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Sparring With Hemingway: And Other Legends of the Fight Game

Page 24

by Budd Schulberg


  Our theory that heavyweight champions—the real ones, not the Witherspoons, Pages, and Moorers—catch and reflect the spirit of our times, symbols like Dempsey and Louis, Marciano and Ali, seems borne out once again by the second coming of George Foreman. I saw the icon emerging in his stand-up fight with Holyfield. Here is the reformed mugger recycled for the ’90s, between fights the humble preacher in Houston, the millionaire huckster for Meineke mufflers on television, one minute the clown prince of jumbo-hamburger consumption, the next moment preaching the prowess of middle age once you bring yourself to believe that all things are possible. He’s a blown-up Jimmy Carter with a chopping right hand, a ’90s-style faith, and enough Madison Avenue savvy to keep those millions rolling in even if he doesn’t hang in there long enough to wait for the springing of Mike Tyson.

  If every great fight is a morality play, we have a beauty coming up if forty-six-year-old, gold-plated George can manage to climb through the ropes against Iron Mike, with all the feminists crying, “Rapist!” and “Sexual harasser!” and all the young bloods claiming Tyson was framed or at least unfairly overpunished.

  From born-agains to “date-rape” victims to inner-city violence, all the provocative issues of the final decade of the twentieth century will be reflected and hotly debated if we get Old George the Good and Young Mike the Bad into that zillion-dollar ring.

  If every major heavyweight title fight holds up a mirror to our society, this mirror would cover the side of the World Trade Center, framed in twenty-two-carat gold. Praise the Lord and hike the prices on those commercials. This is the ’90s, when our old new heavyweight champion laughs at us: “In God and Meineke I trust, helping the poor, selling Mr. Nice Guy, getting banged up around the eyes, but never too blind to find my way to the bank.”

  If it happens, get ready for religious fervor and big-profit redemption versus inner-city anger, pent up after doing five years hard time in presidential-hopeful Dan Quayle’s home state, where Family Values seem to have superseded the Bill of Rights.

  Acknowledgments

  I AM INDEBTED to Nick Beck, a man of letters who knows his boxing—a dear friend of the late Cus D’Amato and Jimmy Jacobs, Mike Tyson’s original mentors—who volunteered to read through some 150 fight pieces and suggested the Contents that gave form to this work.

  While Nick provided this service as a labor of love, it was invaluable, unselfish, and thoroughly professional. How can I thank him: a long nostalgic lunch at Musso & Frank’s on Hollywood Boulevard for starters, to discuss everything from the Scott Fitzgerald comeback of the century to the impending release of Mike Tyson and his impact on the sorry state of the heavyweight division.

  And my thanks to Elizabeth Marlowe, who fused high-tech efficiency to dedication in her paper chase through elusive files and lost folders to bring these pieces to their present form, along with invaluable editorial suggestions that supplemented Nick Beck’s expert selections from an overload of material.

  Brookside, Quioque, New York

  February 1995

  Index

  A | B | C | D | E

  F | G | H | I | J

  K | L | M | N | O

  P | Q | R | S | T

  U | V | W | Y | Z

  Abrams, Al, 83

  Abramson, Jesse, 80, 83, 155

  Across the River and into the Trees (Hemingway), 26, 27

  Algren, Nelson, 11, 187

  Ali, Muhammad, 9, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 45, 94, 100, 136-138, 162, 166, 187-192, 242; compared to Jack Johnson, 45-46, 145; overview of career, 143-157; in Zaire, 169-182

  American Medical Association, 159-168 passim

  Angott, Sammy, 119

  Antuofermo, Vito, 188

  Arcel, Ray, 88, 161

  Armstrong, Henry, 129, 193

  Arthur, Johnny, 106

  Arum, Bob, 99

  Atlas, Teddy, 246

  Attell, Abe, 54

  Baer, Max, 49, 73, 74, 90, 191

  Baker, Bob, 105

  Baldwin, James, 9

  Basilio, Carmen, 95, 101, 102, 103, 122, 126, 127

  “Battler, The” (Hemingway), 30

  Beard, symbol of, 135

  Beckett, Joe, 106

  Beery, Wallace, 222

  Bell, Tommy, 120, 126

  Bellows, George, 88

  Benitez, Wilfred, 183, 184

  Benton, George, 231, 235

  Bey, David, 244

  Biggs, Tyrell, 206

  Bivins, Jimmy, 82

  Black Muslims. See Islam.

  Blount, George, 66

  Boal, Sam, 28

  Bobick, Duane, 94, 196

  Body and Soul, 222

  Bogart, Humphrey, 17, 34

  Booker, Eddie, 82

  Booth, Irving, 162

  Bowe, Riddick, 242, 244, 245

  Boxing: abolition versus reform, 32-34, 74-75, 140-142, 158-168; in Africa, 169-182; in America, 42-44 (see also specific items); in ancient Crete, 35; in ancient Greece, 35; in ancient Rome, 35-36; in Australia, 45; and brain damage, 159-168 passim; and celibacy, 91, 132; compared to chess, 140, 159, 188; corruption of, 71-74, 99, 124-129, 185-186; in England, 10-11, 36-42, 105-111 passim, 164; and history, 35-37, 139; and Jews, 50-52, 53-63, 139; Latins in, 168; and literature, 9-11, 187; and need for commissioner, 159-160, 167; and race, 37-52, 139, 196-206; salary issues, 140, 141, 201; and state of mind, 89-90; and television, 94-100, 165

  Boxing Illustrated, 241

  Braddock, Jim, 49, 51

  Brando, Marlon, 188, 202

  Bratton, Johnny, 95, 103, 126, 127, 140

  Braxton, Dwight, 219

  Breit, Harvey, 24, 27

  Brinkley, David, 140, 150

  Broadus, Doc, 223

  Brown, Bundini. See Brown, Drew.

  Brown, Drew, 152, 169, 171, 180, 191

  Brown, Frankie, 111

  Brown, Freddy, 187

  Brown, James, 179

  Brown, Joe, 95

  Brown, Pat, 140, 142

  Brown, Phil, 199

  Bruce, Betty, 18

  Bruce, Toby, 18-31 passim

  Bruno, Frank, 206

  Bucceroni, Dan, 124

  Burley, Charley, 82

  Burns, Tommy, 44

  Byrd, Al, 162

  Byron, George (Lord), 10, 36

  Cain, Kid, 32

  Callahan, Mushy, 21

  Cannon, Jimmy, 49, 80, 84, 102

  Canzoneri, Tony, 84

  Carbo, Frankie, 98, 127

  Carlos, John, 224

  Carnera, Primo, 49, 126, 132-133

  Carpentier, Georges, 47, 91

  Carter, Jimmy, 95

  Casa Cayo Jueso, 19

  Cashel Byron’s Profession (Shaw), 48

  Cayton, Bill, 221

  Chamberlain, Neville, 51

  Champ, The, 222

  Chaplin, Charlie, 26, 27, 33

  Chaplin, George, 200

  Charles, Ezzard, 77, 81, 84, 87, 88, 131, 245

  Chase, Jack, 82

  Choynski, Joe, 164

  Chuvalo, George, 196, 225

  City Lights, 26, 27

  Clancy, Gil, 161, 228

  Classen, Willie, 162, 167

  Clay, Cassius. See Ali, Muhammad.

  Clay, Rudolph Valentino, 138, 150

  Cobb, Tex, 163, 167

  Cochrane, Red, 120

  Cockell, Don, 105-111

  Cohn, Roy, 139

  Columbo, Allie, 82

  Comiskey, Pat, 72

  Conn, Billy, 34, 77, 84-86, 90,

  93, 148, 191

  Conn, Jackie, 84

  Conrad, Hal, 100

  Cooney, Gerry, 196-206

  Cooney, Tommy, 199, 201

  Cooney, Tony, 199

  Cooper, Henry, 149

  Corbett, Jim, 164

  Corbett, Young, III, 129

  Cosell, Howard, 46, 184, 203

  Cribb, Tom, 10, 39-41, 107

  Cuba, 24-30

  Cuevas, Pipino, 184

  D’Amato, Cus, 77, 136, 161,
220, 238, 240

  Davey, Chuck, 97, 99

  Davis, Eddie, 200, 219

  Davis, Howard, 99

  Death in the Afternoon (Hemingway), 30

  DeJesus, Esteban, 183

  Delaney, Ronnie, 103

  DeMarco, Tony, 95, 101-104, 122

  Dempsey, Jack, 47-48, 207, 210, 242

  Denby, Bennett, 163

  Disenchanted, The (Schulberg), 23-26

  Dokes, Michael, 243

  Donoghue, Roger, 73, 188

  Dorsey, Marcus, 162

  Douglas, Buster, 243, 244

  Douglas, Kirk, 217

  Doyle, Arthur Conan, 11, 187

  Dumas, Charley, 229

  Dundee, Angelo, 143, 149, 152, 180, 187, 191

  Dundee, Gus, 72

  Dundee, Johnny, 54

  Duran, Roberto, 9, 182-186

  Durando, Ernie, 97

  Durelle, Yvon, 95, 96

  Dutch, Sam, 131

  Duva, Lou, 231

  Eastman, Max, 21

  Egan, Pierce, 114

  Elijah Muhammad, 153, 156

  Ellis, Jimmy, 97, 189

  Esquire, 241

  Ever Hammer, 54

  Farr, Tommy, 106

  Faulkner, William, 77-78

  Fields, Jackie, 62, 73, 129

  Fifth Column and the First Forty-nine Stories, The (Hemingway), 19

  “Fifty Grand” (Hemingway), 30

  Figg, James, 167

  Film, 17, 24, 71-75, 80; Body and Soul, 222; The Champ, 222; City Lights, 26, 27; The Great White Hope, 44, 209; The Harder They Fall, 71-74, 222; The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, 134; Rocky, 194, 195, 209; On the Waterfront, 27, 188, 202-203

  Finnegan, Mickey, 55

  Firpo, Luis, 207, 210

  Fitzgerald, F. Scott, 24, 238, 240; The Last Tycoon, 25; Tender Is the Night, 25; This Side of Paradise, 25

  Flaherty, Vince, 83

  Flanagan brothers, 97

  Fleischer, Nat, 83

  Foreman, George, 222-231, 232-237, 246; religion of, 228-231; in Zaire, 169-182

  Foster, Bob, 215

  Fox, Billy, 124, 127, 140, 142

  Franklin, Aretha, 179

  Frazier, Joe, 34, 37, 41, 221, 225

  Fullmer, Gene, 95, 121

  Futch, Eddie, 220

  Galento, Tony, 132

  Gavilan, Kid, 95, 98, 101, 102, 124-129, 185

  Givens, Robin, 221

  Godfrey, George, 73

  Goebbels, Joseph, 50-51, 85

  Goering, Hermann, 52

  Goldman, Charley, 113

  Goldstein, Abe, 54

  Goldstein, Ruby, 62

  Gonsalves, Johnny, 119

  Gonzalez, Henry B., 168

  Gould, Joe, 49, 50

  Graham, Billy, 84, 95, 102, 126

  Graham, Frank, 81, 83

  Great White Hope, 37-52 passim, 196-206

  Great White Hope, The, 44, 209

  Greb, Harry, 20, 74, 132

  Green Hills of Africa (Hemingway), 30

  Griffith, Emile, 97, 140

  Gully, John, 10

  Gunther, John, 174

  Hagler, Marvin, 159, 188, 207-212

  Halliday, Manley, 24

  Hamill, Pete, 11

  Harder They Fall, The (Schulberg), 17, 33, 71-74, 141, 185, 204; film versus book, 71-74

  Hazlitt, William, 10-11, 187

  Hearns, Thomas, 159, 161, 184, 193-195, 207-212

  Heavyweight championships, 76-93, 188-192, 241-245

  Hecht, Ben, 9

  Hemingway, Ernest, 9, 17-31, 135, 187; Across the River and into the Trees, 26, 27; “The Battler,” 30; Death in the Afternoon, 30; The Fifth Column and the First Forty- nine Stories, 19; “Fifty Grand,” 30; Green Hills of Africa, 30; A Moveable Feast, 26; The Old Man and the Sea, 27; “The Undefeated,” 30

  Hemingway, Mary, 17

  Henry, Clarence, 124

  Hickman, Thomas, 10

  Hoffman, Abbie, 156

  Hogue, Shorty, 82

  Holmes, Larry, 161, 163, 167, 187-192, 197, 198, 213-215, 216-218, 243

  Holyfield, Evander, 221, 222-231 passim, 232-237, 242-245

  Homer, 10, 35, 78, 88, 187

  Houck, Leo, 20

  Hunsaker, Tunney, 147

  Hurley, Jack, 106

  Inside Africa, 174

  International Boxing Club, 98, 129

  Islam, 153-157, 170

  Jack, Beau, 140, 141

  Jackson, Hurricane, 91

  Jackson, John, 10, 236

  Jackson, Mushky, 88

  Jackson, Peter, 74

  Jacobs, Jim, 206, 221, 238, 239

  Jacobs, Joe, 88

  Jacobs, Mike, 49, 51

  James, Etta, 179

  Janiro, Tony, 126

  Jeanette, Joe, 82

  Jeffries, Jim, 44-47, 191, 223

  Jews: and boxing, 50-52, 53-63; and Nazis, 50-52

  Johansson, Ingemar, 90-93, 131, 196

  Johnson, Jack, 44-47, 136, 145, 191, 242

  Jones, Doug, 138, 139, 147

  Jones, Tiger, 97, 100, 121

  Journal of the American Medical Association, 160, 162

  Kazan, Elia, 80

  Kazin, Alfred, 21

  Kearns, Jack, 48

  Ketchel, Stanley, 20

  Key West, Florida, 17-23

  Kilrain, Jake, 164

  Kilroy, Billy, 203

  Kilroy, Gene, 171

  Kim, Duk Koo, 162, 167

  King, Carl, 202

  King, Don, 99, 179, 216, 221, 227, 240

  King, Ferman, 73

  Knox, Ernie, 141

  LaBarba, Fidel, 62, 73

  LaMotta, Jake, 95, 100, 110, 120, 127

  Lampkin, Ray, 183

  Lancet, 162

  Landis, Kenesaw Mountain, 166

  Langford, Sam, 82

  Lardner, Ring, 9

  Larkin, Tippy, 202

  Las Vegas, Nevada, 130, 165, 212, 242

  Last Tycoon, The (Fitzgerald), 25

  LaStarza, Roland, 82, 106

  Latzo, Pete, 21

  Lawrence, Vincent, 24

  Lee, Harry, 236

  Leiner, Benjamin. See Leonard, Benny.

  Leonard, Benny, 21, 53-63

  Leonard, Sugar Ray, 9, 99, 158, 159, 161, 166, 182-186, 193-195, 211-212

  Lewis, Butch, 202

  Lewis, Joe E., 101-104

  Liebling, A. J., 11

  Lisker, Blackie, 184

  Lisker, Jerry, 213

  Liston, Sonny, 9, 34, 130-142 passim, 225

  Lombardo, Johnny, 102

  London, Brian, 77, 187

  London, Jack, 9, 21, 34, 45, 47, 191, 232

  London Star, 109

  Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, The, 134

  Lopez, Angel, 127

  Lopez, Yaqui, 219

  Lopinson, Nat, 124

  Los Angeles Examiner, 83

  Louis, Joe, 34, 48-52, 77, 84, 85, 87, 90, 93, 101-102, 136, 145, 148, 191, 242

  Lyle, Ron, 197, 227

  Lytell, Bert, 82

  McBride, Archie, 91, 92, 93, 198

  MacDonald, Jim, 200

  McEnroe, John, 217

  McKeogh, Danny, 66, 68, 69, 70

  McLarnin, Jimmy, 62, 129

  McLuhan, Marshall, 99

  McMurray, Bill, 172

  McNeeley, Tom, 93

  McVey, Sam, 82

  Mace, Jem, 107

  Machen, Eddie, 138

  Mailer, Norman, 9, 11, 37, 140, 184, 187

  Makeba, Miriam, 179

  Malcolm X, 153-154, 170

  Mancini, Ray, 162

  Mankiewicz, Herman, 24

  Marciano, Rocky, 73, 77-83, 84, 88, 90, 105-111, 112-118, 168, 187, 191, 196, 242

  Markson, Harry, 99, 103

  Marshall, Lloyd, 82

  Matches: Ali-Foreman, 169-182, 241; Ali-Frazier, 241;Ali-Holmes, 187-192; Cooney-Holmes, 197-198; Cribb-Molineaux, 39-42, 164; Dempsey-Firpo, 207, 210; Dempsey-Tunney, 85, 113; Foreman-Holyfield, 222-231, 232-237;
Foreman-Peralta, 181; Gavilan-Saxton, 124-129; Hagler-Hearns, 207-212; Holmes-Cobb, 167; Holmes-Spinks, 213-215; Holyfield-Bowe, 242-245; Humphries-Mendoza, 164; Jeffries-Corbett, 85; Johansson-Patterson, 90-93; Johnson-Jeffries, 44-47; Leonard-Duran, 182-186; Leonard-Hagler, 211-212; Leonard-Hearns, 193-195; Liston-Patterson, 130-142; Louis-Conn, 84-86, 113, 241; Louis-Schmeling, 49-52, 85; Marciano-Cockell, 105-111; Moore-Durelle, 96; Moore-Marciano, 78-83, 112-118; Norris-Davey, 99; Saxton-Basilio, 103; Saxton-DeMarco, 101, 103; Spinks-Cooney, 204-206; Tyson-Holmes, 216-218; Tyson-Spinks, 219-221. See also specific boxers.

  Mathis, Buster, 189

  Matthews, Harry, 82, 106

  Mauriello, Tami, 107

  Maxim, Joey, 121

  Mayer, Edwin Justus, 24

  Mederos, Julio, 92

  Media. See Reporters.

  Mendoza, Daniel, 10, 38, 107, 236, 244

  Mercado, Bernard, 189

  Miceli, Joe, 97

  Milton, John, 11

  Mims, Holly, 97

  Mina, Jim, 124

  Mintz, Jake, 87, 88

  Mitchell, Billy, 61

  Mitchell, Charley, 164

  Mitchell, Pinkey, 20-21, 25

  Mitchell, Richie, 21, 56, 57, 60, 61

  Miteff, Alex, 91

  Mizener, Arthur, 24

  Mobutu Sese Seku, 173-182 passim

  Molineaux, Tom, 10, 39-41, 144

  Monzon, Carlos, 211

  Moore, Archie, 77, 78-83, 95, 96, 105, 112-118, 137, 187

  Moorer, Michael, 246

  Moran, Pal, 54

  Moreno, Rosina, 18

  Moreno, Toro, 74

  Mosconi, Willie, 159

  Moveable Feast, A (Hemingway), 26

  Muhammad, Herbert, 190

  Muhammad Ali. See Ali, Muhammad.

  Nardiello, Vincent, 117

  Neate, Bill, 10

  New York, 165

  New York Herald-Tribune, 155, 185

  New York Post, 241

  New York State Athletic Commission, 160

  New York Times, 24, 32, 33

  Newman, Rock, 245

  Norris, James D., 82, 98, 99, 129

  Norton, Ken, 196, 217, 225

  Oates, Joyce Carol, 11, 187

  O’Brien, Jack, 215

  Old Man and the Sea, The (Hemingway), 27

  Olson, Bobo, 95, 121, 126

  Oma, Lee, 73, 107

  On the Waterfront, 27, 188, 202-203

  O’Neal, Tatum, 217

 

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