The Night the Referee Hit Back

March 30, 2020
In this fast-paced, enjoyable collection of essays, boxing historian Silver (The Art of Boxing) gathers the best of his articles covering four decades of professional boxing. Silver believes boxing today is “a fringe sport vastly inferior as an art form” compared to old school fights, and begins with an informative foreword by Mike Tyson trainer Teddy Atlas, who writes, “the boxing ring has been referred to as a chamber of truth.” Readers will delight in Silver’s recaps of such famous bouts as the 1975 Ali–Joe Frazier classic, the “Thrilla in Manila”; the 1962 Emile Griffith bout with Benny “Kid” Paret, who was knocked unconscious and died 10 days later; and the final encounter between Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake LaMotta (“For two minutes straight was subjected to a horrific beating yet he still refused to go down”). Along the way, Silver covers President Teddy Roosevelt’s early boxing days, as well as the championship bouts of Floyd Mayweather, and includes interviews with such greats as Archie Moore, Emile Griffith, and Carlos Ortiz. Loaded with information and anecdotes, this will be a welcome addition to the libraries of boxing fans and sports pundits. (June)

Correction: An earlier version of this review misstated the role of Teddy Atlas and the year of the Ali-Frazier fight, and a quote has been removed that was originally used in an incorrect context.