An Unforgiving Sport

About

Thomas Hauser has become “must reading” in the boxing community, and his latest book demonstrates why. An Unforgiving Sport brings together Hauser’s 2008 articles from secondsout.com and espn.com, in which he exposes the inner workings of HBO Sports, goes behind the scenes at boxing’s biggest fights, revisits historical figures like John L. Sullivan, and offers revealing portraits of Don King, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton, Bernard Hopkins, and a host of others.

Booklist praised an earlier collection of Hauser’s articles as “one more testament to [Hauser’s] talent and passion for the most elemental of our sports.” An Unforgiving Sport adds to Hauser’s definitive record of the contemporary boxing scene.

Author

Thomas Hauser is the author of thirty-seven books on a wide range of subjects. His first book, Missing, was made into an Academy Award–winning movie, and his book Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times is considered to be the definitive account of the great fighter. In 1996 Hauser coauthored with Ali the book Healing, for which they won the Haviva Reik Award. In 2004 Hauser won the Nat Fleischer Award for Career Excellence in Boxing Journalism from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Contents

Round 1: Fights and Fighters
John L. Sullivan Revisited
Jones-Trinidad and the Long Road to Where?
Paulie Malignaggi:Taking Care of Business
Pavlik-Taylor II: Courage under Fire
Kevin Burnett: Prospect or Project?
John Duddy:The Challenge Ahead
The Heavyweight Follies
Hopkins-Calzaghe:When Push Comes to Shove
Joe Calzaghe:The Legend Beater
Kelly Pavlik:The Journey Continues
Cotto-Margarito: La Batalla
Pavlik-Hopkins: Boxing Is a Cruel Teacher
Joe Calzaghe versus Roy Jones Jr
Hatton-Malignaggi:The End of a Dream
De La Hoya-Pacquiao:A Weighty Issue
De La Hoya-Pacquiao and the Business of Boxing

Round 2: Non-Combatants
Don King:The Lion in Winter
Danny Milano:The Cutman
Anthony Catanzaro and Chris Santos
Boxrec.com
Dave Wolf:A Remembrance

Round 3: Curiosities
Fighters Remember:“My Greatest Moment in Another Sport”
Fistic Nuggets
Floyd Mayweather Jr versus Big Show
An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton
The Vice Presidential Sweepstakes
Sarah Palin Talks Boxing

Round 4: Issues and Answers
24/7 and Countdown: Docudrama or Infomercial?
HBO: 2008
Bob Arum and HBO
HBO Notes
New York State and the Legalization of Mixed Martial Arts
Fistic Notes
One-Punch Magic
Medical Issues and Boxing
Notes from the Literary Front
Shelly Finkel’s “Recruiting and Signing” Fund
More Important Than Boxing: 2008