Ferdie Pacheco has had a lifetime association with boxing, first as a fan, then as Muhammad Ali's personal physician, and finally as a broadcaster. Now Pacheco has chosen a dozen of the most unforgettable rounds in boxing history. He recounts the circumstances leading up to "The Long Count" in the Jack Dempsey versus Gene Tunney fight of 1927, explains the political overtones of the Joe Louis versus Max Schmeling fight in 1938, and examines the turning points of both Ali versus Sonny Liston championship battles. With 25 vintage photographs, this look at the theater of the ring re-creates the thrill of witnessing boxing history.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
In The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories, Ferdie Pacheco, the famed "Fight Doctor" who manned Muhammad Ali's corner for 15 years, offers the following criteria for picking an even dozen of boxing's greatest rounds: to be included, each must have exhibited some impact beyond boxing or had a significant effect on the sport's rules or a fighter's career, or life or death must have hung in the balance. Given the parameters, the fights, fighters, and rounds he opts for offer no surprises. They include round 1 of Dempsey-Willard, the 7th-round long count of Dempsey-Tunney, Joe Louis's opening-round KO of Max Schmeling, and four of Ali's greatest performances, including his 8th-round emergence against George Foreman and the titanic 14th round of the "Thrilla in Manila" with Joe Frazier.
If Pacheco leans toward the obvious, The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing is no rope-a-dope. There's action and insight from the start, with lots of background on fighters, pre-fight hoopla, the fights themselves, and what Pacheco calls "the untold stories," which are really his genial analyses and reflections on events--until he gets to the Ali fights he himself worked. Here, Pacheco brings us close enough to feel the pummeling, smell the sweat, and, through the filter of his recollections, hear the voices of the participants. Witness this exchange between Ali and Frazier at the end of the 7th round of their epic third encounter: "Ali, with his back to the corner," writes Pacheco, "grabbed Joe by the back of the head and pulled him into a clinch. He yelled in Frazier's ear, 'They told me you was washed up, champ.' Joe gritted his teeth, hammered his hardest punch to Ali's kidney and growled, 'They lied to you, champ. They lied!'" It's the kind of exchange--and there are many more like it--that helps The 12 Greatest Rounds easily go the distance. --Jeff Silverman
Review
"I believe The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing ranks with A.J. Liebling's The Sweet Science and Rocky Graziano's Somebody Up There Likes Me in boxing's foremost literary triad." -- Edwin Pope, Miami Herald, December 6, 2000
"This book is a trove of boxing reminiscence...related by 'The Fight Doctor' in his picturesque fashion." -- San Diego Union Tribune, March 2, 2001
"This kind of insight makes for compelling reading for any serious boxing fan." -- Today's Library, February 2001
"This book is a trove of boxing reminiscence...related by 'The Fight Doctor' in his picturesque fashion." -- San Diego Union Tribune, March 2, 2001
"This kind of insight makes for compelling reading for any serious boxing fan." -- Today's Library, February 2001
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The Fight Doctor needs his head examined.,
By
This review is from: The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories (Hardcover)
Someone needs to tell Pacheco that famous and historically significant doesn't always equal great. Ring Magazine recently had a list of the 12 greatest rounds of all time, which if you compare it to the list that was compiled by the Fright Doctor, the Ring's list,is pure genius. Actually it was pretty solid. Dempsey Firpo 1st, Hagler Hearns, 1st, Frazier Quarry I 1st, Holmes Norton 15th, Bowe Holyfield I 10th, Garza Mesa 1st, Patterson Johansson III 1st, Gomez Pintor 3rd, Foreman Lyle 4th, Saad Lopez II 8th, Lamotta Dauthille 15th & Benny Leonard Ritchie Mitchell 1st which, in all honesty, I never saw. This list exceeds Pacheco's moronic list that includes, Ali Liston II 1st, Louis Schmeling II 1st, Robinson Lamotta VI 13th, Dempsey Willard 1st and Marciano Walcott I 13th. Ferdie, these rounds were not even remotely great! The Phantom Punch? Louis mauling Schmeling was great? Dempsey doing likewise to Willard? Marciano's picture perfect kayo of Walcott wasn't a great round, it was a great punch! My inclusions to the Ring's list would be Chavez Taylor I 10th, Frazier Ramos 1st, Leonard Hagler 9th, Hagler Mugabi 6th, Duran Barkley 11th, Duran Dejesus II 3rd, and the biggest oversight of all is a round no one ever lists and just may be one of the two or three best rounds ever in Heavyweight title fight history is Holmes Weaver 11th. This round blows Bowe Holyfield 10th away. Here's a few more: Leonard-Benitez 15th, Leonard-Duran I 11th and 13th, pick a round from Johnson-Franklin I, pick a round from a Chacon fight vs. Limon or Boza Edwards, Lyle-Shavers 3rd and 4th, pick a round from Holyfield-Braxton I, Holmes-Witherspoon 9th, Marciano-Moore 6th, Norton-Quarry 4th, Pryor-Arguello I 1st, Shavers-Ali 15th, Spinks-Ali I 15th, Johnson-Franklin II 8th, and Weaver-Dokes II 1st. These are great rounds. Pacheco's book only touches on the headline/marquee rounds in history. And worse yet, the writing on the rounds is pathetic! It appears little to no research was done here. Examples: Pacheco describes the 1st 10 rounds of the Leonard Hearns fight as all Tommy, with Ray only winning a handful of rounds with his boxing ability. What? THis fight displayed a role reversal for Ray and Tommy with Hearns as the boxer and Leonard as the stalker. Ray ravaged Hearns in the 6th and 7th rounds. Ferdie, put a tape of the fight in and watch it before you write. What's even more scary is that fact that he announced this fight for NBC and can't remember what happened. Ferdie briefly discusses the Leonard Hagler fight and talks about the 14th and 15th rounds respectively. Not bad for a fight that was scheduled for 12 rounds. Or how about his description of the 13th round of Marciano Walcott? Ferdie states that the cover photo on his book is the knockout blow that Rocky delivered to win the title. A smidgen of research will show that this is NOT the KO punch as the knockout shot took place against the ropes and Walcott and Marciano were trading right hands. The cover photo takes place in the center of the ring and Joe is delivering a left uppercut that lands in Rocky's armpit. Further idiocy displayed by Pacheco is when he says that when Walcott fell from the punch and he was up against the ropes with his arm over one strand, that Rocky threw a left to Joe head that missed. How the hell could he miss that one!?!? The left clearly landed and helped Walcott further is collapse to the canvas. I would not recommend the book to anyone looking to learn about the sport of boxing. You will be grossly misled and totally misinformed. Not a good effort. By the way, Pacheco actually originally hosted this special for NBC several years ago only to repeat it for Showtime but with the reduction from 15 rounds to 12. He then did this book. All three efforts were a disaster.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very bad.,
By Mark Easter (Independence,MO) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories (Paperback)
This is one of the rare books that I could not even finish. Very inaccurate and it seems as if it was one more outlet for Mr. Pacheco to toot his own horn some more. I do not want to go into all of the mistakes but please do not read this and think that you have learned anything.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Ferdie Pacheco was a bad commentator and a worse writer!,
By A Customer
This review is from: The 12 Greatest Rounds of Boxing: The Untold Stories (Hardcover)
Ferdie Pachecos book showcases neither the twelve greatest rounds of boxing nor any substantial boxing knowledge on the part of Pacheco. Pachecos book is filled with so much sensational garbage it is a disgrace to boxing. LaMotta was drinking cognac in between rounds of his final fight with Robinson because he was afraid to get knocked out!?! First, Pacheco being a "doctor" knows that this would produce more than a few ill affects on the body that would still result in an early stoppage. Second, LaMotta may not have been a saint but he was a great boxer and he didnt get that way by swilling alcohal in between rounds. His ability to take a punch was and is legendary I think that ability (which had as much to do with skill as it did with being tough) would have been hindered more than a little by a belly full of liquor. Needless to say there are a lot of great books out there on the sport of boxing... This isnt one of them. Save your money and buy a book by a writer who knows what hes talking about, not a "writer" who is still living off his glory days when Ali was champ.
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