A Dangerous Journey

About

Each year, readers, writers, and critics alike look forward to Thomas Hauser’s newest collection of articles about the contemporary boxing scene. Reviewing his 2018 collection, Booklist proclaimed, “This is Hauser in a nutshell: compassion, character, and context. As always, an annual delight.”

A Dangerous Journey continues Hauser’s tradition of excellence, turning his award-winning investigative reporting skills on the scandal surrounding the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs and the failures of corrupt and incompetent state athletic commissions. Hauser also takes readers into Canelo Alvarez’s dressing room in the hours before and after his rematch against Gennady Golovkin, the biggest fight of the year, and offers in-depth portraits of boxing’s biggest stars—past and present—as well as reflections on fight-related curiosities ranging from Ronda Rousey to David and Goliath.

Thirty-five years ago, Hauser began writing about boxing with his superb The Black Lights, which has long been regarded as a boxing classic. He only gets better.

Author

Thomas Hauser is the author of fifty-two books. His first work, Missing, was made into an Academy Award–winning film. He later authored Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times, the definitive biography of the most famous fighter ever. In 2004 the Boxing Writers Association of America honored Hauser with the Nat Fleischer Award for Career Excellence in Boxing Journalism.

Review

“As it does every year, Hauser’s anthology laps the field. The man is a treasure.”
—Wes Lukowsky, Booklist, August 2019

Contents

Fighters and Fights
The Validation of Canelo Alvarez
Katie Taylor Can Fight
Deontay Wilder Walks Through Fire to Win
Evander Holyfield: Fight Night is Different Now
Unbeaten: Rocky Marciano
A Night at Barclays Center
Vasyl Lomachenko and the Lure of History
Manny Pacquiao vs. Lucas Matthysse
Regis Prograis and the World Boxing Super Series
Jacobs-Derevyanchenko and the Operating Room
Fight Notes
Curtis Harper Goes Viral
Jermell and Jermall Charlo on Fox
Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury in Perspective
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez Comes to Madison Square Garden

Curiosities
Albert Einstein: Scientist, Humanist, Icon
The Ring Walk
Dave Wolf at 75
Club Fights on Ice
The Contender: 2018
Arne Lang: Ring Announcer
The Mouthpiece and Boxing
Fistic Nuggets
Ernest Hemingway, Boxing, and “Fifty Grand”
David vs. Goliath
Ronda Rousey Rewrites the Script

Other Sports
The Sporting News Tradition
A Conversation with Bear Bryant
Dave Zirin, Jim Brown, and Muhammad Ali
What Would Arnold Palmer Think of Donald Trump Today?
A Boy Learns to Love Books

Issues and Answers
The New Order and the Future of Boxing
Wilder-Ortiz and the PED Shadow
Jack Johnson’s Pardon
Irregularities Mar New York State Boxing Hall of Fame Election
A Plea for Spence-Crawford Now
Two Minutes or Three for Women?
An Hour in the Life of Oscar De La Hoya
Reflections from the Flight Deck of The USS Intrepid
Comparing Today’s Fighters with the Past
Fistic Notes
The Heavyweight Triangle: Anthony Joshua is Still The Man
Literary Notes
CompuBox and Muhammad Ali
1,501 Tests, One Reported Positive: What’s Going On with USADA and Boxing?
USADA, VADA, and the State Athletic Commissions