Thomas Myler - New York Fight Nights: A Century of Iconic Big Apple Bouts

Boxings Hall of Shame

Well written and thoroughly researched by one of the best boxing writers in these islands. Myler has a keen eye for the story behind the story. A must read for all fight fans.

Yorkshire Post

Boxing scribe Thomas Myler shares with the reader a ringside seat for the sports most controversial fights. Its an engaging read, one that feeds our fascination with the darker side of the sport.

Bert Sugar, author and broadcaster

Ringside with the Celtic Warriors

The latest offering from this highly respected boxing writer is well up to the standard we expect from him.

Boxing News

Thomas Myler has come up with another gem. His credentials and easy, readable style make this a must book for fight fans.

The Sun

As a ring historian, Thomas Myler has few peers.

Belfast Telegraph

Close Encounters with the Gloves Off

Reading like a beautiful love letter to the fight games glorious past, theres not a better boxing book on the shelves anywhere.

Irish Independent

Admired and respected around the world, Thomas Myler has surpassed himself with this latest offering.

Dublin Herald

Sugar Ray Robinson: The Inside Story

Its all here, from Robinsons impoverished upbringing in Detroit and New York, through his rise to fame and fortune and his eventual decline and death. A must read.

Boxing News

Thomas Myler has written a gripping account of the life and colourful times of the original Sugar Ray in a lively, page-turning style.

Dublin Herald

A must for any student of the sweet science. Robinsons story by the author is a fascinating read. Dont miss it.

Daily Star

Boxings Greatest Upsets: Fights That Shook The World

A respected writer, Myler has compiled a worthy volume on the most sensational and talked-about upsets of the gloved era, drawing on interviews, archive footage and worldwide contacts.

Yorkshire Evening Post

Fight fans will glory in this offbeat history of boxings biggest shocks, from Gentleman Jims knockout of John L Sullivan in 1892 to the modern era. A must for your bookshelf.

Hull Daily Mail

Book of the Month

Lonsdale Sports

Mylers ability to dig deep, gather plenty of background information, coupled with his easy-flowing style of writing, paints a fascinating scene building up to the contests. We urge you to add this book to your collection.

Boxing News

Myler doesnt just deal with what happened inside the ropes but also provides a balanced overview of the controversies, personalities and historical contexts that make these fights worth reading about.

Ring

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2017

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Thomas Myler, 2017

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the Publisher.

A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978-1-78531-299-1
eBook ISBN 978-1-78531-343-1

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Thomas Myler is a well-known boxing historian, journalist, author and broadcaster. This is his eighth book. His most recent was Close Encounters with the Gloves Off, also published by Pitch, which includes interviews with famous boxing champions recalling the highs and lows of their careers. Thomas has spent a lifetime around boxers and boxing, and his work has appeared in many publications including Boxing News, Boxing Illustrated, Boxing Digest and Fighting Fit, plus Irish newspapers and magazines. He lives in Dublin.

Dedication

To Betty,
the undisputed champion

T HIS book would not have been possible without the help of so many people too numerous to mention. But special note must be made of Boxing News and Independent News and Media for their always helpful assistance, as well as fine writers like Bob Mee and John Jarrett, two very good friends and true experts in the noble art. What they dont know about boxing is not worth knowing. My family, too, were always by my side, Jacqueline, Sinead, Ciaran, Colin and Vivian. Sadly, my wife Betty passed away after a short illness before I started writing this book, but she would have given it her full approval.

Many of the photographs are by kind permission of Associated Press, Press Association, Boxing News, Ring, Irish Independent and Evening Herald. The remainder are from the Thomas Myler Collection. Last but certainly not least, full credit must go to Pitch Publishing for having the foresight, dedication and care to get the book into print. Credit here must go to publishing executives Paul and Jane Camillin and their excellent team.

Thank you all.

B OXING was first established in New York on 17 July 1882, when the newly opened Madison Square Garden at East 26th Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan featured its first world champion, heavyweight John L Sullivan. Of Irish parentage, Sullivan was the man who used to walk into a bar in his native Boston, slam his huge right fist on the counter and declare, before ordering a large beer: My name is John L Sullivan and I can lick any sonofabitch in the house. Not surprisingly, there were never any takers.

Sullivan had won the title five months earlier, when he knocked out Paddy Ryan in nine rounds in Mississippi. Boxing was at the time fought under London Prize Ring Rules with tight, unpadded gloves. Essentially, it was bare-knuckle fighting. For John Ls Garden appearance, the occasion would be an exhibition over four rounds with an Englishman, Tug Wilson from Leicestershire, with no title at stake.

Wilson had begun his ring career in fairgrounds and built up a reputation as a tough, rugged battler. He expressed the view that he would return to England as Sullivans conqueror and new champion. Wilson was managed by the publisher Richard K Fox, who had backed a succession of fighters to beat the Boston Strong Boy with no success. This time, Wilson could well be the man to pull it off. A crowd of 12,000 witnessed a farce. Fox accepted John Ls boast that if an opponent was still on his feet after four rounds, he could take the $1,000 forfeit as well as half the gate receipts. It didnt matter to Wilson that he was effectively an overgrown middleweight, having started his career as a featherweight. He was also 35 years of age while John L was in his prime, with his 24th birthday coming up.

All through the scheduled four rounds, with sweat rolling down his bulging torso, Sullivan relentlessly pursued his quarry in the stifling arena and every time he came within striking distance, Wilson went down, usually before a blow was landed. In the opening round, the Leicester fighter hit the canvas seven times, each time staying down for a count of nine, which effectively meant he spent slightly more than a third of the round on the floor.