#bert sugar

Muhammad Ali, undoubtedly one of mine n' several others' heroes of sport, human spirit n' admiration, is commemorated w/a 50th anniversary release of this documentary, Muhammad Ali - The Man, The Moves, The Mouth. Produced by Les Krantz n' based on his book of the same title, the documentary is narrated by Bert Sugar, one of the greatest boxing sportscasters of our time. Besides the milestone highlights of Ali's greatest fights, including 'Rumble in the Jungle', 'Thrilla in Manila' as well as the 'Fight of the Century', the film's title is a precursor into understanding Ali outside the ring, just as much in. It was August, 1962 when a then Cassius Clay started training for the biggest fight of his career against the current heavyweight champ then, Floyd Patterson, who was defeated. But as most of us have seen tons of similar footage cataloguing Ali's career, this documentary stands out as truly unique, because it includes rare footage of Ali in Britain, where in his earlier boxing career, he spent a lot of time. "Most Americans today don't realize that Ali spent a lot of time in Britain in the beginning of his boxing career," Krantz said. "We used some superb footage of Ali shot over in England where he had some early professional fights, so it has a lot of Ali footage that most Americans haven't seen," he continued. And of course Ali wasn't just a master at adjusting w/style according to who he was fighting in the ring. He would literally become a product of any environment he was put in, immediately relating to any culture w/humor n' wit, roping in new fans wherever he went. His rhetoric was as fascinating as any entertainer, n' in England he wasted no time dropping his famous punchlines. "I'm the King!" he shouted in one of the London scenes, hyping up his upcoming fight. Then as you'd expect, had to colorfully continue, "You got a queen, but you ain't got no King! I'm the King!" 

This could very well be one of the most interesting boxing videos we've brought you yet, thanks to Sweet Boxing for it. Youneedto watch it, end of. Bert Sugar, boxing historian and writer, is not only a man we admire but a man whose forgotten more about the sweet science than most cats nowadays ever knew. So you had to know when he put together a list like this it'd be worthwhile. Brian Kenny, Teddy Atlas, Ray Mancini, Manny Steward and Lou Duva are just some of the names who pop up in the first part of this video. We're not even going to mention the fighters yet, we'll let you discover that for yourself.

On Sunday evening another individual who made up a large part of boxing history passed away. Bert Sugar was a vivacious character with an absolute ravenous appetite for the sweet science. Cigars might be the only thing the cat liked more. Owner of Boxing Illustrated and one time editor of the sports bible, The Ring, Bert output as a writer was enormous. We'd go as far as to say he served as one of the biggest faces of the sport while never participating in the ring. He appeared in countless movies, documentaries and interviews about the sport of boxing. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame in 2005. Bert's life was boxing. Although it was not all that held his interest as his output relating to baseball, professional wrestling and even Houdini can attest. But few men have stamped their own legend on the sport, and even fewer yet did so as a journalist. He served, and will continue to serve, as a major inspiration to us. And above all Bert was a character. Not a guy trying to be a character, an honest to god character who lived his life the way he wanted. We can't possibly sum up all of Bert's accomplishments, mention all his writing or really give justice to just how important he was to boxing so we'll leave it at this: we'll miss ya Bert.

Allen Barra, on the legend of Bert Sugar.

RIP Bert Sugar....an amazing writer in the world of boxing. You will be missed.

R.I.P Bert Sugar. You will be missed.