Referee Harold Valan for declaring Jimmy Ellis the winner over Floyd Patterson in 1968.

Ezzard Charles.

Gene Tunney vs Joe Louis

John L Sullivan vs Peter Jackson

Jack Johnson vs Jack Dempsey

Sonny Liston vs Joe Frazier

Larry Holmes vs Joe Frazier

Robert Ryan boxed at one time. That is probably why he was so good in The Setup. Jaclem, it was Ray Bolger who played The Scarecrow in The Wizard Of Oz. Buddy Ebsen was in line for The Tinman but I believe he had some sort of reaction to the silver makeup on his face and couldn't do the role. Jack H...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruling 8-0 in Ali's favor on his draft conviction. No disrespect meant to anyone who has served or is currently serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, but I believe Ali was justified in refusing the draft. The Foreman-Lyle fight. My college roommate and I screamed ourselves hoarse ...

I remember when he fought a guy named Charlie Devil Green in the Garden in 1970 and Patterson knocked him out in the tenth round with a beautiful left hook to the body. The crowd chanted "FLOYD, FLOYD" for a good five minutes or so afterwards.

I once knew a bill collector who tried to collect a debt from O'Halloran. Don't know if he ever did or not. Does anyone know what O'Halloran is up to these days?

I have Black Champion, The Big Black Fire, Papa Jack, and Johnson's own autobiography. Does Unforgivable Blackness tell us anything that a combination of all the others already hasn't? This isn't meant to be a jab at the book. Just asking if you already have all the others would it be worth your whi...

Jimmy Ellis over Floyd Patterson.

I have a documentry called Boxing's Little Giants and if I am not mistaken shows the round Pep won without throwing a punch. It has been quite a while since I have watched it so I will pull it out again and see if that is the case. Another legend I have heard is that Young Griffo would win bar bets ...

I think a big part of the Patterson mystique was that he was the first man to regain the title, and like John 2345 stated he was always seen as a good guy going up against bad guys. Liston was seen as a menace to society and Ali was highly unpopular at the time. Patterson was a genuinly nice man who...

Thanks for that link, Ric. And, yes, Barry that would be great! :)

Here is a great find I made this past weekend. I was in a small bookstore in my neighborhood called, ironically enough, Kayo Books when I found a copy of Jack Dempsey's Fight Magazine. This is a reprint of a May 1934 edition of the magazine and comes with a beautiful pulp cover of two boxers sluggin...

Very sad news, indeed. A good, descent man in and out of the ring by all accounts. A local sportscaster in my city described him as a peaceful man who loved to fight. One of my most vivid memories of him is rather odd, however. I remember back in 1972 right before his second Ali fight he was on The ...

Duran-Hagler.

Who do you folks think was the best dancing master and had the best footwork? I would say Willie Pep, Sugar Ray Robinson, and a pre-1970 Ali. Any others you can name?

What was Sugar Ray Robinson's greatest victory? In a great career that had so many it hard to choose just one, but I would say his 5th round knockout of Gene Fullmer in 1957 was his greatest. Robinson had lost their first encounter on a 15 round decision several months before and he was a 3-1 underd...

I also like Holmes. I think his jab would have made the difference. He could have held Louis off with it. Of course, one should never underestimate the Brown Bomber.

Holmes had an outstanding jab, probably one of the best in heavyweight history.

I had it 8-6-1 for Ali.

I was always partial to Oliveras.

Bob Dylan's The Hurricane was on his 1975 album Desire, which is regarded as one of his better albums. Dylan and a host of other folks including Muhammad Ali banded together to try and free Ruben Carter and get him a new trial for a murder he had been convicted of during a botched robbery attempt. T...

Probably the most underrated: Gene Tunney. Ezzard Charles, thankfully, is finally getting his due.

It is now out on DVD.

I have never heard that about Sharkey, but I have read and heard that at one time he worked in a candy factory where his job was to pull and stretch the taffy and that was how he developed his body and strength. If you have ever worked out with pulling cables or strands you know they will give you a...