L.A. Jennings
Gussie Freeman: Slasher of the RopeWalk
In 1891, Gussie Freeman embarrassed her blue-blood family to face legendary boxer, Hattie Leslie, in a bloody boxing match.
The Toughman Contest: When Violence-as-Entertainment Becomes Deadly
Despite being outlawed in numerous states, Toughman Contests are still a thing.
Fighting the Cult of Domesticity
In the 1950s, a group of female boxers defied the cultural expectation to be ‘good wives’ and became, instead, great fighters.
Vince McMahon: Pro Wrestling's Master of Storytelling
Mastermind, psychopath, megalomaniac, genius, dictator. Vince McMahon is the most infamous member of the McMahon family and the storyteller behind the WWE phenomenon.
Vince McMahon Sr. and the Dawn of Television
Vince McMahon Sr. followed in his father’s footsteps to propel professional wrestling beyond the local arena and into the house of every American in the 1950s.
Jess McMahon: Boxing Promoter and Sire of the WWE
Before there was the WWE and Vince McMahon, Jr., there was Roderick “Jess” McMahon – the paterfamilias of the McMahon family enterprise who crossed the ‘color-line’ as a legendary boxing matchmaker and promoter in the early 20th century.
Boxing The Great Bambino
In 1925, Babe Ruth’s career was in turmoil. Sick, overweight, and at odds with his manager, the Babe turned to trainer Artie McGovern, who salvaged the baseball player’s life and career—through boxing.
Fixing the ‘Face’ of Women’s MMA in the Bantamweight Division
The idea that one woman would, somehow, embody the sport in its entirety, and thus bring women’s MMA into the mainstream has been around since the 90s. But what happens when that woman is no longer the champion?
Cora Livingston and the Spectacular Sport of Wrestling
In the 20th century, Cora Livingston represented both the spectacle and the art of the sport of wrestling.
Death in the Ring: A 120 Round Grudge Match Ends in Horror
In 1842, Thomas McCoy and Christopher Lilly entered the ring to settle a score, but only one man came out alive. The bout was covered in detail in one of the earliest pieces of fight journalism, which activated the anti-prizefighting movement.
Elizabeth Wilkinson Stokes: “Championess of American and of Europe”
In the 1720s, Britain’s queen of boxing, Elizabeth Wilkinson Stokes, made a name for herself as an undefeated pugilist, skilled in the art of boxing and in the type of trash-talking epitomized today by the best, and most hated, in the fight game.
How the Demands of Style Brought Women's Boxing in Vogue at the Turn of the Century
In the late 19th century, feminine frailty became passé and athleticism became the height of fashion, both sartorially and in the burgeoning exercise craze.