BOUTS OF MANIA

For anyone who loved WHEN WE WERE KINGS, it memorably tackles the otherworldly sequence of 5 fights among Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.

From 1971-1975, three of the greatest fighters in history—Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman—battled each other in five unforgettable fights, among them the legendary Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manilla. Long-time SPORTS ILLUSTRATED journalist Richard Hoffer is one of the greatest boxing writers of our time. And in BOUTS OF MANIA he explores these spectacles of immense hype, pageantry and pandemonium, when heavyweight boxing was the biggest ticket around and these men pushed each other to the brink. The Ali-Frazier fight of 1971 brought Ali out of a four-year exile for refusing to serve in Vietnam, now thirty and having lost his best years as a fighter—or so they believed. Frazier, the reigning Heavyweight champion, had been an Olympic gold medalist in 1964, the son of a sharecropper and known for his ferocious left hook and regimented work ethic. Foreman was also a gold medalist in 1968, a one-time gangster from Houston who was rising through the ranks via a series of knockouts and a persona of intimidation in the mold of Sonny Liston. There has never been a book about this golden age of fighting which looks closely at these three fighters together. This is a book that goes beyond boxing and should appeal to any sports fan or reader who may have heard something about these legendary fights and wants to learn more.


A new project, from longtime boxing journalist at Sports Illustrated Richard Hoffer. He has covered every major fight since 1976 and knows many of the players who were there for the five fights, including Don King (a major character in this book) and Bob Arum, so will no doubt uncover plenty of original reporting.