On April 3rd, 2018 I will visit Marshall University for a reading from my upcoming book “12 Rounds in Lo’s Gym: Boxing and Manhood in Appalachia.” Although I was raised in the rural coal mining town of Cowen, West Virginia, returning to Huntington always feels like returning home. The town of Huntington is key to […]
Boxing
Interview with James “Bonecrusher” Smith
He was born into a family of sharecroppers from rural North Carolina, born and raised in a small town of about one thousand residents. He was the first member of his family to graduate from college, the first college graduate to win a heavyweight championship. He was the first boxer to knockout England’s Frank Bruno, […]
Interview with Josh Stewart
He was born in Diana, West Virginia, the son of a elementary school teacher and a Baptist pastor. He was my cousin John’s best friend, both were four years older than me so I was always the tagalong. Even before he and John shipped off to West Virginia University, out into the world to become […]
Interview with William Joppy
He is a former middleweight champion of the world. He has compiled an impressive record of 40-7-2 during the course of his 18-year professional career. He has faced some of the greatest middleweights of all time, Roberto Duran, Bernard Hopkins, Felix “Tito” Trinidad, and Jermain Taylor, just to name a few. Since retiring from the […]