Review of "One Punch from the Promised Land"

Because I juggle more than one book at a time for reading, it isn't unusual for me to put one down to check out another one.  But it isn't often that I get so engrossed in one that I forget to pick up the old one until the new one is finished.  That was the case with this book on boxing's Spinks brothers as I didn't want to read anything else until I finished this one. Here is my review of "One Punch from the Promised Land"

Title/Author:

"One Punch From the Promised Land: Leon Spinks, Michael Spinks and the Myth of the Heavyweight Title" by John Florio

Tags:

Boxing, professional, championship, biography

Publish date:

August 29, 2013

Length:

288 pages

Rating:

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:

Boxing fans of a certain age are certainly familiar with the Spinks brothers, Leon and Michael.  Both won gold medals in the 1976 Olympics and both went on to professional careers in which both of them became the heavyweight champion of the world.  At that time, the title held much prestige in sports as well as boxing.  How both of them got there and their careers and lives after achieving this feat are covered in this excellent book by John Florio.

Rising in the sport out of their poverty-stricken area of the Pruit-Igoe projects in St. Louis, both Leon and Michael achieved success in the sport, although Michael wanted to pursue a profession aside from boxing, as Florio describes well.  This is especially true for both brother's stories when one considers Florio did not obtain interviews with either brother and instead talked to many contacts to the Spinks' as well as extensive research. The result of this is an interesting take on not only the brothers' boxing careers but also their lives before and after boxing.

The divergent paths are well-illustrated by Florio as after the Olympics, Leon wanted to turn pro right away while Michael was not as anxious to do so.  Leon then pulled off one of the biggest upsets in boxing history, winning the heavyweight title over Muhammad Ali in only his eighth professional fight in February 15, 1978.  His reign was very short as seven months later, Ali won back the title in the rematch.  Both during and after his reign, Leon was drinking and partying excessively, leading him to some more destructive behavior and trying to schedule bouts with questionable opponents and promoters. 

Michael's path, while more deliberate and also including a light heavyweight title, also included a win over a legendary champion, Larry Holmes.  While Michael had more sustained success during his reign, he also lost the title in a famous bout when he lost to Mike Tyson in June 1988.  Unlike Leon, that was the last fight for Michael, retiring soon after that bout.  While Michael was more careful with his health and money, he too suffered after boxing when he learned that his long-time advisor Butch Lewis had taken much of his winnings. 

However, both brothers seem to be upbeat now, despite the difficulties.  This book was written before Leon's cancer diagnosis, so that part is not covered and at times, the author does seem a little harsh on Leon in his lack of responsibility to account for his issues when he was boxing.  Nonetheless, this is a book that a boxing fan who knows about the Spinks brothers will want to pick up as it is a wonderful read on a pair of famous brothers of the "sweet science."

Book Format Read:

E-book (Kindle)

Buying Links:

https://www.amazon.com/One-Punch-Promised-Land-Heavyweight/dp/0762783001/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=