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Jim Lampley, Network television boxing analyst:
"Written by an outstanding sportswriter/columnist,
this book chronicles the richest age in the 120-year history of gloved
prizefighting's heavyweight division. Baby-boomer fight fans are spoiled,
conditioned as they are to believe that the division should ALWAYS be populated
by the likes of Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Norton, Quarry, Bonavena, Terrell, and
Shavers. The truth is it has happened once and only once. Tom Cushman's stirring
remembrance of that time and those personalities is a great read for those who
saw it and those who can only wish they had."
George Foreman,
Two-time World Heavyweight Boxing Champion:
"Tom Cushman, the sportswriter who knew every
square of the old square jungle. During the time I was in boxing and he was
writing, he tried to help make boxing better."
Ed Schulyer, Longtime national boxing writer for
the Associated Press:
"Tom Cushman looked at boxing
with a clear eye and listened to boxers and boxing people with a
keen ear. Here, he delivers a one-two punch of the sights and sounds
of boxing during the golden era of heavyweights. Oh yes, the reader
also gets a whiff of the sordid side of the fight game."
Bob Knight, Hall of Fame basketball coach:
"Tom Cushman is introspective and the best writer
in any phase of sports that I have ever known.
This book reflects just that."
J Russell Peltz, Boxing promoter, International Boxing
Hall of Fame, class 2004:
"In writing about the last great era of
heavyweights, Tom Cushman brought back some wonderful and some embarrassing
memories I had long forgotten. Like the athletes he covered, he, too, was a
heavyweight journalist. Without his help, I never would have made it."
Ben Callaway, Former sports editor, Philadelphia
Daily News:
"A sports editor's primary priority is to
recruit the best possible writers and editors. Occasionally, among the talents
acquired to attract and to hold readers, you get a super star who is also a
super person. I hit the jackpot when I lured Tom Cushman away from Colorado to
Philadelphia nearly 50 years ago. This master storyteller's "good guy" quality
has enabled him to click with characters who were unapproachable to other
scribes. Cushman can play hard ball when called for, but always with a fair
shake—one communicator sources and readers know they can trust. This (book) is
sports writing at its finest."
Bill Clark, Columbia Daily Tribune
"Muhammad Ali and the Greateast Heavyweight
Generation is a testament to this storyteller's excellence. Tom takes you
into the dingy gyms, the smoke-filled back rooms, the boredom of the training
camps, and into the hearts and minds of those who have made a career and, for
some, a fortune, in the 'sweet science.' You don't need to be a boxing fan to
enjoy Tom Cushman's personal visits with the great fighters and the
near-greats."
Bud Poliquin, The Post-Standard, June 13, 2009:
"Tom Cushman was always as good a writer as those
before him were pugilists. And in most cases, he was far more proficient."
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