Jeff’s Reviews > There Will Always Be Boxing: Another Year Inside the Sweet Science > Status Update

"Thoughts on the Passing of Muhammad Ali": 4/5 - trivializing his legacy was clearly not the intent, but saying Jordan was replaced by Kobe and LeBron might be the most interesting part of this. Maybe that was the thinking in 2016, but not in 2025. In any case, Hauser nails the denouement, as you might expect:


“I am youth,” the eternal boy answers. “I am joy. I am freedom.”

"Howard Bingham: A Remembrance": 4/5 - JFC. Read this if Ali is meaningful to you and you want to ruin your day.

"A Letter from Angelo Dundee": 4/5 - ostensibly from heaven on the subject of Ali's arrival through the pearly gates. There's something sacrilegious about it--writing what Ali's mother would say when reunited with her son, speculating about Liston's final resting place, depicting Ali graciously accepting Joe Frazier's forgiveness? I did not agree with a single word, but it was pretty powerful.

"A Note on Arnold Palmer": 3/5 - Palmer didn't like Ali, then he met him and said he seemed nice, but asked if his Parkinson's affected his intellect. Innocent curiosity or bad person?

"With the possible exception of Babe Ruth, no athlete ever did as much for a sport as Palmer did for golf. He had a reverence for the game, a remarkable camaraderie with his fellow golfers, and a generous spirit toward the public."

"Andrew Cuomo and.." you guessed it, "The New York State Athletic Commission": 0/5 - didn't read it. Can't make me.

"Turmoil Grows at the New York State Athletic Commission": 0/5 - was Hauser getting paid by the word? And by "the word," I mean, specifically, "Commission"?

"The New York State Athletic Commission Under Fire": 1/5 - the only thing longer than the title is the essay, an addendum to the 50 pages we read earlier that was summed up in one sentence by Teddy Atlas.

"Literary Notes": 4/5 - some good ones in this collection of short reviews.

"The Murder of Sonny Liston": 3/5 - apparently not a great book by Shaun Assayel, Hauser does a good job constructively dismantling it, but it's still pretty much just "Maybe Liston was murdered, maybe not--you won't figure it out reading this book."

"Paul Gallico: A Farewell to the Sport": 5/5 - both inspired me to read the book and impressed me with the admission (hopefully self-aware) that "we all make mistakes" in reference to sports writing. Redeems some of the previous essays and clears the slate for the final set.