More Than a Champion: The Style of Muhammad Ali
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.48 (797 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0375400303 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 172 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-09-07 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Using the almost mythic confrontation of Ali and Joe Frazier in Manila as his centerpiece, Jan Philipp Reemtsma bobs and weaves through the champ's life and career to establish a thesis that goes the distance: that Ali, both in and out of the ring, was ultimately a prisoner of the majestic boxing style he created for himself. Though at times Reemtsma seems a little punch-drunk on his own erudition, he is a precise interpreter of boxing's essence, and an imaginative analyst of its most poetic practitioner. . Written by a German academic, More Than a Champion is an odd gem, a thin volume with a solid jab
"Good, but not good enough" according to A Customer. I've read parts of this book and it held my interest simply because the subject is interesting. But there is nothing in there that I've not read, known or heard before about Ali. The author makes a conclusion of Ali's style on the basis of just one fight, even if that fight is -- to quote Ali himself -- his "greatest". It is also too short, about 200 pages in paperback and contains very few photos of its larger-than-life subject. So what if Ali created a style that he had to ma
Intercut with these vivid and telling accounts of what actually is going on (as opposed to what merely appears to be) are much wider ranging sections exploring the choreography (it is not too grand a word) that Ali crafted for his greatest title bouts, how he created a style that became its own myth, how he then came to have to act that style in the ring, and its damaging consequences. Joe Frazier fight in Manila in 1975, which Jan Philipp Reemtsma follows in three-round sections. Reemtsma also provides portraits of Ali's opponents: Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Ken Norton, and, above all, Joe Frazier, the strongest "big puncher" of them all. From one of Europe's most prominent intellectuals: a brilliant, utterly original study of the boxing styl