Over the holidays, I got to interact with people whom I normally don’t—people who don’t know how to read yet. One was my sister’s 18-month-old great-nephew, who, when he walked over to our large TV ...

Each year during the holiday season, I publish a list of what I consider to be the best books about boxing. That list, updated to accommodate recently published titles, follows. Taken together, the ...

The world champion boxer—winner of 29 bouts, collector of 24 knockouts and sufferer of only one defeat, delivered by another elite champion—understands his world. But despite all the baked-in machismo ...

It’s an irony to some and perfectly logical to others. Boxing is near the front of the line when it comes to brutality in the name of victory, but it’s also a sport that has long attracted outstanding ...

THE PROFESSIONAL (338 pp.)—W. C. Heinz—Harper ($3.95). One of the remarkable facts about U.S. daily journalism is that its most talented practitioners write about games for boys —or, at any rate, ...