Two weeks ago at the Klitschko-Haye press conference in New York City, I gave a copy of my book “Heavyweight Armageddon: The Tyson-Lewis Championship Battle” to a leading character in the book Emanuel Steward who was the long-time trainer of Lennox Lewis.
Since he was involved in the fight and knew much of the inside story I wasn’t sure if he would really enjoy the book, even though I tried to add as many rare and little known anecdotes to try to please all readers, whether fans, media or boxing insiders. Well it turns out Emanuel Steward loves the book.
The great boxing man Emanuel Steward, even contacted a mutual friend, Philip Anselmo, the musician and vocalist for Pantera and Down, to get my phone number and called around 10 o’clock on Monday night, with this to say:
“It’s a smashing success. It’s a very good book, easy to read, flows nicely, you did a ton of research. I really enjoyed reliving that experience. All the craziness with Crocodile and all that stuff. On the flight to Vegas for the Hatton-Pacquiao fight, I signed more copies of your book than any book I’ve ever signed, all the Brits were on the flight to Vegas, they kept coming up to me with the books. Then when I got to Vegas I kept seeing these books with the two red gloves. They had me sign covers, the inside pages. This is your legacy here. Yours and George Kimball’s book (The Four Kings) are two of the best boxing books I’ve ever read.”
It was a true honor to hear such a compliment, such words that I have not heard in years, the last big moments being when Richard Williams, father of Venus and Serena, said after being Biofiled in 2004 at the US Open – “That’s the best interview I’ve ever done.”
Thanks again to Emanuel Steward.
Topics: Anecdotes, Armageddon, Boxing Books, Brits, Craziness, Crocodile, Emanuel Steward, Four Kings, George Kimball, Hatton, Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Mutual Friend, O Clock, Pantera, Philip Anselmo, Smashing Success, True Honor, Tyson Lewis, Venus And Serena
