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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.83092
EAN num: 9781592284061
ISBN number: 159228406X
Label: The Lyons Press
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 320
Printing Date: April 01, 2004
Publishing house: The Lyons Press
Sale Popularity Level: 192659
Studio: The Lyons Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
'Brunt does an excellent job of bringing his subjects out of the shadow of the Greatest, recounting their often poignant tales of life before and after their dates with the champ. In the end, of course,
we learn more about Ali. What stands out is their almost unanimous expression of affection for Ali. A worthy addition to any boxing
collection.' -Library Journal
Muhammad Ali cast a blinding light on his sport, on the tumultuous times in which he reigned as champion, and on all the people who surrounded him. That included the fighters brave enough to stand alone in the ring with the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.
Ali's own story has been told often, but the tales of those who faced him have been mostly overlooked. For each, the moments alone in the ring with Ali changed their lives. Facing Ali tells the stories, in the fighters' own words, of fifteen men from around the world-from famous names like Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Henry Cooper, to lesser lights like Tunney Hunsaker, Jergen Blin, and George Chuvalo. Facing Ali offers a unique perspective on what it was like to fight Ali, and gives new insights into the character of a boxer who is arguably the most recognized man on the planet.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is one of the more fascinating studies of Ali's life because the stories are told from the perspective of those who faced him. Some harbor hostility (Joe Frazier), some admire him tremendously (Norton, Foreman, Coopman, Dunn), some endeavor to demythologize him and show him to be a man with flaws (Holmes).
Any Ali fan is going to want to have this book! Stephen Blunt does a good job of tracking down the fighters (some, like Jurgen Blin and Karl Mildenberger, are more anonymous and are remembered primarily for facing Ali and were not as easy to locate).
Highly recommended.
Rated by buyers 
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To be completely honest, it feels a little bad giving this book only a lukewarm review. It is, after all, a great idea for a book and a great find for anyone who became a fight fan in the era of Ali, Frazier, Norton, Foreman and the rest. But somehow, this manages to be a boxing book without much of anything to say about boxing. Instead of an up-close look at the characters as they rise or fall to their moment with Ali, we get a series of mini biographies about men who aren't necessarily all that interesting. Sure, Jurgen Blin and Joe Bugner may be nice enough men, but do their uninspired performances against Muhammad Ali make them worth spending any time with? Actually, considering the merciless and unforgiving nature of their chosen sport, the story of even the dullest mismatch could be interesting. But the author gives us too much back story on his subjects' lives, not enough on the euphoria, hope, sense of dread or foolish confidence that must have come with getting a crack at 'The Greatest.'
This is not to say, though, that there aren't some bright spots. Foreman, Frazier and Norton are all solid components of the legend, and their storied careers pretty much ensure more interesting chapters than the career of, say, Jean-Pierre Coopman. Even chapters on a few of the second and third-tier challengers (Chuvalo, Wepner) make for some good reading. But what we never learn, really, is what it was like for a Chuck Wepner to be picked from obscurity to fight for the title. We find out that Chuck got to train full time (for the very first time in his life) at a resort in the Catskills. But did his shot at the title make his life better...worse? Did sudden fame lead to the end of his marriage and involvement, for a time, with drugs? Did he understand that he was a bit player in a very big show? He certainly seems to be a good guy, but was Wepner actually closer to being a 'goodfella' in those days?
This certainly isn't a bad book, and real fight fans will find it interesting, at least in places. But it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Tales of shady powerbrokers who control the fight game are hinted at here and there, but never mined as they might have been...we're often not given a clear picture of how most of these men are living these days, save for most of the British and European fighters who seem to have fared well. There are also a few factual errors which are a bit offputting. (in regard to Wepner, for instance, the author wonders whether the fighter will be remembered as the man who scored a questionable knockdown against the champ....or the man who was stopped by Ali in the 11th round. In truth, Wepner quite famously came within seconds of going the full 15 rounds.) Again, not a bad book, but one that feels like it could have been better.
Rated by buyers 
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I've been reading a lot of boxing books lately despite not being a big fan, mainly because it seems like the people who are involved in it are some of the most interesting people in any sport. This book is another one which strongly reiterates that. Like many of the other reviews say, you really do feel like you get to know something about these guys, about what they're like as people and nobody comes across as two dimensional.
Rated by buyers -
Muhummad Ali is the most-photographed, most-written about, most-quoted, and most-popular athlete of all-time. So how does an author come up with a "new" angle on the Ali story that has not already been covered? Well, Author Stephan Brunt comes up with a new tact - 15 fighters who faced Ali in the squared circle tell about their experieces in their own words. This is a unique concept that has not been attempted before in the annals of boxing literature. My hat is tipped to Mr. Brunt for coming up with such a unique angle. I also applaud him for not severely editing the commentary of the opponents stories. The words are there warts and all, especially in the bitterness expressed by Joe Frazier.
The book presents 15 fights, and the individual stories of the opponents are written in vivid detail. Brunt gives a brief history of the opponent, how he became a fighter, how he came to fight Ali, and what happened to him afterwards. The 15 fighters represent several of Ali's best fights, including Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, and Ernie Shavers. Too bad we could not have read about Ali's greatest upset fight, i.e. Sony Liston's experience in words - now that would heve been eye-popping! (Liston died of an apparent drug overdose in late 1970.)
Brunt does a thorough job with each fighter. He does not so much concentrate on the blow to blow action in the fight, but rather, what the opponent was thinking and feeling before, during, and after the fight. It makes for very interesting reading for boxing fans in general, and of course Ali fans.
I could not give it a 5-star ranking as it was not spell-binding, but for being unique and holding my interest throughout, it deserves a solid 4-stars.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig
Rated by buyers -
Stephen Brunt's excellent book poignantly tells the stories of fifteen men who fought Muhammad Ali. Brunt tells us in his introduction that we generally only hear one side of the story - usually the side of the star of the show. Since there have been few stars who have shone as brightly as Ali in the boxing world (or in the world in general for that matter), the stories of his opponents, even the ones who were champions in their own right, have tended to be forgotten, if not completely ignored.
The stories provide a fresh perspective on Ali through the course of the book, since many of these men developed a relationship with him that transcended their battle(s) with him in the ring, but the spotlight here is directly on the lives of these fifteen men. Each of their stories is unique. Some are funny, some are tragic, some offer us lessons if we care to look. All the stories show us how these men's lives were altered by their moment in the spotlight. With the exception of Joe Frazier, who gets the longest section of the book devoted to him, every man conveys a fondness and respect for Ali even if they had differences with him.
Brunt is a great writer who is able to convey something essential about each of the men he dedicates a chapter to. There isn't a trace of sentimentality and every portrait comes across as being fair to it's subject. "Facing Ali" is a masterpiece of sports writing and belongs on the shelf of every boxing fan.
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