The Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice should take a long, hard look at the standard publishing contract.
A boxing ring looks different from the inside, particularly when it's shared with another man who is intent upon rendering you unconscious. There's no place to hide. Once a fighter climbs the stairs, he's roped in, unable to leave until his night's work is done.
Marciano was an idol in a simpler era, when professional athletes were heroes and sportswriters were complicit in building legends rather than exposing them. To the public, all that really mattered was that Rocky had 49 wins in 49 fights and retired in 1956 as the undefeated heavyweight champion of the world.
One can construct a strong legal and ethical argument for minimizing the fees that are paid to world sanctioning organizations in conjunction with championship bouts. It's not uncommon for skilled fighters to be denied championship opportunities while less-talented but better-connected boxers fight for belts.
Betting by insiders has a corrosive effect. It breeds suspicion, adds to the appearance of corruption, invites more corruption, and, in a sport like boxing, puts lives at risk.
Trinidad is a great fighter; he's exciting, and he goes in tough. His roster of opponents includes Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De La Hoya, David Reid, Fernando Vargas, and Hopkins. It's hard to imagine Felix being in a boring fight.
As well-intentioned as it might be, the Ali Act suffers from glaring flaws.
I'm old enough to have lived through a time when Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Viola Liuzzo, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, and others died so people of color could vote.
Yankee Stadium played host to the most important prizefight ever when Joe Louis knocked out Max Schmeling in 1938.
In the 1940s, boxing was a mainstream sport and deeply ingrained the fabric of Harlem. Joe Louis ruled the world, but the local icon was Sugar Ray Robinson.
Baseball is a game of tradition. It lives, in large measure, on its past.
The heavyweight championship of the world was the most coveted title in sports. Everyone knew who the heavyweight champion was. And not only when it was Muhammad Ali or Rocky Marciano: they knew when it was Ingemar Johansson.
If a Hollywood studio needed a fighter to play the hero in an old-time boxing movie, the search could begin and end with John Duddy.
Boxing has a problem - a big one. Think of it as a monster that's hiding under the bed. Eventually, the monster is going to come out and take a big chunk out of the sport. Fighters, trainers, managers, promoters, even government regulators can legally bet on fights. They can also bet on fights they're involved with.
Young fighters dream of the future. Old fighters seek to recapture the past.
The standard publishing contract is replete with clauses that strip authors of control over their books.
Publishing is a business. It's about squeezing every last dollar out of every available source, and the most vulnerable source is the author. No clearer proof of that exists than the 'standard' book contract.
Three of my childhood dreams went unfulfilled. I never saw a no-hitter, never saw a triple play, and never caught a ball that had been hit into the stands. But I did see the Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a World Series game when I was 10.
Presidential election campaigns offer a unique opportunity to educate the public and engage in an intelligent dialogue on issues of national importance.
For thousands of years, the most physically imposing buildings on earth were temples, churches, and mosques. But in the 20th century, new houses of worship came to dominate the landscape. Yankee Stadium is the most storied of these contemporary shrines.
