A SPECIAL type of passion and devotion is required of a writer who plows through the archives of more than 80 vintage newspapers and magazines, plus 20 books, to gather enough information for a biography as thoroughly detailed as Ezzard Charles: A Boxing Life, written by Willilam Dettloff and published earlier this year by McFarland & Company.
The former senior writer for The Ring (and frequent contributor to espn.go.com and hbo.com) dug deep for the intricacies that became the story of a fighter Dettloff now regards as the greatest light-heavyweight in boxing history. (Charles was 3-0 against Archie Moore.)
Dettloff painted a colorful and insightful portrait of “The Cincinnati Cobra” during my 30-minute radio interview with him, detailing the tale of a boxing legend he considers vastly under-appreciated.
The Philadelphia writer describes the Charles biography as a labour of love that (unfortunately for the rest of us) will be his final boxing book.
Hear the entire interview at http://ringsideboxingshow.podbean.com.
Dennis Taylor is editor/publisher of www.ringsideboxingshow.com, and host of The Ringside Boxing Show, which can be heard live every Sunday in the United Kingdom at midnight at www.radiomonterey.com, and in the U.S. at 4pm Pacific, 5pm Mountain, 6pm Central and 7pm Eastern.
