Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves [Hardcover]

Bill Farrell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2007

"My very first fights were in the Golden Gloves. I really wanted to be a fighter. I found out it wasn't going to be easy, the competition was very hard. ...The Gloves was very important to me. I remember my mother asking me about my name in the paper and I had to explain to her that I was in the Golden Gloves--a boxer. I was so proud. Then to be that young--16, 17 years old--and to be in the Garden, I can't tell you how happy I was to be there."

--Emile Griffith, two-time Daily News Golden Gloves champion, five-time world champion and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame

The oldest and largest boxing tournament in the world, the Daily News Golden Gloves is an event like no other in all of amateur sport. Since 1927, New York's cold winter nights have come alive with thrilling competition as hundreds of boxers from across metropolitan New York look to fight their way into Madison Square Garden, and a chance at a Golden Gloves championship.

Boxing greats and champions including Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Patterson, Jose Torres, Emile Griffith, Vito Antuofermo, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Mark Breland, Junior Jones, Kevin Kelley, Riddick Bowe, Michael Bentt and Zab Judah all honed their skills in the legendary tournament. Others, including Joey Maxim, Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali made their first appearance in New York representing teams from Chicago and New England in the Daily News Golden Gloves.

Their road to greatness began like that of the more than 80,000 others who have climbed through the ropes in local school gyms, fraternity halls and community centers throughout the New York metropolitan area and traded punches in the Daily News Golden Gloves. The boxing isn't always pretty, but the bouts never lack for excitement.

From the time those first punches were tossed in 1927, Daily News photographers have been there to capture the stunning knockouts, the surprises, the displays of sportsmanship, the triumphs and the disappointments. Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves puts us in a ringside seat through the great and proud history of this annual New York boxing extravaganza.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bill Farrell started at the Daily News as a copy boy in 1972 and remained at the paper for more than 30 years, winning numerous awards as a reporter, feature writer and civil service columnist. In 1987, while still assigned to the Daily News Brooklyn Bureau, he began covering the Daily News Golden Gloves and reported from ringside through the 2005 championships. He is married and lives on Staten Island with his wife, Marguerite.

The Daily News Photo Archive is home to the most extensive photographic record of New York City history in the world.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 183 pages
• Publisher: Sports Publishing LLC (January 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596702052
• ISBN-13: 978-1596702059
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,435,935 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Golden Gloves-New York, February 6, 2007

By 

Michael A. Mcnamara (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves (Hardcover)

The book was filled with great photos. Especially wonderful were the old time fight pictures from the early days. Interspersed were short stories highlighting winners ann future champions. A great read!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointed, March 8, 2007

By 

Ray J. Mccormack (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves (Hardcover)

The subject matter had so much potential. Failed to live up to it's most minimal expectations. Complete era's of champions were ignored. The book was incomplete as a historical guidepost. It failed to list all the Golden Gloves Champions in In the history of the GG.

Save your time and money skip this book. Vastly over-rated.

5.0 out of 5 stars Cradle of Champions A Knockout, June 6, 2007

By 

Patrick Clark "fight buff" (Manhattan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cradle of Champions: 80 Years of New York Daily News Golden Gloves (Hardcover)

Bill Farrell gives 15 rounds of championship reading in this compendium of Golden Gloves history. He covers the highlights of its eight thrilling decades from the opening bell in 1927 to the late rounds here in the 21st century. His lively, colorful and descriptive writing sets up a gallery of action-packed photographs that capture dramatic moments in amateur boxing's premier annual event. If you are a fight fan and you loved watching gifted champions, strong contenders and valiant competitors, including Rocky Marciano, Carmen Basilio, Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Patterson, Cassius Clay, Chuck Wepner, Gerry Cooney and Mark Breland, you must have this book.