Facing Ali.by Stephen Brunt Stephen Brunt is a well-known Canadian sports journalist. He makes frequent appearances on sports talk radio shows such as Prime Time Sports and has been the lead sports columnist for The Globe and Mail since 1989. The Lyons Press, March 2003 $22.95, ISBN ISBN abbr. International Standard Book Number ISBN International Standard Book Number ISBN n abbr (= International Standard Book Number) → ISBN m 1-585-74829-3 Among boxing purists, there will always be the debate about who was the greatest heavyweight champion of all time. Significantly, this dispute most often centers around two giants, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali, pasha of Egypt Muhammad Ali, 1769?–1849, pasha of Egypt after 1805. He was a common soldier who rose to leadership by his military skill and political acumen. . For many of us, who never saw Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali will forever and ever be "The Champ," despite his Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism, degenerative brain disorder first described by the English surgeon James Parkinson in 1817. When there is no known cause, the disease usually appears after age 40 and is referred to as Parkinson's disease. , Based on his 61 professional fights (56 wins, 5 loses, 37 knockouts), Ali loyalists will argue that among those fights, several are among the classic fights of the century. It is in this regard that Stephen Brunt, a Canadian sportswriter sports·writ·er n. A person who writes about sports, especially for a newspaper or magazine. sports and television commentator, has taken a unique perspective on Ali's career. In his new book, Facing Ali, he acknowledges Ali's greatness but concedes that no one has every told the story of the fighters who faced him. And he begs the question what was it like to fight Muhammad Ali? Brunt has selected 15 contenders who fought Ali to offer their stories. Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated is the largest weekly American sports magazine owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. It has over 3 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men, 19% of the adult males in the country. has said of Ali's opponents: "These are men of substance and are worth getting to know." Perhaps. In the spirit that is Muhammad Ali, however, Brunt's work falls short. Although it may make interesting reading for purists, how much do we really care what Tunney Hunsaker, George Chuvalo, Chuck Wepner or Jean-Pierre Coopman thought when they fought our hero? What are they going to say? "I almost beat him." What would that mean? Facing Ali is not quite a tribute, nor is it contrived. It is, overall, a credible source of boxing information. Yes, it is true that this author gives a perspective on Ali that few will recognize. But it is also true that Ali has evolved to be more than a boxer, or ex-heavyweight champion, lest we forget Lest We Forget is a phrase popularised in 1887, by Rudyard Kipling; it formed the refrain of his poem Recessional. As a title, it may refer to any of:
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