Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading a lot of deranged fiction lately (Bret Easton Ellis), and need to get the aggression out, or maybe it’s because I just really like boxing. Either way, I haven’t read a good sports book in awhile (about two months; read When March Went Mad during March Madness), and I’m interested in reading a great book about boxing. Looking for suggestions.

Here are eight I pulled off Amazon. Leave insights in the comments, fellow fans of pugilist lit.

The Greatest Boxing Stories Ever Told: Thirty-Six Incredible Tales from the Ring, edited by Jeff Silverman

The Sweet Science, by A.J. Liebling

My View from the Corner: A Life in Boxing, by Angelo Dundee

Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson, by Wil Haygood

The Professional, by W.C. Heinz

The Arc of Boxing: The Rise and Decline of the Sweet Science, by Mike Silver

Sound and Fury: Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship, by Dave Kindred

Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing, by George Kimball

Thankfully, Bode Miller has become a caricature of his former self. This is great, because his former self was really – to put it lightly – dickish?

Somebody, maybe it was Bode himself (once an attention whore…), decided to make the Bode: Life After the U.S. Ski team webisode (He quit way the hell back in 2007, by the way). This video makes me long for more Life After videos with other marginally successful athletes who have seen the tipping point of that marginal success come and go, and are now declining steeper than a giant slalom course in the Swiss Alps.

Watch this, and think about who else is ripe for a pummel by an old man (comes at about the 1:00 minute mark; the headlines on this site do not lie).

More bode-miller Ski >>

(That was pretty darn comedic, I’ll say.)

Bode quits U.S. ski team, but may still compete (NBC Sports)

In case you had forgotten how greed works, Don King provided a little refresher this week. His production company, KingVision, sued an American Legion Post in Chino, CA, alleging that they broke the rules when they only purchased the residential pay-per-view package for one his fights instead of the commercial package. Because, when you think American Legion, you think bustling merchantry. The Chino war vets settled with King for a cool 20 Gs, because they can’t afford the cost to go up against a pay-per-view provider’s legal arsenal, not to mention whatever scumbags King keeps as counsel.

Fantastic, we’ve got war vets making a relatively miniscule drop in the bucket of an ex-con’s fortune. Only in America.

One blogger lashed out quite nicely…

I’m a pretty big fight fan who rarely misses a good match on pay-per-view. So, it is with some pain that I make the following pledge: I swear before God that I will never watch a boxing match promoted by Don King until he (a) releases American Legion Post 299 from any obligation in this matter to him and his equally shameful partners, J&J Sports Productions, and (b) grants a free and continuous license to each and every American Legion Post in America for every single fight he ever promotes. And by that I mean that any American Legion Post would not even have to pay even the amount charged for watching a fight in one’s living room. (Rick Ungar of True/Slant)

I like it, I’m on the bus. Plus, personally I can’t remember a good fight that didn’t have the Golden Boy Productions stamp on it. Someone want to enlighten me as to the last time I cared about a Don King fight? (Hector Camacho vs. Julio Cesar-Chavez, maybe?)

Don King Productions Sues American Legion Post Over Pay-Per-View (Fanhouse)

Ricky Hatton laid there on the mat for a good three minutes looking like he was in another world on Saturday. And anyone with even a cursory knowledge of boxing (and the effects of a Manny Pacquiao uncontested left hook) knows that could be it for the Hitman.

What lies in store for Hatton remains to be seen, but according to The Guardian, it didn’t take long for Floyd Mayweather Sr. to find another Brit to take under his wing should Hatton retire. Chris Eubank Jr., whose senior is a former World Champion fighter, will reportedly start training under Mayweather at his Las Vegas-based gym.

“Let’s not dilly-dally with this, let’s get him to the right guy. I’m getting him to the right man,” said [Eubank Sr.] the former middleweight and super-middleweight world champion. “I’m sending him out there. I’ve watched this man [Mayweather], I’ve watched him train him. Christopher is no good to him without heart, he’s got fight, so now, what Floyd will do is teach him the tools.”

Eubank Sr. versus Joe Calzaghe

19-year old Eubank initially broke into boxing against his father’s wishes when he started training in 2006 in Las Vegas. In a short period of time, he’s amassed six amateur victories and recently won the title of Nevada Golden Gloves Champion at the 165 lbs. According to the Guardian, Eubank is in no rush to go pro and has a strong desire to compete for the UK at the London 2012 Olympics.

Check out Junior dishing out some punishment in one of his amateur fights.

(Additional info from Chris Eubank’s Wikipedia page)

Been a little while since the last IYHM. Figured it was time to bring it back, what with the news that Obama Inauguration tickets are going for five figures, and considering that the Federal Reserve plans to give out $2 trillion dollars to somebody, but would rather not tell us who the recipients are.

Money is depressing. Anyway…

For all you museum curator-types out there, check out this life casting of Cassius Clay.

Get this. They’re claiming that the sculpture contains DNA-loaded hair from Ali (3 chests hair and about 30 armpit hairs to be precise). Also, they claim to have destroyed the original mold, so only the one impression could be made.

And They’re claiming it all to the tune of $7,000,000! ($400,000 down payment required via Pay Pal).

Wow. Like I said, museums, institutes, Hall-of-Fames – you may apply. People who pull heists for a living, you’ve been informed as well. Regular schmoes like me, will have to throw in the towel on this one.

Economic turmoil aside, Doubledown Media held their annual Wall Street Boxing Charity Championship this past weekend, at the Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC.

Evan Odim, of Citigroup

The show’s card featured white collar pugilists from some of (if not all of what’s left of) the big firms in the city dukeing it out in front of a crowd that popped for tickets ranging from $125 to $10,000. The event raised money for Youth Village in Rwanda and Tuesday’s Children, which helps families of 9/11 victims.

Check out one of the knockdown laden showdowns right here!
“big daddy” odim vs “the bull” nersten

Link:
Boxing on Wall Street: Wouldn’t you love to watch traders get beaten? (Blogging Stocks)