Sweet Thunder Read online

  I didn’t think I hit him: CPD, 6-25-1947.

  anything serious: Cleveland Press, 6-25-1947.

  extensive damage: ibid.

  I’m sure sorry: ibid.

  He told me after the Levine fight: Cleveland Press, ibid.

  unholy pressure: NYT, 6-26-1947.

  no power whatsoever: ibid.

  Why not consider this: Cleveland Press, 6-26-1947.

  I will not identify him: ibid.

  tip-top: NYT, 6-27-1947.

  Did you personally rank Doyle: Cleveland Press, 6-26-1947.

  Well, … Doyle had a very impressive record: ibid.

  I’m not a physician, sir: ibid.

  smart … evasive: Cleveland Call & Post, 7-5-1947.

  If there are any manslaughter charges: Chicago Daily Tribune, 6-27-1947.

  The rugged business of fisticuffs: Cleveland Press, 6-25-1947.

  absolutely blameless: WP, 7-1-1947.

  should not be considered negligent: ibid.

  I don’t know how it will affect: Cleveland Call & Post, 7-5-1947.

  Well, did you notice: CPD, 6-26-1947.

  Getting him in trouble: ibid.

  You killed a man: NYT, 8-25-2006.

  You don’t have to tell everybody: ibid.

  An Opera in Six Brutal Acts

  I fought like I didn’t deserve: LaMotta, Raging Bull, xi.

  On the streets, it was the “nigger”: Royal interview by author.

  A fight … is all of a piece: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 68.

  The Italians who come: LaGumina, WOP, 63–64.

  the dagoes: ibid., 75.

  I cry to you with a million voices: Milford, Savage Beauty, 298.

  “Justice Denied in Massachusetts”: ibid., 299.

  It was the first time: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 4.

  nuts: ibid., 45.

  goddam moron: ibid., 51.

  home relief and boxing: ibid., 83.

  LA MOTTA WINS FOURTH STRAIGHT: ibid., 83.

  Many of those colored six-round fighters: ibid., 87.

  You would just about have to kill: ibid.

  a lot of shaking of the head: AN, 10-3-1942.

  Robinson has an alarming tendency: ibid.

  Sugar Ray was the boss: LaMotta interview by author.

  Sugar Ray took on LaMotta: Dundee interview by author.

  A fighter who performs in the windmill style: AN, 10-3-1942.

  A surprisingly large number of boxing experts: CD, 10-3-1942.

  The welterweights, you know, are tricky: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 87.

  favored: ibid., 112.

  hard puncher: ibid.

  a flood of nerve-jarring right and left hooks: AN, 10-10-1942.

  The Harlem fighter worked: NYT, 10-3-1942.

  victim: ibid.

  with the grace and artistry: AN, 10-10-1942.

  There’s a lot things: ibid.

  Beating middleweights is among them: ibid.

  He hit me one left hook: ibid.

  a poor ignorant Italian: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 112.

  I’m his good luck charm: Detroit News, 2-3-1943.

  Not much space: ibid.

  There’s where you learned: ibid.

  Oh, oh, I wonder how that gal: ibid.

  I used to carry Joe Louis’s gloves: ibid.

  Yep … there’s gonna be a jam session: ibid.

  People pay too much attention: DFP, 2-3-1943.

  Often one good punch: ibid.

  When Ray defeated Jake: DFP, 2-2-1943.

  It’s His Big Night: DFP, 2-5-1943.

  the gallery gods: ibid.

  Jake stomped me: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 109.

  The crowd let out a roar: DFP, 2-6-1943.

  When Jacob LaMotta brought the Sugar Man: DFP, 2-9-1943.

  When I met Ray in the Garden: Detroit News, 2-7-1943.

  JAKE IS CITY’S CINDERELLA: DFP, 2-7-1943.

  I still think I can defeat: CD, 2-13-1943.

  END OF ROBINSON STRING: NYT, 2-7-1943.

  had given Detroit a brand: DFP, 2-26-1943.

  That’s the biggest check: Detroit News, 2-7-1943.

  This boxer is in unusually good condition: DFP, 2-25-1943.

  Sugar Ray’s Dynamite Knobs: ibid.

  Ray is a boxer: Detroit News, 2-25-1943.

  He’ll have a tough time: ibid.

  For a long time … Jake was a $25: ibid., 2-23-1943.

  The crowd didn’t like that: ibid., 2-27-1943.

  and two jarring uppercuts: ibid.

  trying for a knockout: ibid.

  So deafening and so prolonged: ibid., 2-27-1943.

  If they say I lost: ibid.

  He really hurt me with a left: DFP, 2-27-1943.

  I didn’t lose it: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 119.

  That’s when I began to think: ibid.

  Watching those guys: Dinkins interview by author.

  and moves about the ring: CD, 1-27-1945.

  This bout is a natural: ibid., 2-3-1945.

  We never had such an advance sale: ibid.

  If he does [win]: ibid.

  Not since Joe Louis fought: ibid., 2-24-1945.

  [A]ll you had to do was drop in: ibid., 2-24-1945.

  All the rumors and suspicions: NYHT, 2-21-1945.

  Every one likes Joe Louis: ibid.

  They were out to kill: Mercante interview by author.

  a definite legend: New York Daily Mirror, 2-14-1945.

  There are only three or four pounds: NYHT, 2-22-1945.

  pawing away at the body: New York Daily Mirror, 2-24-1945.

  slow-thinking: ibid.

  a murderous left hook: NYHT, 2-24-1945.

  His left was a classic: ibid.

  right crosses, upper cuts: AN, 3-3-1945.

  one of the slickest bits: ibid.

  Class … told against bull-like strength: NYT, 2-24-1945.

  How LaMotta stood up: AN, 3-3-1945.

  You don’t keep fighting: LaMotta interview by author.

  I was getting a little tired: AN, 3-3-1945.

  There was a time: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 79.

  I knew what I wanted: LaMotta interview by author.

  What makes Robinson doubly anxious: CD, 8-25-1945.

  the best money match: Chicago Daily Tribune, 9-25-1945.

  We’ll wager the best fists: CD, 9-8-1945.

  ultimate goal is a fight: CT, 9-25-1945.

  I still was no nearer a crack: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 121.

  inspiring: Chicago Daily Tribune, 9-27-1945.

  visibly tired: ibid.

  out from nowhere: ibid.

  close victory: ibid.

  unpopular decision: ibid., 9-28-1945.

  last ditch stand: AN, 10-6-1945.

  And as in the others: PM (Marshall Field’s newspaper), 9-27-1945.

  LaMotta is the toughest man: CD, 10-6-1945.

  I thought I won: CT, 9-28-1945.

  The only thing I really wanted: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 151.

  All quotes in “Interlude: Dreaming Sugar”: Dick interview by author.

  We actually left home: Buckley, The Hornes, 213.

  dripping ermine: ibid.

  It was a special club: Stovall, Paris Noir, 149.

  quadruple pearl choker: Buckley, The Hornes, 214.

  I wanted the instruments: Davis, Autobiography, 118.

  Even the band and the music: ibid., 126.

  Miles didn’t go there: Szwed, So What, 197.

  Practically everybody is going: Nichols, Bontemps-Hughes Letters, 272.

  the mark of a true professional: Video/Bigfights, 11-8-1950.

  It wasn’t usual for nine Negroes: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 169.

  The boxer, Sugar Ray Robinson: ibid.

  captured Paris more completely: CT, 3-20-1951.

  Yet here I was, fifteen years old: LaMotta, Knockout, 48.

  She looked like a beauty-contest winner: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 119.

  He was jealous of other men: LaMotta, Knockout, 64.<
br />
  I remember one of the Robinson fights: LaMotta, Raging Bull, 148.

  be trying his rushing: NYT, 11-14-1947.

  Then he backed across the ring: ibid., 11-15-1947.

  numerous lefts and rights: ibid.

  Stop the fight!: ibid.

  FOX KNOCKS OUT LAMOTTA: ibid.

  The popularity of LaMotta here: NYT, 6-15-1949.

  I want an authentic world middleweight: ibid.

  And it was a thing of beauty: LaMotta, Knockout, 76.

  against a huskier stronger: NYT, 6-17-1949.

  white silk stockings: LaMotta, Knockout, 76.

  That was Jake’s moment: ibid., 76.

  With all my strength: NYT, 10-29-1949.

  Having accomplished first part: ibid.

  had plunged the nation: ibid.

  What did you expect?: LaMotta, Knockout, 77.

  see you february 14: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 179.

  This exclusive DuMont picture: NYT, 2-14-1951.

  Davega Will Take Any Size: ibid., 2-15-1951.

  Keep it: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 183.

  You look too cool: ibid., 184.

  This broadcast tonight: Video/Bigfights, 2-14-1951.

  The bout the world’s been waiting for: ibid.

  Ray’s lean ribs: CT, 2-15-1951.

  A right obviously hurt: Husing, Video/Bigfights, 2-14-1951.

  I just couldn’t level away: WP, 2-15-1951.

  … the more I kept punching: ibid.

  a dying swan gesture: ibid.

  Then he pulled the switch: ibid.

  No man can endure: Husing, Video/Bigfights, 2-14-1951.

  I’m here with you: WP, 2-15-1951.

  ROBINSON TKO’S LAMOTTA: ibid., 2-15-1951.

  SPECTACULAR: NYT, 2-16-1951.

  At least a million Hoosiers: WP, 2-16-1951.

  Physically and psychologically: LaMotta, Knockout, 83.

  W.W., I did the best: Video/Bigfights, 2-14-1951.

  He had always scoffed: Gabler, Winchell, 348.

  Now, sensing his: ibid., 348.

  When I die, if I had: ibid., 350.

  Winchell really wanted Sugar Ray: Rand interview by author.

  You’re with me: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 152.

  Extraordinary Limited Engagement!: Baker, Josephine, 305.

  It was like the revelation: ibid., 6.

  Well … last night after the show: ibid., 116.

  Who the fuck let her in?: Blumenthal, The Stork Club, 164.

  I wish you wouldn’t, champ: Gabler, Winchell, 414.

  I can’t tell you how: ibid., 416.

  Why are you here?: Baker, Josephine, 310.

  I will not go to the Stork Club: Blumenthal, Stork Club, 179.

  a radio trial: ibid., 172.

  to defend the honor: Baker, Josephine, 313.

  The suspect list: Blumenthal, Stork Club, 178.

  But of all those things: ibid., 174.

  an ally of black people: Baker, Josephine, 313.

  Winchell’s valet: Gabler, Winchell, 429.

  blood would flow: ibid.

  it was like trying to console: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 211.

  What’s the use: Mead, Champion, 259.

  I didn’t want to make the same mistake: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 211.

  It seemed a terrible punishment: Mead, Champion, 265.

  Around (a Part of) the World in Fifty Days

  I will pay the shipping charge: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 186.

  They were of migrant workers: Parks, Voices, 87.

  You have to get at the source: ibid., 106.

  Chico was a badass dude: Brown interview by author.

  The return of Napoleon Bonaparte: Parks, Voices, 188.

  I loved to drive around Paris: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 188.

  On the Champs-Elysées: Life, 7-23-1951.

  Paris’ No. 1 celebrity: Time, 6-25-1951.

  Sure, if she wants to: Life, 7-23-1951.

  about Detroit and Georgia: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 193.

  at his feet: Parks, Voices, 193.

  But even this blow: NYT, 5-27-1951.

  You are too good: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 194.

  a combination of smashing blows: WP, 6-25-1951.

  Foul! Foul! Foul!: ibid.; “Just like”: ibid.

  There were no workouts: Parks, Voices, 193.

  Robinson slept late: WP, 7-10-1951.

  blues and boogie-woogie: Life, 7-10-1951.

  take Turpin apart: Parks, Voices, 193.

  forlorn hope: Times of London, 7-10-1951.

  The way Turpin leapt: Birtley, The Tragedy of Randolph Turpin, 27.

  This is the first time: WP, 7-10-1951.

  Why is Ray doing this: Parks, Voices, 194.

  One may smile a little: Times of London, 7-10-1951.

  have been designed: London Observer, 7-15-1951.

  lefts from the start: Times of London, 7-11-1951.

  No cause to worry: Parks, Voices, 194.

  Turpin was outpunching me: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 202.

  whiplash lefts and rights: Times of London, 7-11-1951.

  His eye!: London Observer, 7-15-1951.

  I could tell it was: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 201.

  It’s bad: ibid., 202.

  Hold on, Sugar: Life, 7-23-1951.

  Get him: ibid.

  from then on he couldn’t: NYT, 7-11-1951.

  I hope I’m able to keep this: Los Angeles Times, 7-11-1951.

  I thought I was winning: NYT, 7-11-1951.

  You were a real champion: ibid.

  Come on, everybody: London Observer, 7-15-1951.

  RAY ROBINSON LOSES: New York Times, 7-11-1951.

  Randolph Turpin upset: Times of London, 7-11-1951.

  TITLE TO TURPIN: Los Angeles Times, 7-11-1951.

  It was boxing’s biggest upset: Current Biography, Turpin entry, 1951.

  triumphal tour: London Observer, 7-15-1951.

  This’ll do us no harm: ibid.

  I’ll kill him: Parks, Voices, 194.

  I don’t think I even want to see: Life, 7-23-1951.

  MUM … I LOST ON DECISION: AN, 7-14-1951.

  But there is something really charming: London Observer, 7-15-1951.

  you took too many pictures: AN, 7-14-1951.

  Ray, we don’t know: ibid.

  In some deep, black, stony: Baldwin, James, Notes of a Native Son, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), 158.

  I call him Vince: NYT, 6-25-1951.

  his fellow human beings: CD, 8-11-1951.

  The title is only lent: NYT, 7-12-1951.

  But Ray didn’t want: Dick interview by author.

  Ray … what are you gonna do: ibid.

  He stood there: ibid.

  Yeah, why don’t you go over: ibid.

  I had my father: ibid.

  His red vest was adorned: NYT, 9-12-1951.

  Not since the Marquis: CD, 9-15-1951.

  patriotic duty: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 208.

  Turpin has the youth: NYT, 9-12-1951.

  towards the end of a long career: Times of London, 9-11-1951.

  smarting under the terrific blows: NYT, 9-13-1951.

  I paced myself slowly: ibid.

  Robinson shook me: ibid., 9-15-1951.

  ROBINSON KNOCKS OUT TURPIN: ibid., 9-13-1951.

  a savage attack: ibid., 9-13-1951.

  forgot what to do: ibid.

  Drive me downtown: Liebling, The Sweet Science, 61.

  As we approached the Theresa: ibid.

  That was a Cadillac night: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 210.

  Dreams

  Ray didn’t want people to think: Dick interview by author.

  There was one instance: Breslin interview by author.

  I would have taken that fellow: AN, 6-21-1952.

  In a year or two: ibid., 9-22-1951.

  was scoring solidly: NYT, 3-14-1952.

  surprising battle: ibid.

  cunning: ibid., 3-14-1952.

  I never fought so hard: San Francisco Chro
nicle, 3-14-1952.

  Olson is a clean fighter: ibid.

  Now get me Robinson!: NYT, 4-16-1952.

  tarnished with: ibid., 4-14-1952.

  he slipped from so high: ibid.

  His heart no longer: ibid.

  well over the hill: AN, 4-12-1952.

  I’ll knock him out: NYT, 4-16-1952.

  He came out of his corner: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 216.

  with such breathtaking speed: NYT, 4-18-1952.

  a rocking right: AN, 4-19-1952.

  three inches further: ibid.

  I’ll meet you at the Archway: Dick interview by author.

  I had it tonight: NYT, 4-17-1952.

  Robinson is a cold-blooded machine: ibid., 4-18-1952.

  Sooner or later you come: NYT, 4-17-1952.

  enigma: AN, 7-5-1952.

  was the man selling the tickets: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 218.

  I’m just plain tired: AN, 3-22-1952.

  Maxim is as good a fighter: Liebling, Sweet Science, 63.

  Sugar Ray is no ordinary fighter: NYT, 6-23-1952.

  You let me make: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 218.

  I got as much right: ibid.

  I can shoot you: ibid.

  Have you ever fought a man: Liebling, Sweet Science, 67.

  Most fighters jump rope: ibid., 68.

  big-money men: AN, 6-28-1952.

  We even referred to: NYT, 6-24-1952.

  The car clips off: AN, 6-28-1952.

  the new crop of glamour girls: ibid.

  a full length coat-dress: ibid.

  giving Maxim a boxing lesson: NYT, 6-26-1952.

  I’m getting sleepy: Robinson, Sugar Ray, 221.

  I thought I was being roasted: Life, 7-7-1952.

  Can you stand up?: ibid.

  He didn’t knock me out: NYT, 6-27-1952.

  The heat didn’t get my brother: Berardinelli interview by author.

  What have I got to gain: AN, 6-28-1952.

  any man with two hands: Time, 6-25-1951.

  Robinson thought he could sing: Breslin interview by author.

  And I remember the day: Dick interview by author.

  Here was the coldest concentration: Mead, Champion, 72.

  The Very Thought of You Onstage

  He’d have suits and sports jackets: Bristow interview by author.

  a black motherfucking nigger: Davis, Autobiography, 169.

  Sugar Ray looked like a socialite: ibid., 174.

  Sugar Ray used to train there: ibid., 180.

  That’s where a lot of hip people: ibid., 182.

  He’d be standing there: ibid.

  He used to come up and tell everyone: ibid., 183.

  I done got my feet caught: Bernard, Remember Me to Harlem, 282.

  a running text: ibid.

  a delicate and lovely fictiondocument: ibid.