Go ahead. Punch your way in! Dare to journey back to boxing’s Golden Age (1880s–1960s). Ready for a world of indelible people and captivating history? We’ll travel through the years-long process of researching and mining the era’s extraordinary treasures to bring this inspiring true story to life. Thank you for joining us!
Jack Johnson, one of the most famous fighters to ever live. He was world heavyweight champion 1908-1915, the first black man to hold the title. He was also “the most well-known and hated man in the world.” Here, in part, Johnson’s story as viewed through the FIGHT FOR GLORY Universe.
Diana, the elegant and exotic 13-foot gilded weathervane, designed by famed American sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, for 30 years adorned the spire overlooking the highest point in Manhattan atop Madison Square Garden. On fight night, every boxer worth his salt was wise to pray to her on the way in.
Every 75 years, Halley’s Comet mysteriously returns to the skies. Her cyclical arrival has long been perceived as a dark omen. Yet, some believe she is a lucky star. One thing is for sure, the fiery light of Halley’s Comet in 1910 changes everything — and everyone.
Perhaps it’s just something that boxing heroes know in their blood and bones, that “war is too important to be left to the generals” and, as Martin Luther King, Jr. once conveyed, “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he’s not fit to live.”
Heavyweight Champion Jack Johnson was the kind of man Miles Davis — one of the most revered and influential jazz artists of all time — idolized. Some might say that Davis’ musical mission was a summoning of sorts of The Big Smoke. Whatever it was, it worked brilliantly.
Before leaving, he said, “Took you long enough, pal.” In many ways, the Fight For Glory franchise exists because renowned boxing historian, JJ Johnston, insisted it had to. Dad and I benefitted from JJ’s extraordinary friendship, passion and generosity. They both ultimately inspired me to take on this incredible story.
For 100 years, The Ring “The Bible of Boxing” provided a vivid window into pugilism’s special worlds. If a boxer was ever to become a supernova, he absolutely had to appear on its cover. Times are a-changin’! Let the boxers’ slogan, “hope on, hope ever” rule a new digital day.
I recently traveled to the Emerald Isle in search of my origins. What I didn’t expect was to discover a forgotten jewel of American boxing history buried in the Irish earth only a few miles from my family’s 250-year-old homestead. We have more in common than we think.
Pulling off the road to breathe in the scene, I can hear only the rushing wind, the distant bleating of sheep, the collision of several interconnected streams, and — I believe — the soft voices of my distant family urging me on, telling me that I am getting closer to what it is I seek: home.
