Louis-Walcott 1 - Was it a robbery?

But at the time this didn't seem the case. Years later, on reflection, he said this, maybe because around that time Ali had threatened his ranking as #1 of all-time and it was his way of saving face.

 

Perhaps, but if I remember Jimmy Cannon did an interview with Louis just days after the fight and the "Walcott didn't deserve it because he ran" point of view was already there. This might just have been Louis not willing to admit he was bested, but it does seem to be the way he felt. I know Sugar Ray Robinson had a similar view of Charley Fusari. He said it was tough to fight a guy who ran all night. The old school point of view.

 

Fair enough OF. Talking of Cannon- Who were your favourite oxing writers? I liked Cannon's prose- they repeated lots of his articles in KO (i think) in the 1980s- although he seemed a bit set in his ways. I enjoyed Dan Daniel's work also- he always seemed to credit modern day fighters moreson than his colleagues at Ring.

 

Well, Dan Daniel was always interesting to read because he knew a great deal about boxing and went way back. He was a clumsy writer, though.

Jimmy Cannon--Now this guy was a prose stylist. Gives him a leg up. In one way he is not my style, though. He posed as a streetwise, insider type. Just not what appeals to me.

A J Liebling--A classic prose stylist with historical perspective who brought in historical allusions to Tom Cribb and the like.

Ted Carroll--The best of the old Ring Magazine writers. Tended to be fair and also did not run with the herd, and had a good writing style, unlike Daniel. I remember him as being the fairest to modern fighters. In 1962 he argued that the heavyweights of that time were better than those of most past eras.

Nat Fleischer--A ponderous writer, and some of his judgements were just plain odd, but certainly had a great deal of first hand experience. I thought he was better at giving a ringside report than at historical writing.

Gilbert Odd--good writing style. Did a great deal of primary research.

 

Maybe it's Carroll i'm thinking of then? :think

Yeah,my first ever boxing book was a Gilbert Odd one.