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Counterpunch: The Cultural Battles over Heavyweight Prizefighting in the American West
Boxing was popular in the American West long before Las Vegas became its epicenter. However, not everyone in the region was a fan. Counterpunch examines how the sport�s meteoric rise in popularity in the West ran concurrently with a growing backlash among Progressive Era social reformers who saw boxing as barbaric. These tensions created a morality war that pitted state officials against city leaders, boxing promoters against social reformers, and fans against religious groups. Historian Meg Frisbee focuses on several legendary heavyweight prizefights of the period and the protests they inspired to explain why western geography, economy, and culture ultimately helped the sport�s supporters defeat its detractors.
A fascinating look at early American boxing, Counterpunch showcases fighters such as �Gentleman� Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, and Jack Johnson, the first African American heavyweight champ, and it provides an entertaining way to understand both the growth of the American West and the history of this popular�and controversial�sport.
- GenresSports
250 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2016
1 person want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 30, 2023
How did the book make me feel/think?
I’ve now read a book about prize fighting in America. America is a moralistically debunked mess.
This reader thinks the fans of any pugilistic sport could be more organized in thought. I’m unsure if that spin of phrase works, so I will simplify it: if you get off on people bashing each other in the head for sport, I probably won’t enjoy your company.
But.
But there’s a twist.
Counterpunch taught me that an absurd amount of energy expounded to block prizefighting from existing. It is almost laughable as governments often send in the military or The Texas Rangers to intimidate event organizers into ensuring they never occurred.
Think about that.
As I read on, I learned about Mohammad Ali, “The Greatest of All Time,” was an anti-war, pacifist, what?
And I learned, the white man feared fighting the black man because heaven forbid, if they lost, superiority would also be lost.
Counterpunch taught me whether you are a fan of violence or not, America needs to drop the moral compass and stop wasting energy trying to tell people how to live their lives.
If they could find a way to do that, maybe they wouldn’t be wasting time fighting Drag Queens and Disney and could focus on what matters in this world, lessening the gap between having and have not.
America spent decades trying to stop people from being exposed to the violence of two men beating each other senselessly. Whereas today, the country I live in has issued a travel advisory for the entire US, telling us we should all be aware of ‘active shooter’ situations.
Think about that for a moment.
Did you?
Or are you spending your energy trying to stop Drag Queens from reading to children?
WRITTEN: 30 May 2023
I’ve now read a book about prize fighting in America. America is a moralistically debunked mess.
This reader thinks the fans of any pugilistic sport could be more organized in thought. I’m unsure if that spin of phrase works, so I will simplify it: if you get off on people bashing each other in the head for sport, I probably won’t enjoy your company.
But.
But there’s a twist.
Counterpunch taught me that an absurd amount of energy expounded to block prizefighting from existing. It is almost laughable as governments often send in the military or The Texas Rangers to intimidate event organizers into ensuring they never occurred.
Think about that.
As I read on, I learned about Mohammad Ali, “The Greatest of All Time,” was an anti-war, pacifist, what?
And I learned, the white man feared fighting the black man because heaven forbid, if they lost, superiority would also be lost.
Counterpunch taught me whether you are a fan of violence or not, America needs to drop the moral compass and stop wasting energy trying to tell people how to live their lives.
If they could find a way to do that, maybe they wouldn’t be wasting time fighting Drag Queens and Disney and could focus on what matters in this world, lessening the gap between having and have not.
America spent decades trying to stop people from being exposed to the violence of two men beating each other senselessly. Whereas today, the country I live in has issued a travel advisory for the entire US, telling us we should all be aware of ‘active shooter’ situations.
Think about that for a moment.
Did you?
Or are you spending your energy trying to stop Drag Queens from reading to children?
WRITTEN: 30 May 2023
November 1, 2025
Sadly not a good historical work. This book and its central thesis were extremely hampered by poor in-chapter organization and lack of logical transitions. Also a staggering amount of missing prepositions and commas. Really could have benefitted from a good editor. Also suffers from random insertions of colloquial/highly informal writing. The last chapter was wild, covering essentially 100 years of boxing history while the rest of the book tackled a 20-year period (1890s-1910s). Extremely unbalanced and disappointing work.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews