Night the Referee Hit Back

This book is a collection of twenty-eight of the best articles on boxing by renowned boxing historian Mike Silver, looking back at some of the sport’s most iconic moments. The essays are a colorful mix of hard-hitting exposes and light-hearted stories featuring legendary boxers Sugar Ray Robinson, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, and more.

Mike Silver is an internationally respected boxing historian and author. He has been an Inspector with the New York State Athletic Commission; a boxing promoter; a historical consultant and on-air commentator for 19 televised boxing documentaries; a curator of the "Sting Like a Maccabee: The Golden Age of the Jewish Boxer" exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia; and a co-curator of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival's centerpiece program, "Jews, Boxing, and Hollywood." Silver continues to research and write about the sport as a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) and is the author of two critically acclaimed books: The Arc of Boxing: The Rise and Decline of the Sweet Science (2008) and Stars in the Ring: Jewish Champions in the Golden Age of Boxing: A Photographic History (2016). His website is mikesilverboxing.com.

Foreword Teddy Atlas Preface Acknowledgments PART I: THE WAY IT WAS 1: Boxing in Olde New York: Unforgettable Stillman's Gym 2: The Night the Referee Hit Back 3: Ali vs. Shavers: The Morning After 4: No Heart-Shaped Boxes on This Valentine's Day 5: Where Were You on March 8, 1971? 6: Benny Valgar: Forgotten Boxing Master 7: Boxers 2, Strongmen 0 8: The President Boxer 9: The Other Billy Graham PART II: THE WAY I SEE IT 10: Don't Blame Ruby: A Boxing Tragedy Revisited 11: The Myth of "The Thrilla in Manila" 12: Get in Line Pacquiao-Marquez IV: Boxing's Top Ten One Punch KOs 13: Foul Play in Philly 14: Fights of the Century: Then . . . and Now 15: Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. an All-Time Great Boxer? The Experts Weigh In 16: Boxing's Ten Greatest Quotes 17: Dempsey's Arm and the State of Modern Boxing 18: A World of Professional Amateurs PART III: INTERVIEWS 19: Archie Moore 20: Emile Griffith 21: Carlos Ortiz 22: Ted Lowry 23: Curtis Cokes PART IV: BONUS ROUNDS 24: "I Coulda Been a Contender": Roger Donoghue, the Man Who Taught Brando How to Box 25: The Brooklyn Kid vs. the Marsupial Mauler 26: So You Wanna Be a Boxer? 27: Teddy's Master Class 28: Boxing's Five-Decade Men Notes Sources Index About the Author