Hitters, Dancers and Ring Magicians

This volume offers detailed information about the boxers who were active during boxing’s “Golden Age,” 1890 to 1910, focusing primarily on George “Kid” Lavigne, Bob Fitzsimmons, Barbados Joe Walcott, Joe Gans, Terry McGovern, Sam Langford, and Stanley Ketchel, and their opponents, who were also key figures.

Writer and educator Kelly Richard Nicholson has worked in China, Russia, and the Slovak Republic, as well as Utah, New Jersey, and his native Pacific Northwest. He has been a visiting professor of philosophy at the University of Wales at Lampeter, and has written four books on philosophy and one other on boxing.

Kelly Richard Nicholson

Foreword by Dan Cuoco

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 226
Bibliographic Info: 13 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2011
pISBN: 978-0-7864-4990-3
eISBN: 978-0-7864-5991-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Foreword by Dan Cuoco      1
Introduction      3

1. The New Game      9
2. The Saginaw Kid: George “Kid” Lavigne      22
3. The Fighting Blacksmith: Bob Fitzsimmons      43
4. A Demon from the Barbados: Joe Walcott      82
5. The Old Master: Joe Gans      96
6. The Brooklyn Terror: Terry McGovern      115
7. The Boston Tar Baby: Sam Langford      134
8. The Michigan Assassin: Stanley Ketchel      155

Afterword      178
Chapter Notes      189
Bibliography      201
Index      211

• “vintage black-and-white photographs…heavily researched…highly recommended”—Midwest Book Review
• “strongly recommend…well researched and entertaining”—The Cyber Boxing Zone
• “A discussion that will inform and delight both general reader and historian.”—Tracy Callis, IBRO research historian
• “Nicholson explores an era when prizefighting was evolving into boxing, when fist-fighting as a blood sport and a test of will and honor was giving way to hit and don’t be hit. A book that should be read.”—Harry Shaffer, Antiquities of the Prize Ring
• “A fantastic read…unsung heroes get their due, and the author’s spirit lights up every page.”—Bob Oleson, veteran boxing trainer, promoter, and matchmaker