Tales from the 5th Street Gym

by Pacheco, Ferdie

• ISBN13: 9780813034362
• ISBN10: 0813034361
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-03-28
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

Be a part of the legendary boxing gym in its prime "It was the gym where the Muhammad Ali legend was born. The 5th Street Gym in Miami and those that inhabited it are gone now, but inside these pages their spirit lives."--Thomas K. Stewart, Boxing Writers of America "Ferdie Pacheco takes you back to a time and place that no longer exist in boxing. On these pages, you are standing alongside the great characters of the sport, inside the wonderfully eclectic 5th Street Gym. You can feel the rhythm of the gym, smell the sweat, and hear the pounding of the heavy bags. What a ride."--Robert Cassidy,Newsday In its forty-year existence, the 5th Street Gym housed the training grounds for three of the greatest fighters the sport has ever known--Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, and Sugar Ray Leonard--and became the locus for a grand total of fourteen world champions. The site was also a magnet for a wide range of international celebrities including Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Jackie Gleason, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, and Sylvester Stallone, who were all absorbed into the gym's legend. The 5th Street Gym's beginnings trace back to 1950, when Chris Dundee, along with his brother Angelo, began promoting big-time boxing at Miami Beach. Tales from the 5th Street Gym includes a wealth of never-before-seen photographs and is the first to chronicle the fascinating history of the 5th Street Gym from one of its insiders--Dr. Ferdie Pacheco--with crucial contributions from Tom Archdeacon, Angelo Dundee, Suzanne Dundee Bonner, Enrique Encinosa, Howard Kleinberg, Ramiro Ortiz, Edwin Pope, Bob Sheridan, and Budd Schulberg. Discover the secret history of one of boxing's most hallowed grounds, as Pacheco recalls the rise, heyday, and fall of the "sweet science" at Miami Beach.

Author Biography

Ferdie Pacheco, the "Fight Doctor," is a physician, boxing analyst, screenwriter, author, and artist. After serving fifteen years as Muhammad Ali's physician and corner man, he began a career as a boxing analyst for NBC, Showtime, and Univision. He received an Emmy Award for his work on a series of specials on Ali's greatest fights. His most recent book is Blood in My Coffee: The Life of the Fight Doctor.

 

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Preface: The Wizard of Oz	p. xiii
The 5th Street Gym	p. 1
My Impression of the 5th Street Gym	p. 11
My Memories of the 5th Street Gym	p. 22
Chris Dundee: An Appreciation	p. 49
Chris Dundee's Laws of Boxing and Promotions	p. 60
The Spring That Flows Eternal: Ali	p. 71
The 5th Street Gym	p. 85
Chris Dundee and the Ali Circus	p. 92
A Conversation with John Underwood: Notes Taken in a One-on-One Interview, April 18, 2004	p. 104
When Ali Took On Marciano: The Fake Fight	p. 108
The R. J. Reynolds and Al Jones Saga	p. 117
Supper with Chris Dundee (and Willie Pastrano)	p. 128
The Rise and Fall of the Mendoza Group	p. 136
The Cubans	p. 144
My Education	p. 165
Old Hands in the Gym	p. 177
My Memories of Chris Dundee	p. 187
The Life and Times of Luis Sarria	p. 205
Sparring Partners	p. 214
The Greatest Fight in Miami History	p. 221
My Memories of Dr. Ferdie Pacheco	p. 226
Death in the Ring	p. 233
The End of Chris Dundee	p. 241
Index	p. 245
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