New Book From the University of Arkansas Press Provides Inside Look at Last Year’s Boxing Scene

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Over the years, Thomas Hauser has earned recognition as one of the most respected boxing writers in America and the definitive chronicler of the contemporary boxing scene. The Greatest Sport of All is Hauser's inside portrait of 2006, another remarkable year in boxing, just published by the University of Arkansas Press (paperback, $19.95).   

 The book includes in-depth looks at great fighters, great fights and the powers behind the throne. There are revealing portraits of Oscar De La Hoya, Jermain Taylor, Bernard Hopkins and Don King, and a look back at giants like Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. Other pieces look at safety issues and fighters, Boxing After Dark on HBO, and his essay on pay-per-view piracy and the Internet was described by HBO Sports as a “wake-up call for the pay-per-view industry.”

     Thomas Hauser is the author of 35 books. His first book, Missing, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, Bancroft Prize and National Book Award, and served as the basis for the Academy-Award-winning film starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek. Muhammad Ali: His Life And Times, Hauser's most celebrated work to date, is widely regarded as the definitive biography of the most famous man on earth. In 1998, Hauser and Ali were named as co-recipients of the Haviva Reik Award for their efforts to combat bigotry and prejudice. In 2004, Hauser was honored by the Boxing Writers Association of America, which bestowed upon him the Nat Fleischer Award for Career Excellence in Boxing Journalism.

      The University of Arkansas Press had already published three of Hauser’s books, including The Black Lights: Inside the World of Professional Boxing. Playboy Magazine has written that “Hauser writes about professional boxing in a way that no one has ever done before.” And his work has also earned the admiration of the boxers themselves. Lennox Lewis says that “Hauser respects boxing and boxers. He gives readers insight into what happens in and out of the ring. Everything he writes is fair-minded and reality-based with a human touch." And this from Little Rock’s Jermain Taylor: "Tom Hauser is one of the best writers in boxing. It's a joy to read his articles.”