(Originally published in FraNoi, Vol. 55, Issue 12, December 2015. Reprinted here with permission of Fra Noi, www.franoi.com, Copyright 2015.) By Steve Corbo There was a time in this country, before the advent of television and the explosion of the NFL and NBA, when three professional sports dominated the American landscape: baseball, horseracing and … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2016
Historical Fight Night: George Foreman vs. Primo Carnera
by Fox Doucette Regular fans at the Historical Fight Night Arena in San Dimas know the promoters' love of combining a big-man main-event with a little-man co-feature, and tonight's event is no different. The main event pits George Foreman, at his most devastating after the first Joe Frazier fight, against a guy who, if Sylvester Stallone is the Italian Stallion, is more like … [Read more...]
The Seventies: Boxing and Disco Ducks
The radical ideas of the sixties gain acceptance and traction. They are mainstreamed and assimilated into American life and culture. The 70s prove to be a sharply different and far more tranquil decade. The Vietnam War continues to divide. Republican Governor James Rhodes of Ohio sends national guardsmen onto the Kent State University campus resulting in the shooting deaths … [Read more...]
The Sixties: Boxing and Bad Juju
I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.—Martin Luther King, Jr. Change Is Only a Good Thing If You Change in a Good Way.—Malcolm X I don't think that unless a greater effort is made by the government to win popular support that the war can be won out there. In the final analysis, it is their war. They are the ones who have to win it or lose it. We … [Read more...]
Historical Fight Night: Roger Mayweather vs. Ben Tackie
by Fox Doucette It's a Floyd Mayweather kind of night here in San Dimas, but not in the way you might be thinking. Rather than the 49-0 retired champion, one of the great fighters of all time, we've got the Grand Rapids family in the ring tonight. Your main event is Uncle Roger, who had a helluva title run at 140 in the late '80s and comes in off a win over Rene Arredondo to … [Read more...]