The Main Event: Boxing in Nevada from the Mining Camps to the Las Vegas Strip

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The Main Event Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History The Main Event Boxing in Nevada from the Mining Camps to the Las Vegas Strip Richard O. Davies University of Nevada Press Reno & Las Vegas Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History Series Editor: Michael S. Green University of Nevada Press, Reno, Nevada 89557 USA Copyright © 2014 by University of Nevada Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Design by Kathleen Szawiola Portions of chapter 4, “Nevada Loses Its Boxing Mojo,” appear in Mariann Vaczi, ed., Playing Fields: Power, Practice, and Passion in Sports (Reno: Center for Basque Studies, 2014). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Davies, Richard O., 1937– The main event : boxing in Nevada from the mining camps to the Las Vegas strip / Richard O. Davies. pages cm. — (Shepperson series in Nevada history) Includes index. ISBN 978-0-87417-928-6 (hardback)— ISBN 978-0-87417-938-5 (e-book) 1. Boxing—Nevada—History. 2. Boxers (Sports)—Nevada—History. 3. Nevada—Social life and customs. I. Title. GV1125.D38 2014 796.8309793—dc23      2013043529 The paper used in this book meets the requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (R2002). Binding materials were selected for strength and durability. First Printing 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1 This publication is made possible in part by a grant from Nevada Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Boxing is a rough, dangerous, and thrilling sport, the most basic and natural and uncomplicated of athletic competitions and—at its best—one of the purest of art forms. —Red Smith, 1962, New York Herald Tribune columnist ...