10. Micky Ward-Emanuel Augustus
I covered this in long-form recently here, but I suppose what makes this so special is how it was a ‘message-in-a-bottle’ type period of time, firstly with me living in Catskill and secondly, in that something like this, with social media and mobile phones etc, would likely never happen today or again.
I knew this fight would be a war and as it progressed, more and more fight fans flocked into the previously empty bar I was in. I would go back and get more of them after every couple of rounds and, by the end, the bar was packed with fans screaming and shouting at the small TV on the wall, not cheering Micky or Emanuel but saluting the fight and what the fighters shared.
9. Long-listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award
Damage had been several years in the making. I’d travelled to places like Boston, Kiev, Vegas, New York, to get what I could for it and make it as useful as possible, at my own expense. I invested in the book and believed in it. Early on I was told by publishers there was no market for it and they weren’t interested. But Kyle Sarofeen and Hamilcar believed in it and encouraged me every step of the way.
I remember taking a phone call from an anonymous number not far from where I live and I pulled over to answer. It was the organisers for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award and I’d been long-listed.
