Andre Braugher Book:

Editorial Review:
ESPN Classic has put together a worthy documentary of black boxing (ending in the '50s) complete with a well-rounded compilation of interviews and riveting clips. As one boxing historian said, some boxers' lives were "like blues songs." George Dixon had to fight in the middle of the ring because white fans would club his calves when he neared the ropes. Johnson, considered "uppity" for dating white women, a flashy lifestyle and not kowtowing to whites, had to fight a succession of Great White Hopes. He faced more trouble outside the ring: A conviction for transporting women interstate for immoral purposes, the only charge the authorities could pin on him. Louis, more acceptable to whites, became a legend when he beat German Max Schmeling for the heavyweight title in 1938. Many of the best black boxers never got their chance -- Panama Joe Gans had to take dives. And Archie Moore, like Sugar Ray Robinson, got a shot late in his career because he wouldn't play ball with the mafia. Andre Braugher narrated the ESPN Classic Original production by Across the Street Productions Inc.