I'm working to let all those who write, report, blog or read about boxing know that I just finished a book on my cousin, George "Kid" Lavigne, boxing's first lightweight champion of the world from 1896-1899. The title is Muscle and Mayhem: The Saginaw Kid and the Fistic World of the 1890s. It is the first and only book in existence on Lavigne, universally acknowledged as one of the greatest fighters of all time. The book has a cast of characters that are literally larger-than-life including: the Saginaw Kid, Jim "Iron Bark" Burge, the Australian "Will O' The Wisp" Young Griffo, "The Barbados Demon" Joe Wolcott, "The Napoleon of the Prize Ring" Jack McAuliffe, Dick "Iron Man" Burge, "Mysterious" Billy Smith, "Terrible" Terry McGovern and "The Boston Strong Boy" John L. Sullivan. For more information go to my website www.kidlavigne.com Here is a full press release from the International Boxing Research Organization at http://www.ibroresearch.com/?p=7760 If interested you can order a copy directly from the website. Ultimately it will also be available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble but those two are slow to add it to their websites. Lauren Chouinard
Possibly the toughest fighter of all time. I read a long, excellent piece on him in Ring or KO magazine (I think) back in the 90's and found his story fascinating and his career very impressive. I hope the book does him justice (which written by a relative I'm certain it will) and I look forward to purchasing it on its release.
