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Sporting Blood: Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing: Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing
"I just read Carlos Acevedo on Davey Moore in Boxing News and I think he may well be the best boxing writer in the world today."--Danny Flexen, Boxing Monthly
Sporting Blood is a new collection of twenty-one essays by multiple award-winning boxing writer and historian Carlos Acevedo. The book's foreword was written by Thomas Hauser, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominee, who is widely recognized as one of the world's preeminent boxing authors.
Highlights of Acevedo's collection include a tour de force piece about Muhammad Ali at the time of his death, as well as an incisive look at his fearsome rival, the enigmatic heavyweight Charles "Sonny" Liston.
Acevedo also applies his rare talent to uncovering untold stories about fighters that include Jack Johnson, Roberto Duran, Esteban de Jesus, Carmelo Negron, Aaron Pryor, Don Jordan, Joe Frazier, Johnny Saxton, Wilfredo Gomez, Lupe Pintor, Davey Moore, Johnny Tapia, Mike Tyson, Bert Cooper, Evander Holyfield, Jake LaMotta, Ad Wolgast, Tony Ayala, Jr., Al Singer, Michael Dokes, Eddie Machen, Mike Quarry, and more.
Sporting Blood is a new collection of twenty-one essays by multiple award-winning boxing writer and historian Carlos Acevedo. The book's foreword was written by Thomas Hauser, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award nominee, who is widely recognized as one of the world's preeminent boxing authors.
Highlights of Acevedo's collection include a tour de force piece about Muhammad Ali at the time of his death, as well as an incisive look at his fearsome rival, the enigmatic heavyweight Charles "Sonny" Liston.
Acevedo also applies his rare talent to uncovering untold stories about fighters that include Jack Johnson, Roberto Duran, Esteban de Jesus, Carmelo Negron, Aaron Pryor, Don Jordan, Joe Frazier, Johnny Saxton, Wilfredo Gomez, Lupe Pintor, Davey Moore, Johnny Tapia, Mike Tyson, Bert Cooper, Evander Holyfield, Jake LaMotta, Ad Wolgast, Tony Ayala, Jr., Al Singer, Michael Dokes, Eddie Machen, Mike Quarry, and more.
- GenresSportsNonfiction
232 pages, Hardcover
Published March 31, 2020
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142 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 29, 2020
Anyone who follows the sport of boxing knows that for every success story, there are many others that have a darker side. Even for those fighters that have enjoyed tremendous success during their careers, many of them had other tales of woe. These can range from financial problems, drug abuse, crime, even an untimely death. This book by boxing writer Carlos Acevedo tells some of these stories on many different boxers from different weight classes and eras.
The variety of the stories and the boxers portrayed is the biggest strength of this book. Not only are legendary fighters portrayed such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, but there are some very interesting tales about other fighters who may not be as familiar to readers such as Ad Wolgast, Carmelo Negron and Eddie Machen. There are several sad stories on fighters whose career either ended too soon after a defeat (Davey Moore), fighters who seemed to always be on a path to destroying themselves (Tyson, Aaron Pryor, Tony Ayala Jr.) and even one who became known to even non-boxing fans, Jake LaMotta. While his story of sinking to very low depths and rising about them is familiar to movie goers who saw “Raging Bull”, Acevedo’s account of LaMotta does much more justice than the movie does in only a few pages.
That is pretty much the theme across the entire book as Acevedo writes essays about these pugilists that are complex yet very easy to read and comprehend. Some of his prose is pure bliss to read. Here are just a sample of some excellent quotes from the book:
- When talking about the legendary third fight between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, the brutality of that match led Acevedo to state that “The ‘Thrilla in Manilla’ was a CliffNotes for sadism.”
- He states that boxing “lends itself far too often to an intellectual clam chowder (common ingredients: social Darwinism, atavism, gladiatorial analogies, talk of warriors and so on)”
- Describing promoter Don King when he dropped Davey Moore from his band of boxers: “Even Don King, a man who would rush into a burning oil tanker to rescue a crumpled dollar bill, cut him loose”
This is just a small sample of the excellent writing and research that was put into this great collection of stories on a wide selection of boxers. Any reader who has any interest in the “sweet science” will want to pick up this book – but be warned, once one starts, this is very hard to put down.
I wish to thank Hamlicar Publications for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
The variety of the stories and the boxers portrayed is the biggest strength of this book. Not only are legendary fighters portrayed such as Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, but there are some very interesting tales about other fighters who may not be as familiar to readers such as Ad Wolgast, Carmelo Negron and Eddie Machen. There are several sad stories on fighters whose career either ended too soon after a defeat (Davey Moore), fighters who seemed to always be on a path to destroying themselves (Tyson, Aaron Pryor, Tony Ayala Jr.) and even one who became known to even non-boxing fans, Jake LaMotta. While his story of sinking to very low depths and rising about them is familiar to movie goers who saw “Raging Bull”, Acevedo’s account of LaMotta does much more justice than the movie does in only a few pages.
That is pretty much the theme across the entire book as Acevedo writes essays about these pugilists that are complex yet very easy to read and comprehend. Some of his prose is pure bliss to read. Here are just a sample of some excellent quotes from the book:
- When talking about the legendary third fight between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, the brutality of that match led Acevedo to state that “The ‘Thrilla in Manilla’ was a CliffNotes for sadism.”
- He states that boxing “lends itself far too often to an intellectual clam chowder (common ingredients: social Darwinism, atavism, gladiatorial analogies, talk of warriors and so on)”
- Describing promoter Don King when he dropped Davey Moore from his band of boxers: “Even Don King, a man who would rush into a burning oil tanker to rescue a crumpled dollar bill, cut him loose”
This is just a small sample of the excellent writing and research that was put into this great collection of stories on a wide selection of boxers. Any reader who has any interest in the “sweet science” will want to pick up this book – but be warned, once one starts, this is very hard to put down.
I wish to thank Hamlicar Publications for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...
December 26, 2021
Disability, desolation, murder, dementia-- these are the occupational hazards of a dark art, like the deadly plunge for wire walkers. But what about obscurity?
A quote from Donald McRae on the cover of my copy of Sporting Blood describes author Carlos Acevedo as the "most original, perceptive, and best new writer in boxing." As a casual boxing fan who only occasionally watches fights and reads articles on the sport even less, I couldn't say whether McRae is on the money with his praise, but I will say this: Sporting Blood is easily one of the most compelling sports books I've yet read.
Acevedo tells stories of shattered dreams and broken men plucked from the seedy underbelly of boxing history. Sometimes he's writing about the giants of the sport (Ali, Frazier, Tyson, Jack Johnson) but more often he writes about faded stars and fringe contenders who found themselves chewed up and spit out by the unforgiving realities of boxing. Many of these men kept coming back, being bludgeoned in the ring long after they were able to return blows effectively. Almost invariably, these boxers take out their frustrations on the outside world; rape, domestic violence and barroom brawls become -- like the mental collapse of Acevedo's subjects -- recurring themes throughout the book.
Particularly brilliant are Acevedo's chapters on the troubled life and mysterious death of Sonny Liston, the scummy world of Jake LaMotta, and the dual narrative of Wilfredo Gomez and Lupe Pintor. Some of these stories, particularly the ceaselessly brutal life of LaMotta, seem unfathomable. Reading about them proves compulsive, and Sporting Blood becomes a page-turner, enhanced by Acevedo's unobtrusive style (with the possible exception of an indistinct chapter on Johnny Tapia). As I read, though, I had to keep stopping and jumping over to YouTube to watch the fights Acevedo so vividly describes. Invariably, he described the action uncannily.
This is a great book. Compelling, horrifying, and exciting.
September 18, 2020
This book proves what those of us who follow and read about boxing have known for years: Carlos Acevedo is the best boxing writer active today. Stylistically, he’s peerless, blending a formal understanding of literature, of good writing, with a talent for creative yet familiar analogies - Think Kool G Rap with a Masters in American Literature.
His method also sets him apart. Acevedo sets each essay in the context that furnishes the richest understanding for the reader. You cannot fully understand the story of Davey Moore without a grasp of the harrowing life of 1970s New York, for example, cannot appreciate the absurd excess of Mike Tyson’s early career without setting it in the context of the absurdly excessive 1980s. Acevedo does that, and artfully so, through more scholarly forms of research, but also references to the cinema, literature, music, art, and popular culture relevant to his subject. To that end, the level of research that went into Sporting Blood is unlikely to be rivaled by any boxing book for some time.
What results is something much greater, more interesting, more rewarding than a book about boxing and boxers. These are indeed tales from the dark side of boxing. Thankfully, they are handled by the brightest of talents.
His method also sets him apart. Acevedo sets each essay in the context that furnishes the richest understanding for the reader. You cannot fully understand the story of Davey Moore without a grasp of the harrowing life of 1970s New York, for example, cannot appreciate the absurd excess of Mike Tyson’s early career without setting it in the context of the absurdly excessive 1980s. Acevedo does that, and artfully so, through more scholarly forms of research, but also references to the cinema, literature, music, art, and popular culture relevant to his subject. To that end, the level of research that went into Sporting Blood is unlikely to be rivaled by any boxing book for some time.
What results is something much greater, more interesting, more rewarding than a book about boxing and boxers. These are indeed tales from the dark side of boxing. Thankfully, they are handled by the brightest of talents.
April 6, 2020
My review is here:
http://www.15rounds.com/writing-for-t...
http://www.15rounds.com/writing-for-t...
November 10, 2025
A look at some of the more unfortunate and lesser known stories surrounding some of the less talked about and lesser acknowledged boxers who have stepped foot into the ring. Many stories consisting of depleted health, wealth and overall unyielding tragedy, this book really makes you stop and think of the fact of a fighter putting his life on the line for sometimes very little or nothing in return.
May 24, 2020
Solid 4 Star ,reqlly enjoyed it.
June 6, 2020
How many boxing scribes do you know of who would compare the plight of Mike Quarry, suffering from pugilistic dementia in the twilight of his years, to the cutup technique pioneered by William S. Burroughs? Carlos Acevedo is one of those boxing heads who knows the fight game but also knows a lot about other subject, too, and he marshals everything he knows to turn in a quality (but not quite great) addition to a massive corpus of books on boxing.
A lot of this overland journey is made on very well-trod ground, but it's the gimlet eye the writer brings to the task that determines whether or not anything new is spotted as we once again sift through the wreckage of ill-fated fighters who go from being mobbed by the ladies to being accused of rape (and sometimes convicted), or from the gutter to the penthouse (and then usually back to the gutter). A case in point is the piece on Mike Tyson, probably the most written-about man in the history of Fistiana. It should have been a paint-by-numbers job, but little new details are ferreted out by Acevedo in his retelling of classic Mike calamities that make this one a must-read. The piece on the previously mentioned Mike Quarry, ill-fated brother of white hoper Jerry Quarry, also manages to say as much in a few pages as one or two bios of the "Bellflower Bomber" and his brother.
Acevedo seems to really find his stride, though, when casting a light onto the less illumined byways of the fight game, those boxers who maybe shined brightest for one season before burning out. Hardcores may know Eddie Machen or Carmelo Negron, but the author gives the names we usually only see on Boxrec records some flesh and bones, and though these men who've met ignominious ends (or even worse, died without so much as a peep) are long-gone, Acevedo does what he can to resurrect their memories and restore a bit of the dignity to their names that boxing long ago took from them (along with most of their money and a good number of their brain cells).
It's a solid boxing book, but falls a bit short, in this reader's opinion, of the high praise that attended its publication. That's just me, though, and since no less a personage than Thomas Hauser gave this one his stamp of approval, judge for yourself. Recommended.
A lot of this overland journey is made on very well-trod ground, but it's the gimlet eye the writer brings to the task that determines whether or not anything new is spotted as we once again sift through the wreckage of ill-fated fighters who go from being mobbed by the ladies to being accused of rape (and sometimes convicted), or from the gutter to the penthouse (and then usually back to the gutter). A case in point is the piece on Mike Tyson, probably the most written-about man in the history of Fistiana. It should have been a paint-by-numbers job, but little new details are ferreted out by Acevedo in his retelling of classic Mike calamities that make this one a must-read. The piece on the previously mentioned Mike Quarry, ill-fated brother of white hoper Jerry Quarry, also manages to say as much in a few pages as one or two bios of the "Bellflower Bomber" and his brother.
Acevedo seems to really find his stride, though, when casting a light onto the less illumined byways of the fight game, those boxers who maybe shined brightest for one season before burning out. Hardcores may know Eddie Machen or Carmelo Negron, but the author gives the names we usually only see on Boxrec records some flesh and bones, and though these men who've met ignominious ends (or even worse, died without so much as a peep) are long-gone, Acevedo does what he can to resurrect their memories and restore a bit of the dignity to their names that boxing long ago took from them (along with most of their money and a good number of their brain cells).
It's a solid boxing book, but falls a bit short, in this reader's opinion, of the high praise that attended its publication. That's just me, though, and since no less a personage than Thomas Hauser gave this one his stamp of approval, judge for yourself. Recommended.
April 6, 2020
Award-winning boxing writer, Carlos Acevedo has given us a beautiful collection of essays highlighting the people, the events, and the complexities that make up the world of boxing. Sporting Blood: Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing contains 20 essays dedicated to people from Muhammad Ali to Johnny Tapia to Mike Tyson to Eddie Machen and events like Wilfredo Gomez v. Lupe Pintor, the curious death of Sonny Liston, and the interestingly complicated relationship between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali.
Acevedo is an accomplished writer who weaves 20 individual stories into a cohesive narrative that captures the gruesome legacy of boxing. At one point, Acevedo writes:
"At the core of these apocalyptic fights, where two men take turns punishing each other from round to round, lies the question of motivation. Not in the sporting sense- that is, not in the careerist sense or anything so mundane as competition- but in an existential sense."
This book contrasts the stark realities that were fights throughout the history of boxing: some competitors were subject to extreme family violence, inherent poverty, juvenile delinquency, drug use, and incredibly physical and mental harm in the ring. Writing about Wilfredo Gomez, the author denotes that Gomez' career caught up to him in the present day. A life of hard living, extreme physical punishment in the ring, drug and alcohol abuse have left him with a childlike persona and in need of assistance for daily tasks.
Acevedo has put together a compelling and masterful perspective on the darkest side of boxing. With a foreword from award-winning author Thomas Hauser, this book is a must-read for any boxing fan.
I would recommend this to students in Sport History courses, fans of boxing, and anyone looking for a richly sourced perspective on the history of boxing.
Sporting Blood is out now and can be found at most major retailers!
I received a galley copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss+
Acevedo is an accomplished writer who weaves 20 individual stories into a cohesive narrative that captures the gruesome legacy of boxing. At one point, Acevedo writes:
"At the core of these apocalyptic fights, where two men take turns punishing each other from round to round, lies the question of motivation. Not in the sporting sense- that is, not in the careerist sense or anything so mundane as competition- but in an existential sense."
This book contrasts the stark realities that were fights throughout the history of boxing: some competitors were subject to extreme family violence, inherent poverty, juvenile delinquency, drug use, and incredibly physical and mental harm in the ring. Writing about Wilfredo Gomez, the author denotes that Gomez' career caught up to him in the present day. A life of hard living, extreme physical punishment in the ring, drug and alcohol abuse have left him with a childlike persona and in need of assistance for daily tasks.
Acevedo has put together a compelling and masterful perspective on the darkest side of boxing. With a foreword from award-winning author Thomas Hauser, this book is a must-read for any boxing fan.
I would recommend this to students in Sport History courses, fans of boxing, and anyone looking for a richly sourced perspective on the history of boxing.
Sporting Blood is out now and can be found at most major retailers!
I received a galley copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Edelweiss+
August 14, 2020
This is one of the most captivating boxing books I've ever read simply because the author is such an outstanding writer who takes influence from all of the great boxing writers of old including Thomas Hauser, Nat Fleischer and Bert Sugar. He has a very Vivid way of putting things and has a very colorful writing style. The stories in this book are some that you may have never heard even if you read other boxing books and it kind of reminds me of 'Boxing Babylon' and 'The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling' because of how dark and brooding some of the stories and how obscure they are as well. Here's a short snippet of the writing style: "Finally,Singer, with a sinister grin,ended matters concussively with a perfect overhand right that sent Mandell spinning into a macabre pirouette before he finally crashed flat on his back where he listened to the count of 10 with faraway eyes." There's so many more quotable things in the book but this review would be 200 paragraphs long! Just check out the book and trust me! It's good!
October 28, 2020
Saw Donald McRae recommended this do picked it up. Just phenomenal writing, really. Stories of tragedy, of excess, of corruption, of abuse inflicted and suffered - and an unsparing depiction of the sport's brutality, through physical punishment that'll make you wince, and the enduring scars felt for a lifetime
June 4, 2021
Beautiful collection of essays, written in an empathetic (not sympathetic) manner. Low key, this book is the best argument you’ll encounter for abolishing this sport. These stories are brutal. And if you’re a fan of boxing you should reckon with how this sport takes the broken and breaks them down even more.
September 2, 2020
Not for boxing fans only
Boxing is not about boxing. It's about poor uneducated kids trying to earn respectability. along the way they get caught up and stopped by the very sport that they had hoped would redeem their already experienced lives. So sad yet so dramatic. A
Boxing is not about boxing. It's about poor uneducated kids trying to earn respectability. along the way they get caught up and stopped by the very sport that they had hoped would redeem their already experienced lives. So sad yet so dramatic. A
June 21, 2020
A stylist with a deep commitment to reportage, Acevedo is the best sports writer and deep-thinker.
August 20, 2020
Easy Read
A collection of tragic boxing life stories setup in short story from. Loved every chapter, made me laugh and cry.
A collection of tragic boxing life stories setup in short story from. Loved every chapter, made me laugh and cry.
October 11, 2020
Solid essays on the sweet science.
March 18, 2022
an ok book about boxing and the world it exists in. I did not agree with some of his takes on the character of some of these subjects. Just an ok read but not one I would recommend
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews