Ocean State Libraries

Dramatic biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife, converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political...

Biography of boxer Joe Louis.

The in-depth and intimate story of one of the most important African Americans to live in the first half of the 20th century. Tells the story of Jack Johnson, who was the first African American boxer to win the most coveted title in all of sports - Heavyweight Campion of the World. Includes his struggles in and out of the ring and his desire to live his life as a free man.

Muhammad Ali describes the values that shaped and guided his life, from his childhood through his boxing years and his refusal to be inducted into the military, to the illness that would limit his physical abilities in later years.

History will remember the rivalry of Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali as one for the ages. A trilogy of extraordinary fights that transcended the world of sports and crossed into a sociocultural drama that divided the country. Joe Frazier was a much more complex figure than just his rivalry with Ali would suggest. In this riveting and nuanced portrayal, acclaimed sportswriter Mark Kram, Jr. unlinks Frazier from Ali and for the first time gives a full-bodied...

The life story of Joe Louis, heavyweight champion boxer, with the complete history of his career in the ring.

Looks at the life of the American boxer, chronicling his rise as an amateur fighter and Olympic medalist, his refusal to serve in the army during the Vietnam War, his championship bouts, and his battle against Parkinson's disease.

In 1956, Floyd Patterson became, at age twenty-one, the youngest boxer to claim the title of world heavyweight champion. Later, he was the first ever to lose and regain that honor. Here, the acclaimed author W. K. Stratton chronicles the life of "the Gentle Gladiator" - an athlete overshadowed by Ali's theatrics and Liston's fearsome reputation, and a civil rights activist overlooked in the Who's Who of race politics. From the Gramercy Gym and wildcard...