The Initial Spark

With its storied history as one of the most dramatic -- and dramatized -- sporting events, boxing is easily one of the most daunting to follow as well. Much of the drama is behind the scenes, in dank gyms and atop empty blacktop at twilight. These are the places where boxing's greats and future greats train with intensity beyond what mere mortals can muster.
 
Boxing fans come to the sport through many avenues. As a newcomer to the fight game myself, literature has been my introduction. One of Ernest Hemingway's great loves was boxing. Both Norman Mailer and Joyce Carol Oates penned award-winning books on boxing. These books delve deeper that a simple account of a sporting event, they reach into the personal and cultural implications of when two men stand toe-to-toe in the ring. Heavy-duty baggage.
 
Mailer's book, The Fight – a chronicle of the 1975 clash between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman – is arguably as much about the author as the landmark event. Mailer's charm, if you can call it that, comes from his distinguished voice and sensitivity to the deeper issues facing Ali, Foreman and the host country of Africa. As the fight culminates punches as well as the writer's pen shape culture and thought with equal speed and impact.
 
The casual boxing fan likely has no interest in Hemingway or Oates, but every fan needs that initial spark to get hooked. Most readers of Boxing Herald are here to find all of their boxing features and interviews in one place; as I am a new boxing fan, this column will be dedicated to developing an understanding and appreciation of boxing. I may be preaching to the converted, but maybe a few individuals who have found that initial spark will follow me as I learn about boxing myself – from the bottom rung to the top of the ladder, and every sweat-soaked step in between. I hope to explore the nuts and bolts, as well as the emotions of boxing.
 
My first experience watching boxing was with that Ali-Forman fight. It was in the documentary When We Were Kings. Another attempt to add stature to an event that did not need it – Mailer figures in the documentary as well, adding commentary among many other talking heads. Ali and Foreman were giants, literally and figuratively. You could not help but be drawn in.
 
A few months later at the state fair, a local boxing club held exhibitions in what was essentially a barn. Two young men – eight or nine years old at best – stood across each other from the ring. They both had to dance to keep their legs from shaking with nervousness. This was a world away from Africa, but you could not help but be drawn in.