A Hard World

About

In 2015, Booklist observed, “the arrival of Hauser’s annual boxing review is akin to Christmas morning for fight fans. Nobody knows a sport any better than Hauser knows boxing.”

Each year, readers, writers, and critics alike look forward to Thomas Hauser’s annual collection of articles about the contemporary boxing scene. He’s one of the last real champions of boxing and one of the very best who has ever written about the sport.

A Hard World continues this tradition of excellence with dressing-room reports from big fights like Canelo Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto, a behind-the-scenes look at Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, and a foray into the world of mixed martial arts for a compelling portrait of Ronda Rousey. Most importantly, this new collection contains Hauser’s groundbreaking two-part investigative report on the relationship between the United States Anti-Doping Agency and boxing, a report that shook the industry and raised fundamental questions regarding the integrity of USADA’s drug-testing procedures as applied to boxing.

Author

Thomas Hauser is the author of forty-eight 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

“Hauser continues to provide the sporting world’s most perceptive boxing reporting…. hard-hitting journalism at its best. Hauser is a treasure; whatever he writes is worth reading, and boxing is blessed that he’s focused so much of his career on the sweet science.”
—Booklist, August 2016

Contents

Fighters and Fights
Mayweather-Pacquiao Approaches
Planet Floyd
Bobby Haymon
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Bryant Jennings
In Celebration of Miguel Cotto
A Man’s World: The Double Life of Emile Griffith
Fight Notes
Ronda Rousey
Paulie Malignaggi: It’s Over
Floyd Mayweather vs. Andre Berto
Gennady Golovkin and Roman Gonzalez: Pound-for-Pound Showcase
Ronda Rousey vs. Holly Holm
“I’m the Golden Boy, but I’m also Oscar”
Miguel Cotto: The Professional
Tyson Fury Upsets Wladimir Klitschko
The Thrilla in Manila: Forty Years Later

Non-Combatants
Ella Fitzgerald: An Appreciation
Ernie Morales: The Inspector
Tom Hoover Remembers Wilt Chamberlain
Some Notes on Michael Buffer

Curiosities
Before the Bell for Round One
A Look Ahead at Holyfield-Romney
Two Dinners with Don King
Fistic Nuggets

Issues and Answers
The Big Lie
Mayweather-Pacquiao and the Media
Haymon Boxing on NBC
Haymon Boxing on Spike
Haymon Boxing on CBS
Mayweather-Pacquiao: How Big a Winner Was Al Haymon?
The Service Academies and Boxing
Inspectors Shouldn’t Judge
The Drawbreaker Round
Sugar Ray Robinson Is Still #1
Fistic Notes
What’s With the Gloves?
“Richmond Unchained”
Literary Notes
In Memoriam
Sam Simon: A Remembrance
Can Boxing Trust USADA?
Was Floyd Mayweather Really Dehydrated?