Books for the Fight Fan in Your Life

Name: Boxing in Atlantic City
Brand: John DiSanto
SKU: 9781467107075
Price: 17.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Muhammad Ali once said “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses—behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” Lovers of the sweet science know that before the first bell rings, there’s a whole story of how the combatants trained, how they were paired, and how life brought them to that moment in the ring. Our boxing books chronicle the locals and legends in famous fight towns like Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, and of course Rocky’s hometown, Philadelphia. Deep lore of America’s prizefighters paired with rare photographs that chronicle the sport will surely connect with your favorite fight fan.

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Boxing in Atlantic City

Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage

Oregon Prizefighters:

Cleveland's Greatest Fighters of All Time

Mexican American Boxing from the Golden State

The Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame

Chicago Boxing

Metro Detroit Boxing

Baltimore's Boxing Legacy

Mexican American Boxing in Los Angeles

Boston's Boxing Heritage

Connecticut Boxing

Latino Boxing in Southern California

Lost Stories of West Coast Latino Boxing

Chicago Amateur Boxing

New York City's Greatest Boxers

Boxing in San Francisco

Cincinnati Boxing

Title Town USA

Boxing in Atlantic City

9781467107075

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

During the early years of Atlantic City (AC) boxing, the fight game was bustling. An array of ring talent, from club fighters to champions, came to the shore to compete at thriving venues like the Northside's Waltz Dream Arena and Convention Hall on the boardwalk. Although ring action was plentiful, the biggest fights were still happening elsewhere, and boxing was just one of many entertainment options in AC. However, everything changed once gambling came to town. As casinos popped up along the boardwalk, Atlantic City fights got bigger and bigger. By the late 1970s, boxing was on the rise, and within a few years, business was booming. Heavyweight champion Mike Tyson ushered in the city's peak era in the late 1980s, a time when more than just fight fans turned their attention to Atlantic City for some of the biggest sporting events ever. Although AC never again topped the impact of those days, boxing action at the shore remained vital for decades to come.

Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage

9780738511344

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Philadelphia has long been called the number one fight town in the world. The relentless fighting style of its boxers has thrilled fans over the years. Twenty-seven champions have come from the city over the course of more than a century.

Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage: 1876-1976 retraces the legacy of determined battlers such as Joe Frazier, Benny Bass, Gil Turner, Bob Montgomery, and Bennie Briscoe. Philadelphia has also produced legions of highly skilled craftsmen such as Tommy Loughran, Jack O'Brien, Midget Wolgast, Harold Johnson, and Joey Giardello. In 1926, the Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsy heavyweight championship bout was witnessed by more than one hundred thousand fans. In 1956, Rocky Marciano brought his guns to town and won the heavyweight title from Jersey Joe Walcott. In 1971, Philadelphia-trained Joe Frazier won the "Fight of the Century" from Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in New York. Philadelphia's Boxing Heritage: 1876-1976 showcases these legends and retraces their championship bouts through more than two hundred dazzling photographs.

Oregon Prizefighters:

9781626199934

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

In 1884, London's prizefighting craze spread to Portland. Since the fights were illegal throughout the States, matches were fought in inconspicuous venues away from unwanted spectators. A winner could be hanged if the loser died. Champions like Dave Campbell, Jack "Nonpareil" Dempsey and "Mysterious" Billy Smith were just a few contenders for the brutal, nearly forgotten sport. Join author Barney Blalock as he reveals the remarkable stories of Oregon's bare-knuckle champions.

Cleveland's Greatest Fighters of All Time

9780738519852

$24.99

Boxing began in Cleveland in the 1880s. As pugilism was an illegal activity, brawling workers from the iron ore docks surreptitiously met on "Whiskey Island" to settle disputes. They would be followed by crowds of spectators who cheered them on and often ended up fleeing from the sheriff. Boxing grew in popularity and soon became a legitimate sport that brought packed houses to such local venues as Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the Cleveland Arena, and the Public Auditorium. Thousands of fans from across the country would come to Cleveland to attend the marquee bouts of many of the city and the nation's most celebrated fighters.

Cleveland's Greatest Fighters of All Time follows the amazing careers of the city's most popular and successful boxers, highlighted by more than 100 rarely-seen images. From the speedy and resilient Johnny Kilbane, Cleveland's first great champion, to the heroic Jimmy Bivins, a true champion in and out of the ring, these stories of triumph and heartbreak are to be enjoyed by boxing fans of all eras. Much of the action inside is described in such a way as to bring the reader ringside.

Mexican American Boxing from the Golden State

9781467160919

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Mexican American boxer is one who leaves it all in the ring. They have been described as devastating punchers, fearless fighters, and tough competitors by boxing fans, sportswriters, and commentators alike. Mexican American boxers have long carried a reputation in boxing circles as being the ultimate crowd-pleasers. In continuing that tradition, the dramatic testimonies of seven distinct, valiant, and dashing warriors from the Golden State of California are presented here in intricate detail: Aurelio Herrera, Art Aragon, Mando Ramos, Bobby Chacon, "Yaqui" Lopez, Arturo Frias, and Oscar Muniz. By exposing new generations to their action-packed stories, new life is breathed into these talented and gifted boxers, ensuring their fighting spirit and heartfelt memories will never die. This volume salutes these pioneers of Mexican American boxing for opening the doors for today's boxers.

The Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame

9781467160827

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame (PABHOF) was established in 1958 to honor the elite performers of the state's boxing history. The first five-person class of inductees included ring legends Billy Conn, Harry Greb, Tommy Loughran, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, and Lew Tendler. The PABHOF continued to induct outstanding participants of the sport who either hailed from the state or had an impact on the Pennsylvania boxing story. By 2023, the list of honorees numbered 438 and included champions, contenders, club fighters, trainers, managers, promoters, cutmen, and other key members of the boxing community.
John DiSanto is a boxing historian and writer. He coauthored the books Boxing in Atlantic City and Grace and Grit: Boxing at Shuler's Gym . DiSanto, the founder and editor of PhillyBoxingHistory.com, is a New Jersey Boxing Hall of Famer and is the chairman of the PABHOF. For this work, he has compiled photographs and profiles of many noteworthy PABHOF members as well as a complete listing of every person inducted from 1958 to 2023.

Chicago Boxing

9780738532103

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Professor Mike Donovan, Battling Nelson-"The Durable Dane," and "Stockyards" Harold Smith-- their stories are as colorful as their names. Chicago's boxing history is as exciting and unpredictable as any prize fight within the ring. Some of the most memorable bouts--great, infamous or otherwise--took place in the city's clubs, parks and arenas, and Chicago has seen its share of champions and top contenders over the years. The Gans-McGovern fight in 1900--the "Big Fix"--set the sport back 25 years in Chicago. The "Long Count" between Tunney and Dempsey, in 1927, may still be the most controversial bout of all time. Chicago Boxing is a story not only of great boxers, but of the fans who embraced them, the promoters who made them big, and even a few mob bosses who made good on their talent.

Metro Detroit Boxing

9780738518879

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Boxing seemed to spring up in Detroit as early as 1900: heavyweight champ Jim Jeffries and future heavyweight champ Tommy Burns fought that year. With the emergence of Joe Louis in the 1930s and Thomas Mearns in the late 1970s, Motown enjoyed surges of interest in the sport. At the dawn of a new millenium, the presence of three casinos has given the sport another revival of interest in the city.

Metro Detroit Boxing showcases over 180 photographs that reveal not only the personalities who have enlivened the sport in the Detroit area, but also the places in which boxers, trainers, managers, and promoters fought, trained, lived, worked, and recreated. Photographs include where Joe Louis went to school, trained, and fought. Various boxing celebrities, including Muhammad Ali, are caught for the camera, socializing with eminent politicians and other figures of the day.

Baltimore's Boxing Legacy

9780738515618

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The boxing history of Baltimore dates back over a century. Over that time the Monumental City has produced seven world champions and numerous top contenders. Joe Gans, the first Baltimorean and African-American ever to win a world title, in 1902, learned his boxing science in the city, earning him the title of "The Old Master" while he shucked oysters on Broadway.

Baltimore's Boxing Legacy: 1893 to 2003 chronicles the evolution of fistiana from venues such as the Eureka Athletic Club, Gayety Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Carlin's Park, Baltimore Coliseum, Oriole Park, Steelworkers' Hall, to the Civic Center. It is a tale of ethnicity and race, of color barriers broken, and near-champions and contenders remembered. The likes of Johnny Kid Williams, the Dundee brothers Joe and Vince, Benny Schwartz, Jack Portney, Harry Jeffra, Red Burman, Joe Poodles Sr., Mack Lewis, Vincent Pettway, Hasim Rahman, and many more are showcased in addition to trainers, managers, matchmakers, and promoters.

Mexican American Boxing in Los Angeles

9781467130899

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Welcome to the colorful, flamboyant, and wonderful world of Mexican American boxing in Los Angeles. From the minute they stepped into the ring, Mexican American fighters have electrified fans with their explosiveness and courage. These historical images bring to life a sociological culture consisting of knockouts, the Main Street Gym, the Olympic Auditorium, neighborhood rivalries, Mexican idols, posters, and promoters. Like a winding thread, "the Golden Boy" Art Aragon bobs and weaves throughout the book. From "Mexican" Joe Rivers to Oscar De La Hoya, the true stories of their sensational ring wars are told while keeping alive the spirit and legacy of Mexican American boxing from the greater Los Angeles area.

Boston's Boxing Heritage

9780738511368

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Boston's Boxing Heritage: Prizefighting from 1882 to 1955 chronicles the rich history of prizefighting in Boston and the many characters that made the Hub city the home of champions. It is not only a pictorial history of the sport but also a tale of heroes and villains, gangsters and mobsters, contenders and bums, trainers and newspapermen, straight men and cheats. It is a saga of ethnicity and race, of color barriers broken and neighborhood rivalries settled and rekindled. At its core this story is truly about a city and its relationship with a sport.

Boston's Boxing Heritage: Prizefighting from 1882 to 1955 covers the early bareknuckle years of boxing through the sport's post-World War II boom. When Boston's John L. Sullivan won the heavyweight crown from Paddy Ryan in 1882, he took prizefighting from an illegal, red-light district pastime to the country's most popular sport and in essence put Bean Town on the sporting map. For the next sixty years, Boston remained one of the elite cities in the boxing world spawning ring immortals such as George "Little Chocolate" Dixon, Joe "the Barbados Demon" Wolcott, William "Honey" Mellody, Rocky Marciano, Jack "the Boston Gob" Sharkey, and Sam "the Boston Tar Baby" Langford.

Connecticut Boxing

9781467148085

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Sandwiched between New York and Boston, Connecticut has produced some of the fight game's most prominent pugilists, including Jack Delaney, Louis "Kid" Kaplan, Christopher "Bat" Battalino, Willie Pep and Marlon Starling. The state also has hosted a long list of legendary fighters that includes Lou Ambers, James J. Braddock, George Dixon, Joe Gans, Rocky Graziano, Harry Greb, Beau Jack, Sugar Ray Robinson, Tommy Ryan and Joe Walcott. And some of the finest boxing matches ever seen happened here, such as Micky Ward's stunning victory over Arturo Gatti at Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort. So, pull up your ringside seat and join boxing historian Mark Allen Baker as he details the history behind the headlines.

Lost Stories of West Coast Latino Boxing

9781467107327

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Many West Coast Latino boxers have entered and departed the ring, their anecdotes left behind like another stain on the mat. Latino boxing stories have floated around for ages without the benefit of being passed down from generation to generation. Buried tales and colorful narratives of beloved Mexican ring idols such as Ruben Olivares, Mando Ramos, Carlos Zarate, Danny "Little Red" Lopez, Bobby Chacon, Carlos Palomino, and Alberto Davila are showcased in these pages, their stories revived because no champion deserves to be forgotten. Other overlooked heroes and one-hit wonders of the golden era of Southland boxing (1940s-1970s) will also be saluted, along with the bygone contenders of the barrio who never saw their name in neon lights.

New York City's Greatest Boxers

9780738549019

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

For many years, New York City was considered to be the fight capital of the world. Local venues put on shows almost daily, and the mecca of boxing, Madison Square Garden, hosted boxing regularly. Fans flocked from one arena to the other to catch all of the action. New York City's Greatest Boxers is a photographic journey featuring over 180 photographs showcasing many of the outstanding boxers who helped make up the city's colorful history. New York City's biggest boxing stars are all found here, from legendary champions like Terry McGovern and Benny Leonard to local stars and celebrities like Joe Miceli, Tiger Jones, and Tony Danza.

Boxing in San Francisco

9780738528861

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

During the California Gold Rush, amateur and professional boxing almost immediately gained a strong foothold in northern California, as the gold fields and mining camps provided both employment and a venue for these athletes. In these times, many of the world's best fighters made their way to the canvas squares of the Pacific coast where San Francisco served as the locus of championship title bouts that even today remain legendary. This volume spotlights such greats as Gentleman Jim Corbett, Joe Choynski, Jack Johnson, Battling Nelson, Stanley Ketchel, and 1904 Olympic heavyweight champion Sam Berger. Somrack explores San Francisco's boxing scene through the years, but also focuses in on weight classifications and ring records.

Cincinnati Boxing

9780738541129

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

On August 29, 1885, Cincinnati was the scene for the first modern heavyweight championship boxing match using gloves. The Boston Strong Boy, John L. Sullivan, met Dominick McCaffrey at the city's Chester Park that day and came away with the referee's decision. By this time, Cincinnati had been a noted boxing site since the Civil War years, and over the next several decades, it developed a remarkable number of fine boxers in both the professional and amateur ranks. Out of the many gymnasiums in Over-the-Rhine and the West End came world champions such as Freddie Miller, Ezzard Charles, Bud Smith, and Aaron Pryor. This book is the story of a fascinating aspect of Cincinnati's great sports heritage--the boxing game--with all its leather-punching drama. From the frontierlike matches of the 19th-century river town to the urban ethnic and social influences of the 20th and 21st centuries, Cincinnati Boxing brings a rich part of local history to life.

Title Town USA

9781596297692

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Canastota, New York, at the epicenter of Upstate New York's rich boxing heritage, is home to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Having produced some of boxing's most prominent pugilists, including Carmen Basilio and Billy Backus, the area has also hosted many legendary fighters, including Jack Britton, Harry Greb, Sam Langford and Tommy Ryan. Many boxing dreams have come true here through title fights and epic ring rivalries. Author Mark Allen Baker tells the story of those "thunder gods of the ring" and the fights that made them famous, finally settling the score: Canastota is "Title Town, USA."