Sam Langford
Boxing's Greatest Uncrowned Champion
by Clay Moyle
Now Available at Amazon.com
or
Directly from the Author via e.mail to cmoyle@aol.com
Reviews:
"As the title of this book indicates, Sam Langford was, indeed, an "uncrowned champion" one of the greatest pound-for-pound pugilists ever to step through the ropes. The only reason Langford never held a world title was that no champion gave him a chance to fight for the crown, even though Sam was eminently qualified.
Now, the "uncrowned champion" has found a champion in Clay Moyle, an eminent boxing historian. This book gives Langford the recognition he has deserved for such a long time.
Langford was small in stature, but he was larger than life. He was capable of knocking opponents twice his size colder than a mackerel. Had there been any justice in the world of the early 1900s, Langford would have been champion of the middleweight, light-heavyweight and heavyweight divisions.
Moyle's epic chronicle of Langford's life in and out of the ring redresses the fighter's slide into obscurity during the half-century since his death. The author deftly balances the triumphs and tragedies of this extraordinary man's career.
This book is a must-read, from the opening bell to the last.
Charles R. Saunders, author of Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers from the Halifax Forum to Ceasars Palace"
"With his richly detailed new biography, Clay Moyle has restored the indomitable Sam Langford to his rightful place in the history of American Sports and demonstrates along the way that Jack Johnson was right when he called Langford 'the toughest little son of a bitch that ever lived.
Geoffrey Ward, author of Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson"
"Sixty-four years ago, a blind and indigent Sam Langford was re-discovered through an award winning article published in the New York Herald Tribune. Now, in 2008, Clay Moyle 'discovers' Langford anew in greater depth and with remarkable clarity. In tenaciously applying the forensic skills of a seasoned sports historian and archivest, Moyle plots a stunning tale which is set against the backdrop of the pervasive racial mores of the times in which Langford lived and fought, and in the process reclaims for posterity the life and career of one of boxing's truly great figures."
- Adeyinka Makinde, author of Dick Tiger: The Life and Times of a Boxing Immortal."