Fight Night 1939: The Champ, the Challenger, and a Portrait of America on the Brink

For fans of powerful untold histories like The Boys in the Boat (Pan, 2014), Seabiscuit (Fourth Estate, 2002), Tunney (Ranodom House, 2007), and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007). 'A brisk and entertaining history that looks at the state of the nation in the 1930s.' Kirkus Reviews. By all measures, 5' 8' Tony Two Ton Galento stood no chance when he stepped into the ring against the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis, the finest heavyweight of his generation. Galento predicted, 'I'll moida da bum,' and lifted him from the canvas with a single left hook and entered the record books as one of the few men to put the great Louis down. A paloooka, a thug, a vibrant appetite of a man, Galento, the consummate underdog, scored some points for underestimated little guys everywhere. He had scrapped his way out of the streets and into the brightest light of American life, where he took his best shot. The powerful, disciplined, dignified Louis, who thrilled boxing fans with his prowess and inspired millions of Americans, but especially Black Americans during the Jim Crow era, would ultimately gather himself and take Galento apart. It was a rousing display of determination and courage for both men, who emerged from their combat with respect for the other.