An Absolutely Fabulous and Fascinating Book

[mking55]

The book is called “Facing Ali” (copyright 2002) and is written by Stephen Brunt, a Canadian sportswriter who writes for the Globe and Mail (known as Canada’s National Newspaper).

This is NOT just another Ali book. Yes, his face is on the cover of the copy I have but he is not the main focus of the book, but rather the reason for the book and the influence of the book.

“Facing Ali, The Opposition Weighs In”, is the story of 15 of the fighters who fought Muhammad Ali. Brunt writes in his introduction, “In boxing, in everything else, only one side of the story tends to be told. Occasionally two great fighters collide, each bringing with them some grist for the mill. But far more often, the script calls for a meeting of a star and a secondary character, the latter disposable unless he somehow achieves the impossible, unless he breaks out of his assigned role and makes a real fight out of it—unless, by some miracle he wins.”

“Those who shared the ring with him were illuminated by the intense wattage of his public persona, and tended to disappear in its glare. With the exception of Ali’s two bouts with Liston, his three with Joe Frazier, and his one with George Foreman, they hardly even merited billing in what were, promotionally and in the public imagination, Ali Fights. Whether of not the opponent was a legitimate contender (like Ken Norton, who beat him once, and probably deserved to beat him twice), or a rising your champion in his own right like Larry Holmes, or a historical lightweight like Jurgen Blin, or Jean-Pierre Coopman, or Chuck Wepner, they were to one degree or another lost in the Ali shuffle. What did Ron Lyle, for instance, think about facing off against the political and social icon? “Nobody ever asked me,” he said, before answering the question. Nobody ever asked most of them how it felt, what it meant, how it changed their lives, and what they really thought about Muhammad Ali.”

“This book brings together a few of their stories. They aren’t intended to be definitive biographies of this assortment of fifteen men who faced Ali in the ring as professionals. The most famous of them—Foreman, Frazier, Norton, Holmes—have published their own life histories. Rather, these are portraits fixed in a particular place and time, with a particular set of subjects in mind: who they were before they came to fight Muhammad Ali; how those fights altered the course of their careers and how their personal lives; what they knew of the man, then and now; how they felt about him, and his politics, and his legacy; how their lives have proceeded since; and how they might have been different were it not for the great, often unexpected opportunity of meeting the giant face to face”.

The fighters whose stories are told thru Stephen Brunts interviews with them are:
Tunney Hunsaker, Henry Cooper, George Chuvalo, Brian London, Karl Mildenberger, Joe Frazier, Jurgen Blin, Joe Bugner, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, Jean-Pierre Coopman, Earnie Shavers, and Larry Holmes.

I was fascinated to learn something about the fighters I knew nothing about. Who was Tunney Hunsaker? Why was he Cassius Clay’s first professional opponent, and what is Hunsaker now? I found the Jurgen Blin story fascinating (he always had a ‘real’ full-time job when he was a fighter, and took time off from his 'day' job to fight).

I learned so much more about the fighters I thought I knew. I knew of some of the tragedy in George Chuvalo’s life, but I never realized it was even more than I knew about. I had read a little about Frazier’s bitterness and ‘hatred’ of Ali, but had never known the depth of it. And it was interesting to read Larry Holmes speak his mind (even explaining the ‘Marciano wasn’t fit to carry my jockstrap’ comment he made after he lost to Spinks). Not one chapter disappointed me and I only wish there were more.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I remember reading something about it when it was first published, but I had never run across it. I never saw it in my local Barnes and Noble. I was in Toronto last week and the paperback version had just come out and it was featured in the store. I grabbed it right away and I’m glad I did.

If you have any interest in the fighters who were the background characters in the Ali story, then this is the book where you can learn about them. The writing of Stephen Brunt is excellent, and he allows his subjects to tell their story.

This quote is taken from the Globe and Mail review. “Stephen Brunt’s method of revealing the human story is as rich as it is simple. The 15 stories in Facing Ali are elicited with a respect and appreciation that is simply too rare in sports reporting these days. Boxing desperately needs more coverage that combines Brunt’s technical knowledge with his writerly interest in those human stories upon which all prize fighting is based”.

This book is well worth reading if you are interested in boxers, or Ali, or fascinating stories, or all of them.

[crusadecat]

Thanks for the good book tip. Do you have the Isbn number so I can put in a request to my library?

[mking55]

Originally posted by crusadecat
Do you have the Isbn number so I can put in a request to my library?

Ask and ye shall get the ISBN.
0-676-97351-5

[BrocktonBlockBuster]

Thanks King-Looks like something I'd like to read.

[Mad Bomber]

King, Stephen Brunt is one of the finest sports
writers in Canada, and he has written books on a number of different sports. I have yet to read
Facing Ali, although I did provide a great deal
of fight footage for a documentary we did on Ali last year at our network here in Canada.

Greg

[GeorgeT]

MKing55,

Thanks for the info. I just got around to watching Ali vs Wepner (ESPN Classic). I did find myself thinking about what an enormous thing it must have been for Wepner to get in the ring with a living legend, and I was very impressed with the way he handled it. Obviously Ali was in a different class, but Wepner showed real guts...and he put Ali down, which only a select few fighters ever did!

I look forward to reading his account of this fight in the book.

Thanks again

George

[Antonin]

Originally posted by mking55
The book is called “Facing Ali” (copyright 2002) and is written by Stephen Brunt, a Canadian sportswriter who writes for the Globe and Mail (known as Canada’s National Newspaper).....


The fighters whose stories are told thru Stephen Brunts interviews with them are:
Tunney Hunsaker, Henry Cooper, George Chuvalo, Brian London, Karl Mildenberger, Joe Frazier, Jurgen Blin, Joe Bugner, Ken Norton, George Foreman, Chuck Wepner, Ron Lyle, Jean-Pierre Coopman, Earnie Shavers, and Larry Holmes......

I was fascinated to learn something about the fighters I knew nothing about. Who was Tunney Hunsaker? Why was he Cassius Clay’s first professional opponent, and what is Hunsaker now? I found the Jurgen Blin story fascinating (he always had a ‘real’ full-time job when he was a fighter, and took time off from his 'day' job to fight)......

Not one chapter disappointed me and I only wish there were more....

I'm about halfway finished with the book and I agree with you. All of the stories are interesting, but those dealing with fighters who were not on the world stage for very long were absolutely fascinating.