Overview

The epic collision between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson in 2002 at The Pyramid in Memphis marked the dramatic culmination of the last great era for heavyweight boxing. Tyson, Lewis, Evander Holyfield and Riddick Bowe dominated the division for almost two decades. In all, there were nine bouts, including an Olympic final, in which they fought one another. The various subplots were underpinned by a rich cast of characters and contenders including Buster Douglas, George Foreman, Michael Moorer, Oliver McCall, Razor Ruddock, Andrew Golota and Frank Bruno, which made each fight meaningful as well as memorable. The Last Dance - by Ron Borges and Brian Doogan, who chronicled each of these fighters' lives and careers - will tell the story of this defining period in the history of heavyweight boxing. Tyson was first to burst onto the scene in the 1980s, dominating the sports landscape with quick knockouts and power that provoked shock and awe in fans as well as foes. The youngest man to win a world heavyweight title, his shock defeat by Buster Douglas less than four years later remains one of the biggest upsets in the history of sports. Tyson's conviction and imprisonment for rape cleared the path for Holyfield, Lewis and Bowe to take centre stage. On his release, Tyson rejoined them in a kind of heavyweight hegemony. Their seismic series of fights included: * the 'Fan Man' fight in Las Vegas when a paraglider bizarrely dropped into the ring mid-bout during Holyfield's classic series with Bowe * the notorious 'Bite Fight' between Holyfield and Tyson when Tyson bit chunks out of both of Holyfield's ears * the controversial draw between Holyfield and Lewis at Madison Square Garden followed by the rematch which confirmed Lewis's ascendancy to the undisputed crown * the climactic showdown at The Pyramid between Lewis and Tyson, preceded by Tyson provoking a brawl and biting into Lewis's leg at a press conference in midtown Manhattan Borges and Doogan take a deep dive into an exhilarating period in sports history, recapturing the essence of heavyweight boxing's last great era and the compelling stories of these four giants of the ring who dominated The Last Dance.

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9781838133764

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Ron Borges has covered the NFL since 1974. He is a member of the 48-person Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee and the nine-person senior selection committee. He has been a finalist for inclusion in the writer's wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame seven times. As well as NFL, Borges has covered boxing, golf, MLB, NHL and five Olympic Games for the Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Oakland Tribune, and other publications. For two years he was hired as a consultant to work on ESPN's Sports Century'' project, which was the forerunner of its 30 for 30 documentary series. Borges has been named Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year five times. His work has been included in Best American Sports Stories anthology 11 times and he has been named one of America's top 10 sports columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors numerous times in its annual competition. Brian Doogan wrote the Sunday Times bestselling autobiography of Joe Calzaghe, No Ordinary Joe. He is an award-winning former Sunday Times and Daily Express sports journalist and for ten years was head of media and communications at Premier League football clubs Aston Villa and Everton. He has worked with ESPN and HBO on boxing, football and other sports and is the author of the definitive story of The SuperFight: Marvelous Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard.

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