Overview

During the early years of the 20th century, San Francisco promoters served up boxing's grandest spectacles, with the most compelling matches coming in the lightweight division. On February 22, 1910, a crowd of more than 15,000 braved chilly, rainy conditions to witness one such match, pitting lightweight champion Oscar """"Battling"""" Nelson against Adolphus """"Ad"""" Wolgast. Spectators were rewarded with an epic battle, one that came to stand virtually unchallenged as the most brutal fight of all time. This volume recaptures that historic fight while vividly illuminating the backdrop and the confluence of geographic, historic, and political forces that made it all possible. In chronicling these colorful boxers and their vibrant era, this work also reveals the dangers faced by workman pugilists like Nelson and Wolgast, making their tale, at its heart, a cautionary one.

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9780786470037

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recommend --<i>Cyber Boxing Zone</i>; a very fun read and a wonderful addition to the library of any true boxing fan. Lang's book is a masterful paean to a vintage era in boxing history...evocative prose...Lang manages to put his readers in the ring with these all-time greats during their most significant matches to the extent that one can almost feel the intensity of the fights they were in and the ferocity of the punishment they received. Lang's book is as hard to put down as Battling Nelson in his heyday and the very rare photographs and illustrations in the book truly enhance the majesty of his words --<i>TheFightNetwork.com</i>; excellent...outstanding --<i>East Side Boxing</i>; fills in some blank pages regarding a significant fight and a little-known era in boxing history --<i>The Sweet Science</i>; using a variety of sources, Lang is able to stitch together a rich tapestry around the Nelson-Wolgast bout. It's a period that's not often discussed today, much less appreciated, and Lang does a great job of bring it to life --<i>The Die is Cast</i>.

Author Information

Sociologist Arne K. Lang has taught at the University of Nevada–Las Vegas, the University of Nebraska, and Tuskegee University. A leading authority on the history of boxing and the history of American sports gambling, he lives and writes in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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