(The fourth of a 5-part series)

 

Ironically, there have been numerous times when non-boxing magazines, esoteric journals, and learned internet sites have focused their attention on boxing. That’s because boxing is a compelling, captivating, and enthralling business, and the reporting of it goes well beyond Ring Magazine.

 

Boxing has tiptoed onto billboards, Broadway, and body tattoos.

 

Boxing transcends sport like none other.

 

The sweet and sour science is omnipresent—universal—and comes with spiritual overtones; it touches upon science, and it is, arguably, an art form.

 

After all, aren’t we all prizefighters in our own chosen arenas?

 

Listed below are 25 shocking examples of where boxing has tiptoed and trespassed into foreign ground.

 

1.  “Did Arturo Gatti Really Kill Himself? (Quora—a digital platform to gain and share knowledge)

 

2.  “Willie Pastrano Needs a Psychiatrist, But He’s Got Me Instead” (interview with

Angelo Dundee in True Confessions)

 

3.  “You Can’t Buy a Face” (a Maybelline ad in Cosmetic Digest featuring Chuck

Wepner’s scarred face)

 

4.  “Beware—You Become What You Hate” (Men’s Magazine featuring the downfall of Rocky Lockridge and Aaron Pryor)

 

5.  “Success Is the Quickest Road to Failure” (a feature article in the Brooklyn Eagle explaining Max Baer’s short championship reign

 

6.  “SONO GOFFAMENTE CON GRAZIA!” (“I’m Gracefully Clumsy!”)—the words inscribed on a t-shirt worn by Primo Carnera

 

7.  “Is There Life After Boxing?” (a topic on Religion on the Line, a WABC radio talk show)

 

8.  “Boxing—The Highest Form of Individuality” (Ray Arcel quoted in the Village Voice)

 

9.  “Pain is Wonderful” (a topic on The Maury Povich Show featuring boxing clips)

 

10. “Boxing Is Not a Game for the Mentally Well-Balanced” (Highlights for Children)

 

11. “The Fists at the End of Emile Griffith’s Arms Weep” (Guilt Magazine)

 

12. “SI—TENGO UNA ACTITUD!” (“YEAH, I HAVE AN ATTITUDE!”)—the words inscribed on Roberto Duran’s sweater

 

13. “The Boxer is a One-Man Sect” (Sports Spectrum Magazine—Where Sports and

Faith Connect)

 

14. “He’s Only Visiting This Planet” (an ESPN documentary on the troll-boxer—Charlie Zelenoff)

 

15. “The Rocky Marciano-ness of Courage” (a line of dialogue in a Eugene O’Neill’s play The Hairy Ape)

 

16. “It’s Better to Lose in Boxing Than Play Tennis and Win” (Truckin’ Magazine)

 

17. “From the Belly of Africa—Dick Tiger” (Natural History Magazine)

 

18. “I’m in the Mood to Bust Your Lip!” (a quote in The Prison Times by ex-boxing champ, Kid McCoy, when serving time in San Quentin Prison for manslaughter)

 

19. “Violence Is My Virtue” (an interview with heavyweight Wild Bill Carlson [Chuck

Wepner’s sparring partner] in Hell’s Angels Magazine)

 

20. “If His Lips Are Moving, He Is Lying” (said of promoter Don King in Reader’s

Digest)

 

21. “He Is Thin As Poverty” (said of deceased flyweight contender Johnny Owens after dehydrating himself to gain weight in Smart Water Magazine)

 

22. “Reality Is a Busted Nose” (Photography Magazine featuring the battered noses of

Doug DeWitt, Vito Antuofermo, Fritzie Zivic, Barry McGuigan, Freddie Mills, Ricky

Hatton, Bat Battalino, and Henry Wallitsch)

 

23. “I Drink a Small Cup of Testosterone Before Each Fight” (Lucia Rijker confession in Ripley’s Believe It Or Not)

 

24. “I Was Mentally Mauled By Liston’s Abusive Stare” (admits heavyweight Scrap Iron Johnson before fighting Sonny Liston in True Confessions magazine)

 

25. “Boxing Is An Emotional Laxative—A Ritual Cleansing (Total Health Magazine)

​

125-Must-Read Boxing Articles! (Part 1)

125-Must-Read Boxing Articles! (Part 2)

125-Must-Read Boxing Articles! (Part 3)

125 Must-Read Boxing Articles! (Part 4)

125 Must-Read Boxing Articles! (Part 5)

​

Peter Wood is the author of “The Boy Who Hit Back.”

His web address: www.peterwwood.com

​

​