the mill pressure fighter. He can box, he can move, he has a good jab, the game plan doesn’t have to be “go forward and throw punches.” What makes Manny so much more of a threat compared to someone like Maidana is that he has a whole variety of talents.

read more

Gabriel Rosado on Golovkin – ‘I think he got a little exposed’

Gabriel Rosado on Golovkin – ‘I think he got a little exposed’

In a FightHype interview with tough fighter Gabriel Rosado, Gabe gave a lot of respect to the efforts of Martin Murray. The basic takeaway of the interview was that he thought if a top fighter could take the gameplan laid down by Murray and his team and execute it better, they could beat Golovkin. Basically the blueprint on beating him was there, it would just take an extraordinary talent to be able to pull it off. Rosado then commented saying that someone like Canelo could give Golovkin problems if a similar strategy was employed.

Gabriel Rosado will be involved in a good bout soon with former Golovkin victim Curtis Stevens, however this fight will not be happening in a boxing ring.

read more

PEDs in boxing are a non-issue

Boxing is the greatest sport in the history of the universe. Created in Great Britain (like me) many years ago boxing has given the world some of the greatest men ever. A look through the champions of each division since records began comes up with zillions of names, far more than I care to try and count. Yet somewhere in these names are undoubtedly guys who have taken what are commonly known as PEDs, performance enhancing drugs. I am sure your mum, like my mum, always tells you that drugs are bad and you should never ever take them – even when they make you look cool and get you girls. A short while ago I wrote an article about how to tell if a fighter is on PEDs.

read more

Peter Quillin gives fair reasons for his choice to vacate

Peter Quillin gives fair reasons for his choice to vacate

In a pretty personal interview with Tha Boxing Voice, Peter Quillin gave some other reasons as to why he chose to vacate his WBO title, only to then do a 360 and opt to then fight for it again. Many fans saw this as an outrageous move by Quillin and his team, as well as his manager Al Haymon, in avoiding the undefeated mandatory Matt Korobov.

I wanted to make this article as I was one of many who slammed Quillin for his moves and the WBO as a whole for allowing this to happen, however after watching this interview it would seem that maybe there was more to the eye than the ducking of Korobov, although knowing Haymon this was certainly the main objective.

read more

Adrien Broner – ‘Ive gotten stronger’

Adrien Broner – ‘Ive gotten stronger’

Adrien Broner had a rather unique interview with Fighthype recently. In this discussion-like interview Broner discussed his frame, weight and strength for a period and talked over some of the changes that had taken place in recent years. The main thing, which I took away from this video, was that Broner claimed that he had gotten stronger since he fought Malignaggi and Maidana. He put in decent performances in those two fights all things considered, but you can only imagine how those fights would have gone if he had more punching power in his arsenal.

read more

Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Mayweather vs Pacquiao Drama Narrowed Down, Golovkin’s Next Move

Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Mayweather vs Pacquiao Drama Narrowed Down, Golovkin's Next Move

​Casey C. (Daytona, FL): ​I’m stoked that the sport is finally getting the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight, but now that it’s official, can you give your thoughts on this whole saga, as it relates to which stories you think will play the biggest role in the outcome and give your personal opinion on the road we’ve traveled to get to this point?

Vivek W. (ESB): Honestly, despite us being days beyond the announcement, it’s still a bit surreal in my mind. When you look back at the controversy and the negativity that came as a result of that controversy, it’s just a beautiful feeling to know that this long road has basically come to an end. The constant allegations of “ducking” and so forth; those narratives all must give way to the prevailing one. Which is the fact that the fight is now official and the time (to rumble) has come.

read more