The Last Great Fight

"Joe Layden's meticulously researched study transports us from the Ali to the Tyson era....Layden is the first to take the full measure of the David in this David-and-Goliath storty...he offers a rich portrait of a soft-hearted former basketball standout who would secure the heavyweight crown only a few weeks after his mother died...the author manages to lay bare Tyson's own ambivalence toward the blood sport that would make him one of the most recognizable people in the world...."The Last Great Fight" succeeds in provoking a sense of tense anticipation about an event that is firmly etched in the memory of every boxing fan. And Layden's even-handed treatment of both the principals and the supporting cast provides a nuanced account of this epic moment." -"The New York Times Book Review" "Layden had full access to the main players, and his interviews with the affable, star-crossed underdog provide a compelling perspective on the ultimate coulda-been." -"ESPN The Magazine" "In prose that's as sharp as an uppercut, Layden revisits the day Douglas handed Mike Tyson his first loss. A generation of young fans know Tyson as a novelty act and boxing as a niche sport. Layden traces both declines to that night in Tokyo." -"Sports Illustrated" "Boxing fans will want to add "The Last Great Fight" to the vast collection on great books on the Sweet Science, from Hemingway to A.J. Liebling to Norman Mailer. Just file it at the end of the shelf; it's the last book you'll ever need." -"Los Angeles"" Times"" ""Compelling." -"The Boston Globe"" ""Prose as crisp as a Sugar Ray Robinson jab." -"Denver"" Post"" ""Layden's account of the crucial fight is tremendous. He has the kind of instinctive understanding of boxing that is rare in British writers: if one had to think of a point of comparison then Hugh MacIlvanney and the late Ian Wooldridge spring to mind.""-- Telegraph" (UK) "[An] exhilarating and hard hitting account. Boxing fans will wa