Sparring with Smokin' Joe

"This Maileresque combination of personal reflection, boxing analysis, and sports biography is a must read for fight fans...." Booklist, Starred Review
An intimate portrait of Joe Frazier, whose ferocious rivalry with Muhammad Ali made them both boxing legends and cultural touchstones for an era.
Sparring with Smokin' Joe provides a penetrating, at times brutally candid, look at legendary champion Joe Frazier. Glenn Lewis spent several months in the gym, on the road, and in verbal tussles with Frazier in 1980, when Frazier was at a crossroads in his life and career. Lewis recounts Frazier's candid takes on his still-recent Hall-of-Fame career, wars with Ali, and hard-scrabble roots. Frazier also reflects on Ali's upcoming comeback fight against Larry Holmes, his own possible return to the ring, preparing his son Marvis for a pro boxing debut, and the impact of racial tensions and cultural upheaval on his fighting legacy.
Sparring with Smokin' Joe reveals compelling, never-before-heard anecdotes that give new insight into the usually private Frazier, including how Ali's verbal attacks on Frazier alienated him from his own people and continued to trouble him long after retiring from the ring. An intimate portrait of a legendary fighter, Sparring with Smokin' Joe finally shares Frazier's side of an unforgettable rivalry.

Glenn Lewis is director of journalism at York College, CUNY, and professor of print journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. The veteran journalist and author has written about sports, health, media, and societal trends. He has waited four decades to write Sparring with Smokin' Joe about his time with the iconic heavyweight champion Joe Frazier. Lewis has also been an on-air media and journalism expert for Fox 5 TV-News. He lives in New York City with his wife and has two grown daughters.

Acknowledgments

Main Event
Chapter One: Up in Joe's Lair
Chapter Two: Down with the Gym Rats
Chapter Three: Return to Black Roots
Chapter Four: More than the White Man's Champion
Chapter Five: Ali's Tap Dance and Frazier's Flying Circus
Chapter Six: Lessons on Beating a Bear
Chapter Seven: In the Shadow of Champions
Chapter Eight: Bumpy Roads to Olympic Glory
Chapter Nine: The Fraziers Go Pro
Chapter Ten: (Mis)managing Marvis
Chapter Eleven: Smokin' Joe and the Ali Wars

Extra Rounds
Chapter Twelve: Ali and Frazier on the Comeback Trail
Epilogue: Ain't Nothing but a Party
Bibliography
Index
About the Author