Boxing writers

[desiresjab]

The sweet science has had its share of great writers in decades past. Sometimes a literary star such as Jack London even got his hand in the boxing pot. His story A Piece Of Meat is one I remember vividly.

Jimmy Canon and Damon Runyon were both stars in the field, but most wouild choose A.J. Liebling for his depth of insight.

Others stars of the quill have dipped their mitts into the genre, too. Both Norman Mailer and Joyce Carol Oates have written extensively on the sweet science.

On a side note, on must shake his head at the number of stories on Yahoo concerning the UFC. It is not that popular. Payola is obviously being used. What we read on such sites is not news but the clear result of auctioning off shelf space to the highest bidder, the way supermarkets do it.

[AuntShecky]

One of the best American short stories on the subject is "Champion" by Ring Lardner. The story itself is hard-edged and ironic; the 1949 movie version starring Kirk Douglas is less hard-edged than the source material, but still gritty. Don't forget [I]Body and Soul (1947) starring the great John Garfield.

No list of works about boxing is complete without Rod Serling's best script, Requiem for a Heavyweight.

[Iain Sparrow]

This reminds me not of boxing themed stories, but writers literally boxing in the ring... does anyone know about that infamous boxing match between minor Canadian novelist Morley Callaghan and the legendary Ernest Hemingway, in 1929 Paris?

Btw, Hemingway got his *** whooped.

http://www.thesweetscience.com/artic...xing-pretender

[desiresjab]

Requiem For A Heavyweight--what a film, probably the best boxing movie, though Fat City and Raging Bull are superb. Many of the great stars ended up in a boxing movie, from Flynn to Quinn to Douglas to Cagney to Bond...the list goes on and on.

I remember reading the story Champion, but cannot remember the story itself. I remember Lardner's quick, catchy style.

I am glad this thread got a few replies. I didn't think it would. The boxing ring is one of those microcosmic settings I love in literature. Mountain climbing and courtrooms are two others. Everything else is boiled away. The setting itself is a self-contained world. Special setting is probably why I enjoyed Perfume and Remains Of The Day so much. War, of course, is another such setting, and we have all gotten sucked into that genre somewhat, I am sure.

Recently there is Eastwood's boxing movie Million Dollar Baby. It took me a while to get a grip on the scene where the female lead (Hilary Swanktooth) is injured in the ring by an obvious foul. Once I understood what Clint was trying to say, the scene was better than all right. Sacrificed to the circus. No better than wrestling anymore, where one opponent of a tag team slams a folding chair into the back of another while the ref is distracted by hijinx on the sidelines. Phony. This is what it has come to, and you folks are still buying into it, hollering for more. Good job, Clint. Swanktooth was boxing itself taking the fall, and in the end devouring itself. One could also take it as a judgement against female pugulism. Period. Does anyone else have an interpretation of that scene?

[Vota]

Louis L'amour has several collected short stories volumes out. The third volume, crime short stories, has several boxing stories that are really good.

A.J. Liebling has a Library of America book called "The Sweet Science and Other Writings". The title work, The Sweet Science, was ranked by Sports Illustrated as the greatest American sports book of all time.

The Professional by W.C. Heinz is a classic.

The Pugilist At Rest by Thom Jones. This is supposed to have some intense short stories about boxing, but is an overall sobering experience.

[desiresjab]

Hard Times with Charles Bronson was very enjoyable. Period piece. I knew a gentleman who fought in Carnivals in those days. He made it to a hundred but couldn't make 101. He was a sparring partner of Jack Dmepsey for the Carpentier fight, had the pictures to prove it. My grandfather saw him fight a bunch of carneys for real one time. "He had the air full of guys," is how gramps described it. He had many professional fights, and at one time was one of the people claiming the middleweight crown. He has no fame, though. BoxRec lists only one of his fights. More could be done. Strangely, his name was Connie and his opponent's name was Shirley, which I guess was a common man's name back in those days. I can't think of any other men named Shirley, though. I have a live interview of Connie Wills on tape when he was 97.